1981–1982 Martin experienced an unsettled start to his NASCAR career, competing for six different teams between 1981 and 1987. He made five starts in 1981 with a team owned by Bud Reeder, earning
pole positions at
Nashville and
Richmond and recording a third-place finish in his final race of the season at
Martinsville. Martin raced full-time in 1982 with the Bud Reeder team, supported by sponsorship from Apache Stove. As the season progressed, however, the team went bankrupt, and Martin did not receive payment. He was competing for
Rookie of the Year honors that year. At the conclusion of the season, Martin sold off his equipment and signed with
Jim Stacy to compete in 1983. Martin ended the 1987 season with three wins, six poles, thirteen top-tens, and an eighth-place finish in the points standings.
Roush Racing 1988–1991 Martin came aboard the newly formed
Roush Racing, with crew chief Steve Hmiel, for the first of nineteen seasons in 1988, driving the No. 6
Ford Thunderbird. Martin showed both signs of struggle and potential in his inaugural
NASCAR Winston Cup Series season, recording three top-five finishes and ten top-ten finishes, along with winning the
pole at
Dover. He finished a season-high second at
Bristol early in the year. Consistency proved crucial, as ten DNF's prevented Martin from cracking the top-ten in points at any point during the season. He finished his comeback year 15th in the standings. Martin also competed in the
Busch Series on a limited basis for
Bill Davis Racing from 1988 to 1991. Martin's 1989 season began much like his 1988 campaign, with a DNF in the
Daytona 500. After the first four races, he was 18th in the standings but went on to continue the year with four poles and a stretch of finishing sixth or better in the next seven starts. He spent much of the season fluctuating between second and fifth in the standings. With three races remaining, he won his first Winston Cup race at
Rockingham, beating eventual series champion
Rusty Wallace by three seconds. It was the first win for Roush as an owner. An engine failure in the season finale at
Atlanta relegated him to a third-place finish in the standings. Martin led the series with a 5.3 average starting position, posting six poles and twenty-six top-ten starting positions in twenty-nine races. He also posted fourteen top-five finishes, eighteen top-ten finishes, and reduced his DNF total from ten to four. Martin entered the 1990 season as a favorite to win the Winston Cup championship. He started the year with a 21st-place finish in the
Daytona 500, his first completed run in the big race in six attempts. His team was met with controversy following his second career win at
Richmond. During post-race inspection, it was determined that he had raced with an illegal
carburetor spacer. Had the spacer been welded instead of bolted on, it would not have been considered illegal. The consensus among Martin's fellow competitors was that the part did not provide a performance advantage, but it also was not strictly within the "letter of the law" with regard to the NASCAR rulebook. As a result, Martin was penalized 46 championship points, and
crew chief Robin Pemberton was fined $40,000. Following a DNF the next race, Martin finished no worse than 14th over the final twenty-six races. He gained the championship points lead one-third into the season and held onto it for sixteen races before dropping it to
Dale Earnhardt with two races remaining. Despite having three wins, sixteen top-fives, twenty-three top-tens, and three poles, Martin lost to Earnhardt by twenty-six points in the final standings. Had the 46-point penalty never occurred, he theoretically would have won the championship over Earnhardt by twenty points. Martin's 1991 season was disappointing compared to the previous year, as he entered with expectations of winning the series championship. Although he ran well, he never achieved the points lead throughout the season and was winless entering the season finale at
Atlanta, a race he that he ultimately won. He also came close to winning at
Charlotte three races prior, leading 198 of the first 212 laps before engine failure ended his race. Along with his win at Atlanta, Martin finished the year with fourteen top-fives, seventeen top-tens, five poles, and a 6th-place finish in the standings.
