12 Questions with Mark Martin

Jeff Gluck | USA TODAY Sports





Our series of NASCAR driver interviews continues this week with Mark Martin, who is currently subbing for the injured Tony Stewart at Stewart-Haas Racing.

Q: From what you've seen, whose driving style is the most similar to yours? Does anyone remind you of yourself?

A: I've seen a few better versions of me (laughs). I think everybody is a little bit different, but I'd say Jeff Burton, Tony Stewart and Matt Kenseth seem to have styles similar to mine – or what mine was like back in the day.

The styles are heavily influenced now by the racing, the way it is and the cars the way they are. So it's harder to see that individual style as much.

Q: How much of your own personal memorabilia have you saved? Do you collect firesuits, helmets and diecast cars?

A: Quite a bit. You haven't had the opportunity to see my (museum) in Batesville (Ark.), right? You should see it sometime. I've got extremely little prior to NASCAR – I didn't have any place to put the stuff, and I needed every dollar to reinvest toward moving up through the ranks and all. So I don't have a lot of that, but I do have a lot since I started NASCAR racing. I've got quite a few cars and lots of uniforms.

What happened to the stuff from your pre-NASCAR days?

I threw my trophies in the dumpster. All of them. I got married and we moved seven times in the first five years. I'm going to guess by the third or fourth move, I threw them all in the dumpster because they were already broken and beat up – and where was I supposed to put them? We were living in apartments, you know? And the trophies were cheap anyway, and so they didn't travel well (laughs).

My wife told me: "You're going to wish you didn't do that." She was right.

Q: What percent of success in NASCAR has to do with the driver, what percent is the car and what percent is luck?

A: It's all changed. What is required from the driver now is quite different than when Rusty (Wallace) and Alan Kulwicki and I were breaking into the sport in that era. You were required to know and understand race cars. Now you're not required to – even I don't know and understand these race cars to any major degree.

The guys I named could build their own cars, set them up, take them to the racetrack and they would go fast. You could do none of those things now. I couldn't build one of these, I couldn't set one up, I couldn't figure out how to run the sims on the computer. It's quite different, so the requirements are different now to be a successful driver than they were a long time ago.

But ultimately, you can't keep a good one down. I'll just use Kurt Busch for an example. A great driver can't be kept down – he can be knocked down a notch or two, but you can't keep 'em from shining. And they might not win, but they certainly will shine.





Q: Outside of your family, what person has done the most for your racing career?

A: Jack Roush. He had a lot to do with molding me as a man and I learned a lot from him.

Jack Roush would have never known me if it weren't for Ron Neal of Protoype Racing Engines and Ray Dillon. They were two incredibly important and influential people in my ASA success behind my family. I might (have) eventually reached NASCAR, but it would not have been as soon as I did if not for their incredible support.

Those Prototype Racing Engines were big for me at the time. Coming up, I never had any sponsorship to speak of. But not having to buy parts and engines and springs and shocks and wheels, that's the same thing as sponsorship. That's the same thing as getting checks, so we made it off the purse money and what my family was able to help me with.

Those were two really important people. We scalded the Late Model competition in 1980 and 1981 with the help of those guys.

Q: You come into contact with many people during a race weekend – your team, sponsors, media, fans – and all of them want a piece of your time. With all that demand, how do you divide it up?

A: I try to prioritize it by level of importance to the whole scope, whether it be sponsors, fans, race team, family or friends. I try to handle the most important things first and fit in what's left behind that. But it's hard for me to answer that question, because I wing it. I do it off the cuff – making those decisions on what I have to do, what I need to do and what I would like to do. (Laughs)

Q: I've heard a lot of fans come up to drivers and say something like, "Hey, remember me from that autograph session three years ago?" And that's hard to do, but it shows you they want to be remembered. So if a fan really wants to be remembered by you, what is something they could do?

A: It's hard, because there are so many fans that it's hard to differentiate (between them) and it also depends on where your head is at -- if you're into the moment or if your mind is on upcoming practice or some other event that's requiring your thoughts.

For me, it would have to do with some kindness – not to me, but if I was able to see some kind of incredible support. Something that made me admire them for their commitment to the sport or something like that. It probably would stick in my mind.

Q: The last person you wrecked – did you do it on purpose?

A: I did.

You did?

Well, I mean, the last person I wrecked was certainly by accident. But I did wreck someone on purpose several years ago and I regretted it. But everything since then has certainly been an accident (laughs).

