No regrets: Mark Martin happy to be home
By GODWIN KELLY - March 25, 2007
ELLISVILLE -- Mark Martin stood on top of the transporter and talked his new student through the slightly banked turns at Columbia Motorsports Park.
Armed with a stopwatch, the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series star radioed back and forth with motorcycle great Ricky Carmichael during the late-afternoon Super Late Model practice session.
This was Carmichael's final prep before competing in his first professional stock car event Saturday night. The 27-year-old Carmichael said goodbye to Supercross racing last weekend to begin this new and very different motorsports odyssey.
"I want to be here and I need to be here," Carmichael said. "Mark is a great coach, and I know I need him today. He's doing his deal and having a good time doing it."
Martin's deal is to race on his own terms.
Before they start the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway this afternoon, Martin will be the Nextel Cup points leader. Instead of racing at Bristol, Martin will be at his Daytona Beach home hosting a cookout for friends and family.
After 19 years and 621 consecutive Cup starts, Martin decided enough was enough. He had given his all to NASCAR racing and at 48 he figures it's time to reclaim his private life.
"I'm thankful he would take time away from his schedule to be here," Carmichael said.
WORKING ON THE CAR
Columbia Motorsports Park, part of Robert Hart's growing FASCAR empire, is the essence of grassroots racing -- a dimly lit facility on the outskirts of nowherem, with flying bugs gathered around the light poles.
"I want to be here and I need to be here," Carmichael said. "Mark is a great coach, and I know I need him today. He's doing his deal and having a good time doing it."
Hart hired extra security -- even the Columbia County sheriff showed up -- to keep the autograph hounds at bay and let the employees of Mark Martin Racing do their jobs.
Martin was right in there digging with his troops, concentrating mostly on Carmichael's stock car.
Martin's 15-year-old son Matt was entered in the No. 66 Chevy. He knows the short-track routine and didn't need much assistance from Dad.
"Matt and his crew seem to do better when I'm not here, so I'm sort of invisible to them tonight," Martin said. "I'm letting them do their thing."
If you didn't know Martin's identity, you would have sworn he was just another mechanic on the team.
Part of his duties Saturday was to jack Carmichael's car and inspect the tires for wear and tear when it arrived in the garage area for tweaking.
The scene was just the opposite of his normal job which is to drive the wheels off, of Bobby Ginn's No. 01 Chevrolet in Cup racing. At that level, Martin hardly touches the car.
Martin was hot. He was dirty. He was busy. He was in high spirits.
"This isn't exactly what I had in mind, but it comes with the territory," he said of his sweaty duties. "I'm very happy. I haven't been this happy in a long, long time."
JET SITS IDLE
There were absolutely no regrets about skipping Bristol and losing the points lead. Some thought he would relent and show up this weekend at the Tennessee short track.
Martin stuck to his plans, and you could see the relief etched across his face.
"Ricky's doing the driving, so I'm not having to think about it as much as usual," he said. "For me, I'm having a lot of fun. This is a lot of fun."
"I'm looking forward to working with Ricky. He's a fine, young man. This is only the first little brick in the foundation."
Part of Martin's job description at Ginn Racing is to shepherd new, young talent. Carmichael had the complete attention of a guy with 35 Cup wins and four runner-up points finishes.
Not a bad coach when you're contemplating a racing career.
As for Martin, absolutely no Second-guessing his own decision to watch today's Cup race on his wide-screen TV at home.
Asked if his jet back in Daytona was fueled and ready for takeoff to Bristol, Martin smiled.
"That's not what I got in mind," he said.
