Watkins Glen Martin looks to knock Gordon off the podium
Watkins Glen, NY (August 7, 2000) -- Mark Martin has always been strong in NASCAR Winston Cup Series road course events, but he's been especially fierce at Watkins Glen International where it seems more like a drive around his old neighborhood ...
Watkins Glen, NY (August 7, 2000) -- Mark Martin has always been
strong in NASCAR Winston Cup Series road course events, but he's been
especially fierce at Watkins Glen International where it seems more like a
drive around his old neighborhood rather than a grueling competition.
It was big news last year when he didn't finish among the top five in
the Global Crossing at The Glen in his No. 6 Valvoline Ford, because for
10 consecutive years, from 1989 to 1998, Martin invariably was challenging
for the lead or on top when the race ended.
It's been four years since Martin's last Global Crossing @ The Glen
victory. He's hoping this year to put the skids on Jeff Gordon's record
six straight road-racing winning streak and start one of his own. Gordon
comes to Watkins Glen boasting three straight wins in the Global Crossing
The Glen.
The torch was passed in 1998 when Martin and Gordon staged an amazing
two-car battle for the trophy. Gordon won that round.
"Jeff was a smart driver,'' said Martin after that race. "He gave us
a driving lesson. He was just awesome. Jeff's just too strong. I had
hopes of staying out there in front of him, but I couldn't. I didn't have
the race car that I needed to win the race, but I still tried real hard.
We're just doing our best, racing hard every week. I'm giving it all I
have."
During the peak of Martin's road-racing performance, Martin captured
three consecutive Global Crossing at The Glen titles from 1993-95, all
from the pole position. With that kind of record, you have to figure
Martin was schooled in road racing as a youngster or went to some
fancy-pants, road-racing program. In reality, the Arkansas native was
taught the basics of road racing on the backroads around his home when he
was growing up.
To Martin, it's not road racing, it's "just plain driving," as he
calls it. "It's just like when I grew up in Arkansas and I drove the
car,'' said Martin, who has accumulated four road-racing victories on the
Winston Cup circuit. "The roads were gravel roads, and they were hilly
and curvy, and had ditches on the side. You just drove as fast as you
could go and stay out of the ditch.''
As a boy, Martin's father, Julian, would take his son to car accident
sites and reconstruct the incident as a lesson for his boy.
"He would take me out there and say, 'He dropped his front wheel off
the pavement here and hooked his tire there,' stuff like that," said
Martin. "I learned a lot of lessons about driving from my father."
He needed years of oval race schooling to figure out how to go around
and around on a circle track, but road racing came naturally.
"Oval racing is not the same as driving down a country road, because
you don't really shift and you go around in a circle and go through the
same turns over and over again without hills and different banking," the
Florida resident said. "To me, there's nothing more natural, no more
natural driving, than just getting in a car and going on a road course.
That is how almost everybody learned how to drive a car on the road -
probably a road with curves and with some hills, and you had to shift some
gears and then started driving faster. The next thing you know, you're
road racing."
Martin likes his chances in this year's Global Crossing @ The Glen, a
90-lap romp through the woods over Watkins Glen's 2.45-mile course.
Whether it's road racing or "just plain driving" Martin would like to
bring his Roush Racing Ford back to Victory Circle at this scenic
facility.
"Everywhere we go is another chance to score another victory,''
Martin said. "We have a great race team, and the guys are doing a really
nice job. They're pumped up, and each race is another opportunity. I
don't view Watkins Glen as a better opportunity than anywhere else at this
point. I expect to be competitive here."
Tickets for this weekend's Global Crossing @ The Glen NASCAR Winston
Cup Series event are still available. For ticket, reserved camping, or
additional information, contact the Watkins Glen ticket office at
607-535-2481 or visit the website at www.theglen.com .
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