I've only wrecked a few people intentionally in my career of almost 40 years. That's not something I'm proud of. I don't condone wrecking people or tearing up race cars during or after races. I'd much rather have a whipping than see that total disrespect for the people who build these cars and what they put into them. It's total disrespect -- not to mention there are certain dangerous situations as well that can come into play.

I'd just rather settle it man-to-man, fist-to-fist.

Given your daily weightlifting, I don't think I'd want to be in that situation with you.

Well, I wouldn't want to be in that situation with anyone in the garage. But I would rather that than the alternative. If we can't handle it like men and we couldn't handle it verbally, then if I've got a whippin' coming, I'd rather take my whippin' then get run over after the race or wrecked out during the race.

And I don't think NASCAR agrees, and I hate that. I've always settled my business man-to-man, and there's not really any real need to fight. You can settle it without fighting. But if it came to that, I'd rather see that than the blatant disregard for the people who do all the work on the cars.

Who was the person you wrecked on purpose?

I'd rather just move on. I moved on and a lot of people didn't notice, so I'm just going to let it ride (laughs). Because I'm not proud of it. I did later apologize for it. I let my temper get the best of me and it was something I was real ashamed of myself for doing.

Q: Who is a driver you used to clash with but eventually smoothed things over with?

A: You know, I never really had that. Obviously, I had some drivers who I didn't like their style. If I had to say someone, the closest thing to it was Ernie Irvan. I didn't approve of the way he drove when he first got into NASCAR, but he made a miraculous turnaround in the way he did things. And we became really good friends as he progressed to NASCAR and I had enormous respect for him. He was one of the most talented guys I ever raced with.

It's not very often you see someone who can change their driving personality. Usually the way people drive is like a personality – they drive like they drive, just like they act like they act. Not that many people change. But Ernie wrapped his arms around his incredible talent and realized he could still be successful without being reckless, and he changed. We became extremely good friends through that.

Q: What is the best racing-related movie?

A: Rush.

I haven't seen it yet. So it's that good?

Yeah, in my opinion. And Cars.

Cars?

I really liked Cars. I thought it was the most accurate (laughs).

That doesn't say a lot for racing movies.

Most racing movies have been pretty cheesy except for maybe the ones that go way, way back. Maybe I think Rush is so great because I didn't race Formula One, but I was aware of the epic battle of '76 and I really liked that movie. I really thought Ron Howard did a good job of doing it justice.

Q: What is your song of the moment right now? What's a song you are really into?

A: Oh gosh. Do you have to ask that? To answer that would be inappropriate. (Laughs)

Is it hardcore rap?

Oh yeah.

Q: Define yourself without NASCAR. Who are you away from the racing?

A: A little bit obsessive compulsive. Anything that I really get into, I'm really obnoxiously into it. I don't want to jump around between a lot of things. I like one thing and that's all I think about. I've always been that way.

Since I was 15, I've always had this target out there in front of me – and that's racing. Everything in my life sort of had to work with and around that target.

For me, being a part of racing and not driving will be interesting because then racing won't be the primary target. I expect to be involved in racing for awhile – just not driving. So that's going to be interesting. I don't think the pressure, the stress will be there without being the driver who has to perform.

My priorities (are) my love for my family and I want everybody that I love to be really happy. And that's paramount to me. That's more important to me than me being happy. I can't be happy if they're not happy, so I guess it all works hand-in-hand.

Q: I've been asking each person to give a question for the next interview. Last week was Brad Keselowski and he wanted to know: "What path would you recommend a young, aspiring driver should take to make it in Sprint Cup?"

A: If you want to be a NASCAR driver, you need to drive Late Model stock cars first. Then, after you get where you're winning a good bit with your Late Model, the K&N Series is a great springboard because of the visibility it has to the NASCAR guys. It helps open the doors more than some other kind of racing that is not as affiliated with NASCAR. Most of the NASCAR people kind of keep an eye on the real standouts who are coming up through the K&N Series now.

I think the stock car experience is good. You've got to get some of that. But also, some dirt track experience is not bad at all. I've become a bigger fan all the time of the guys who have experience with dirt tracks – Tony Stewart, Kasey Kahne, Kyle Larson. These guys seem to do a little bit better job of searching out different lines around a racetrack than guys like myself who traditionally just did pavement. I started on dirt, but only the first three years.

And do you have a question for the next driver?

Yeah. "Have you ever thought about what your life would be like when you no longer drive these race cars?" What are their thoughts on that?

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MARK MARTIN'S THREE FAVORITE APPS:

-- Twitter

-- Instagram

-- CalorieSmart (food diary). It shows me my totals for today and what I've eaten today. I've been keeping these for years now.

Follow Gluck on Twitter @jeff_gluck