1992–2004 1998 Mark entered the 1992 season's final race, the
1992 Hooters 500 in
Atlanta, as one of six drivers in contention for the championship, but an engine failure on lap 160 ended his championship hopes. He finished the season with wins at
Martinsville and Charlotte, along with ten top-five finishes, seventeen top-ten finishes, one pole, and a second consecutive sixth-place finish in the standings. Martin began the 1993 season with a 6th-place finish in the
1993 Daytona 500, his first Top 20 finish in the event. In the second half of the season, he became the sixth driver in NASCAR's modern era to win four consecutive races, winning at
Watkins Glen,
Michigan,
Bristol, and
Darlington. Along with a win at
Phoenix, Martin finished with five wins, twelve top-five finishes, nineteen top-ten finishes, and five poles en route to a 3rd-place finish in the standings, 376 points behind
Dale Earnhardt and 296 points behind points runner-up
Rusty Wallace. It was his first top-five finish in the standings since his near-championship win three years earlier. Despite having eight DNF's, Martin finished 2nd to Dale Earnhardt in the 1994 standings, 444 points behind. He posted two wins, including winning from the pole at Watkins Glen for the second consecutive year, and the season finale in Atlanta. Martin also scored fifteen Top 5's and twenty top-tens during the season, his most since 1990. Other than the season opener at
Daytona, Martin was never outside the top-five in the standings. Among the highlights of Martin's 1994 season was a spectacular and frightening crash at the
1994 Winston Select 500: on Lap 103,
Todd Bodine,
Greg Sacks, and
Jeff Gordon got together in the tri-oval, collecting an additional eight cars, including Martin. Martin's car lost its brakes, ran through the infield grass, smashed the inside wall, and plowed through a guardrail, a chain-link fence, and another guardrail protecting the infield road course, coming to rest only feet from a spectator area. In 1994, Martin raced in the Busch Series. That year he became known for a mistake he made at Bristol. Martin led the field to a white and caution flag to win. When coming back by, Martin went down pit road thinking it was over, but he did not take the checkered flag.
David Green took the win, and in victory circle Green said "I feel bad for him. A tough way for me to win, but I will take it." Martin finished eleventh; afterwards he stated "I can't believe anybody else would be that stupid," and that the mistake was "the stupidest thing I've ever done". Martin won four races in 1995, including his third consecutive win from the pole at Watkins Glen and a victory at Talladega, his first
restrictor-plate win. He also finished with thirteen top-fives and twenty-two top-tens. Though he had only one DNF, he had five finishes of 28th or worse, which earned him fourth place in the standings. Martin was one of three drivers, the others being Dale Earnhardt and
Sterling Marlin, to be ranked in the top-five for all thirty-one races; none of them won the championship. For the Busch Series in 1995, Martin won three races, including the controversial
Detroit Gasket 200, where
Dale Jarrett won before being disqualified, handing victory to Martin. In 1996, Martin was winless for the first time in eight seasons. Other than his lack of wins, his season was very similar to 1995, with fourteen top-five finishes, twenty-three top-ten finishes, and four poles. He finished a season-high second four times, including at
Michigan when he was passed by winner
Dale Jarrett with eight laps to go. He finished the season fifth in the standings and had fifteen consecutive top-ten finishes to close out the season. In 1997, Martin rebounded, scoring four wins at Sonoma, Talladega, Michigan, and Dover. He finished third in the final standings, 29 points behind champion
Jeff Gordon and fifteen points behind runner-up
Dale Jarrett. In 1998, Martin had his best season, scoring seven wins, twenty-two top-fives, twenty-six top-tens, and three poles with an average finish of 8.64. But once again, Martin finished as a runner-up in the standings to Jeff Gordon by 364 points. Although he scored only two wins in 1999, Martin scored twenty-six top-ten's for the second consecutive season and finished third in points. In 2000, Martin won just once at the
2000 Goody's Body Pain 500 and finished eighth in points, his first finish outside the top-five since 1992. Martin's struggles continued in 2001, as he went winless for the first time since 1996 and finished 12th in points. In 2002, Martin received a new crew chief in
Ben Leslie as Fennig moved to second-year driver
Kurt Busch. The move would pay off for both sides, as Martin would win one race that season at the
Coca-Cola 600 and was a championship contender all season. He even led the standings at one point, but a late-season penalty at
Rockingham arguably cost him the championship, as he came home second again, this time to
Tony Stewart. Martin struggled again in 2003, going winless and finishing 17th in points.
