#9 Favorite Athlete of All-Time: Mark Martin
I’ve only been following NASCAR for a short period of time, but I’m already a huge Mark Martin fan. How did that happen? I wrote a post about him back in April and in it, I explained how I became a Mark Martin fan. It boils down to this:
As Martin battled Greg Biffle for the lead at Homestead-Miami Speedway during the last race of the 2005 season, Martin realized something—Biffle’s car was better, so rather than wrecking himself or Biffle, he backed off and allowed Biffle to win. Afterward, Biffle was highly complementary of Martin's actions. Turns out, Martin has been known for such actions for a long time. That one action turned me into a huge fan of Mark Martin and of NASCAR in general.
I’ve been following Martin’s career ever since. Unfortunately, this may be his last full season as a driver and that sort of bums me out. From what I understand, the driver that his team is planning to replace Mark with after he retires really isn’t ready yet, so he may come back in a limited capacity next season. He’s currently sixth in the point standings, and he’s never won the championship before. I’m hoping that he finishes his last full season on top.
As is the case with most of my favorite athletes, I list Martin among my favorites for more than just who he is and on and off the track. He’s one my favorite athletes because he represents something to me. In an age in which too many athletes embrace the use of steroids, and exhibit more selfishness than a 7-year old in a candy store, and an overall disrespect for their respective sport, Mark Martin rises above it all.
He’s become the standard by which other drivers compete. Mark Martin is everything that is right about sports. He’s classy, competitive, knows his limits, expects other drivers to know their’s, and you get the feeling by listening to him that he couldn’t respect his sport any more than he does.
