Golden Year

50-year-old Martin chasing first title

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Mark Martin is proving age is nothing but a number.

Or in his case, a few numbers.

The 50-year-old Martin has four victories this season, more than any driver in Sprint Cup.

His win Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway bumped him to 11th in the points standings. Though he still insists he’s driving for fun and for wins, and not points, Martin is a legitimate contender to stay in the top 12 and compete for the Chase for the championship over the season’s final 10 races.

The number that does not define him is 0 — as in, no Cup titles over a career that dates to 1981.

Martin is in the thick of the hunt this year for winning that first championship that would stamp the only missing line on a r sum that screams Hall of Fame. Martin is hounded by questions about what finally winning the title would mean to him, but NASCAR’s senior statesman is not haunted by the thought of ending his career without one.

“I absolutely don’t care,” Martin said. “Let me tell you something, what difference would it make if I had a championship trophy? I don’t see anybody win a championship and quit. Not in this sport. Would anyone respect me more? I would think that’s more important than a trophy. Respect.”

Martin has earned as much respect as any driver in the garage. Known for his tireless work ethic, trademark consistency and his role as a mentor, Martin is one of the most admired drivers in NASCAR.

“There’s no way you should define this guy by what he hasn’t done,” said Alan Gustafson, Martin’s crew chief with Hendrick Motorsports. “What he has done is incredible.”

While Martin has publicly diffused the title talk, Gustafson knows how much a championship would mean to his childhood role model.

“I think he wants to win it worse than anybody out here,” Gustafson said. “He’s just doing the best thing for the team in this situation by trying to avoid it. It becomes such a big topic because he is the best driver in this series — ever — not to win a championship.”

He’s had his opportunities before this golden year. Martin was series runner-up four times, the last in 2002 when he lost out to Tony Stewart. Martin ran for Jack Roush then and was seemingly driving toward the end of his career. He strongly considered retirement at the end of the 2005 season, but was swayed into one final season with Roush Fenway Racing. Two more seasons on a part-time schedule sapped Martin of some of his enthusiasm for the sport he loves.

He has rediscovered it in bundles at Hendrick. Driving the No. 5 car for the sport’s most powerful team, Martin’s four wins in 2009 are as many as he recorded the rest of the decade.

Owner Rick Hendrick was spurned in his initial efforts to add Martin to a roster that already included champions Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson. Martin said no “multiple times” until he was finally persuaded to join NASCAR’s most loaded team.

“I was not really, really happy,” Martin said. “Not the kind of happy you want to be. I was burned out and I kind of took a little bit of it for granted because I had done it so long. I didn’t realize that there wasn’t anything else in the world that I would rather be doing. I took two years to catch my breath and I saw that.”

If the Chase began this week, Martin would be the top seed because of his four victories. Three finishes of 40 or worse, however, have him perilously close to missing out on the Chase. Matt Kenseth trails Martin by only one point, and Greg Biffle is 10 points shy of cracking the top 12, setting up seven frantic, crucial races before the Chase field is set.

Martin and Gustafson both believe they can qualify for the Chase and win it all.