Ben Leslie was reassigned to the No. 21
Wood Brothers Racing car with two races remaining in 2003. Subsequently,
Pat Tryson was brought on as the new crew chief for the No. 6 team. With Tryson, Martin returned to victory lane in the
2004 MBNA America 400 and finished 4th in points.
2005–2006 in 2005 Overall, with Roush Racing, Martin won thirty-five career NASCAR Cup Series races and finished 2nd in the Cup Series point standings four times (1990, 1994, 1998, and 2002). While racing for Roush in 1990, Martin came closest to winning a championship. A 46-point penalty at Richmond, for using an illegal (but non-performance-enhancing) carburetor spacer, caused him to lose to
Dale Earnhardt by 26 points in the final standings. During this time, Martin also won five
IROC titles (1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, and 2005) and thirteen races, both records for that series. Martin announced he would cut back from "full-time" Cup Series racing after the 2005 season, dubbing the season the "Salute to You" tour as a thank-you to his fans. Martin won the Nextel Challenge in a "Retro 93" paint scheme, picked up his final win with Roush at Kansas, and again made the Chase for the Cup with a fourth place finish in the standings at the end of the year. In a tribute to Martin's career at Roush, the team ran four throwback retro schemes in 2005 that celebrated paint schemes from 1981, 1988–89, 1990–91, and 1993. In June 2005, it was announced that
Jamie McMurray would replace Martin in the No. 6 car in 2006. However, after the departure of
Kurt Busch in 2005, resulting in McMurray moving to Busch's team instead, Roush was left without a driver for the No. 6 car for 2006. Martin later agreed to come back and drive for the 2006 season. Ultimately, it was announced that McMurray would be released from his contract at
Chip Ganassi Racing one year early and would take over for Busch, who was dismissed from the Roush organization before the end of the 2005 season.
David Ragan was announced as Martin's replacement in the No. 6 for 2007. In 2006, Martin competed in fourteen of 25 races in the Truck Series. He won six times, including the opener at Daytona, and recorded twelve Top 10 finishes. Normally, the caution flag is shown as soon as one or more cars make contact with the wall. Despite the controversy, Martin was gracious in defeat, saying, "I didn't get the job done." 2007 was Martin's first season to start with three consecutive Top 5 finishes. Martin is the only part-time driver in NASCAR history to not win the opening race but still be leading the points standings. It was also the first time he had three consecutive Top 5 finishes since 2002. Martin is also the oldest driver in the modern era to lead the Nextel Cup points for more than one week. Martin led the Nextel Cup points from the second race of the season, the
Auto Club 500, through the fourth race of the season, the
Kobalt Tools 500. Martin did not compete in the
Food City 500, becoming the first driver since
Cale Yarborough to sit out a race as the points leader. On July 25, 2007,
Dale Earnhardt, Inc. announced it had acquired
Ginn Racing, and Martin joined
Dale Earnhardt Jr.,
Martin Truex Jr., and
Paul Menard as a driver for DEI starting at the
2007 Brickyard 400. He shared the No. 01 car with
Aric Almirola for the rest of the season.
2008 On September 8, 2007, it was announced that Martin would share the No. 8 car with
Aric Almirola in the
2008 Sprint Cup Series. Martin made his seven-hundredth career start at the
2008 Auto Club 500. On March 1, 2008, Martin won the
2008 Sam's Town 300 driving the No. 5 Delphi Chevrolet for
JR Motorsports. It was Martin's 48th career Nationwide Series victory and JR Motorsports' first win. Martin finished out 2008 with eleven top-tens in twenty-one starts. During the weekend of the
2008 Toyota/Save Mart 350, ESPN reported that Martin was leaving
Dale Earnhardt, Inc. following the 2008 season. It was announced that
Aric Almirola, who had shared the No. 8 car with Martin, would drive the car full-time in 2009.
