TOYOTA NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) Mark Martin — Notes & Quotes Daytona Media Day – February 16, 2012
MARK MARTIN, No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing How important would it be to win the Daytona 500? “I don’t know how to answer the question of how important it is — you either do or you don’t and you try as hard as you can. I would have to say unfortunately when I was a teenager, that’s what I thought I was going to do was win the Daytona 500. And now it ain’t happened. It hasn’t stopped me from trying. It doesn’t bother me at all — none. Why should it (bother me)? I didn’t win it did I? If I won it and for some reason didn’t get the trophy then that would bother me, but I didn’t win it yet so why should it bother me?”
Is that the same philosophy you have about winning a championship? “It’s no different. Nobody ever told me that I was going to be the greatest of all time or anything like that. I figure that I’m darn lucky to have been able to participate in this sport and stumble around and win a few things. I’m not owed anything. You earn what you get. I have not lost one ounce of sleep over not winning it other than the disappointment of being within three feet of it in ’07. I had to stop short because I did recall when I was telling you that I hadn’t lost any sleep over it — to be real honest, that’s not accurate. I did lose a little bit over coming within three feet of it. You don’t get to choose which races you win — if you’re lucky you just get to win some. I figured that I got lucky and I got to win some. I don’t get to choose which ones they are.”
Was there a time when it bothered you not winning a championship? “In ’07 when we were leading the points after five races and everybody was thinking it would keep going. I wanted to win that championship when I wanted to win it — when I was young. At that point, I’d already made peace with that. It was not on my agenda. I went to Rick Hendrick and they wanted to win a championship. I gave everything I had, but I didn’t lose any sleep over it. Not like I did — it didn’t bother me like it did when I was young because when I was young in 1990, I came within a whisker of winning it and it didn’t bother me because I knew I would. I knew that I would and I didn’t. It looked like we did and we stumbled around and finished five or six times second. Look out Carl (Edwards). It looks like he’s going to win it a lot of times, but gosh — at least I didn’t tie in points. That’s awful.”
What is your opinion of Michael Waltrip Racing? “Really great people there. It’s a really exciting time at MWR (Michael Waltrip Racing). They are poised to make a move toward the dominators in the sport and they are poised to make a move toward that. They have great people and it’s an exciting time there. They have a lot of great sponsors and not everyone can say that. They’ve been winning on that front and they want to win on the race track as well. They’re working hard. It’s a tremendous challenge to do, but that’s what they’re hoping to do.”
Do you see Michael Waltrip in the race shop? “Michael (Waltrip) and Ty Norris (executive vice president, Michael Waltrip Racing) are both machines — they’re machines — incredible people. Michael is funny and he is fun, but he is no goof. He’s a really smart guy that I didn’t realize — I didn’t realize how smart he was until I started working alongside him. I’m learning from Michael Waltrip.”
What have you seen from Clint Bowyer? “I’ve known Clint (Bowyer) for a while and I haven’t had a chance to work really close to him until starting this weekend. I know Clint real well and he’s an incredibly driven young man and talented. It’s going to be a lot of fun. I’ve worked with Martin Truex (Jr.) and been his teammate before. They’ve got great drivers, great crew chiefs, tremendous people working at MWR (Michael Waltrip Racing) with good sponsors. We’re looking forward to the challenge that we face.”
How has Daytona changed from the first year you raced here to now? “I came with my own car, owning my own team, without a sponsor and totally ill-prepared. My car was built one inch too low so I had to run the body an inch too high because the frame rails were built at four inches and the ground clearance stick was five inches so we had to run the car an inch too high. It didn’t run worth a flip and it blew up. I left here broke, blew up and everything else. So I began the season pretty much broke in half. This is a whole different thing. I’ve got Aaron’s doing TV commercials during the Daytona 500. I’ve got all the support from MWR — Rodney Childers is a great crew chief — excited about working with all the new people and the folks from Toyota. This is really a good time for me — anytime that you’re put in a new situation it can be a tremendous motivator. I’m motivated, I’m learning new things, I’m learning new people and I’m really up on my toes. It’s good.”
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TOYOTA NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) Mark Martin — Notes & Quotes Daytona Media Day – February 16, 2012
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MARK MARTIN, No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing (continued) How will the sport accept a woman getting all of the publicity and exposure that Danica Patrick will get this year? “I think most of us are going to accept it well because we see it as a plus or an addition. The more eyes that tune in to watch Danica Patrick is the more eyes that see the Aaron’s Dream Machine on the race track. From that standpoint, it’s a good thing. Any time that there’s a lot of noise made there’s going to be a lot of supporters and a good bit of negative as well. It’s a positive for our sport.”
How much pressure is it to run for a championship? “I can identify with those young boys and the torment that they can live. I’m sure glad I don’t have to deal with that anymore.”
Is there any scenario in which you might change your plan and run a full season this year? “No. I did it in ’07. Don’t forget. If I won the first three races I’d be in the Chase probably so maybe I would run the last 10 races, but that is a maybe. That wouldn’t change a whole lot because I’m running a lot of the last 10 anyway. No, listen, you guys have trapped me in a bunch of stuff before and I’m not going to fall into that trap. I’m just going to say that I’m as confident now as I was in 2007 when we were leading the points and didn’t go to Bristol and didn’t think twice about it. It’s not on my radar screen. I love racing and I want to race and you know what, even though it’s been a long time since people have done it except for me in 2007 and 2008, what I’m doing is old school. It’s what David Pearson did, it’s what Cale Yarborough did. They raced the races that they wanted to race and they didn’t race the races that they didn’t want to. I like them all, but I’ve got to take a certain amount of breaks and the ones that I’m taking make the most sense to me. I really think it makes me a better racer at this point in time, after all of these years. It makes me a much better racer to skip some races and recharge. It makes me more hungry and more excited each time.”