Hendrick Motorsports 2009: Runner-up points finish On July 4, 2008,
Hendrick Motorsports owner
Rick Hendrick and Martin announced that he would replace
Casey Mears in the No. 5 car for the 2009 season, running a full-time schedule for the first time since 2006. Martin signed a two-year contract with Hendrick, with a full-time schedule for 2009 and 2010. Martin grabbed his first pole since 2001 at the
Kobalt Tools 500 at
Atlanta, and followed up with back-to-back poles the following week at
Bristol. On April 18, 2009, Martin became the fourth ever driver to win a Cup race in NASCAR after turning 50, winning the
2009 Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix from the pole position. The other three were
Bobby Allison,
Morgan Shepherd (twice), and
Harry Gant (8 times, last in 1992). His win snapped a 97-race winless streak dating back to 2005. After the victory, he did a
Polish Victory Lap as a tribute to his late friend
Alan Kulwicki, at the place where Kulwicki did his first Polish Victory Lap. Despite his series-leading four wins, due to some early season troubles, including two engine failures, a blown tire, and getting caught up in multi-car wrecks at
Talladega and Daytona, Martin had struggled to get into the top-12, moving up two spots to 11th place with the win at Chicagoland. Martin also got his fifth pole of the 2009 season at
Bristol Motor Speedway for the
Sharpie 500. After being on the Chase bubble for most of the season, Martin qualified for the
2009 Chase for the Sprint Cup, as he was in sixth place in the standings following the
2009 Chevy Rock & Roll 400. Because he led the Chase drivers in wins, with four, the Chase reseeding process moved him up five places and made him the points leader. On September 20, he won his 40th and final career victory in Cup competition by taking the
2009 Sylvania 300 at
New Hampshire Motor Speedway in the first race of the Chase. The win broke Martin's tie with
Kyle Busch for the series wins lead and marked the third and final time in his career that he had won at least five times in a season (1993 and 1998). Martin extended his lead to 35 points over Jimmie Johnson and
Denny Hamlin, who were tied for second in the standings. At the end of the
2009 AMP Energy 500 at Talladega, Martin was involved in a frightening crash in the last laps when he turned after contact with
Martin Truex Jr. and
Juan Pablo Montoya, and flipped over one and a half times. It was the second time Martin had ever been upside down in his racing career. Once righted, Martin managed to drive his car back to pit road. The wreck essentially ended his championship hopes according to experts. Entering the season finale at
Homestead–Miami Speedway, Martin and Johnson were the only drivers still able to win the
2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship. Martin finished twelfth in the race, which was not enough to overcome Johnson's lead. Martin again finished second in the standings, for the fifth and final time in his career.
2010 In 2010, Martin started the year strong and won the pole for the
2010 Daytona 500. Martin ran well in the
Sprint Unlimited, but was caught up in the "big one" during a
green–white–checkered finish and finished 21st. Martin started the Daytona 500 well, leading the majority of the first thirty laps, but after being stuck in the middle line of the racing pack, he dropped down as low as 33rd and had to pick his way through the rest of the day, eventually finishing 12th. Martin ran well at the
2010 Auto Club 500 and
2010 Shelby American, scoring back-to-back fourth-place finishes and advancing as high as 3rd in the points standings, only 49 points out of the lead. However, he was less successful in his next three races. He got caught up in wrecks at both the
2010 Kobalt Tools 500 and
2010 Food City 500, finishing 33rd and 35th, respectively. At the
2010 Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500, Martin was leading the field and running top-five during most of the day until a flat tire relegated him to 21st. During this stretch of bad luck, Martin fell from third to 17th in the points standings, 214 points behind the leader. The next three races of the 2010 season saw Martin rally back. With a fourth-place finish at the
2010 Subway Fresh Fit 600, a 6th-place finish at Texas, and a fifth-place finish at the
2010 Aaron's 499, Martin jumped from 17th in the points standings to sixth, 169 points behind the leader. Martin's bad luck struck again in the following three races as he struggled to get a handle on his race cars. A 25th-place finish at the
2010 Crown Royal Presents the Heath Calhoun 400, 16th-place finish at the
2010 Showtime Southern 500, and 15th-place finish at the
2010 Autism Speaks 400 caused Martin to fall to 11th in the points standings, 293 points behind the leader. In the
2010 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, qualifying was rained out. The field was set in the order the drivers drew. Martin started 15th and finished the first fifty-lap segment in 15th. He used a two-tire pit stop to gain a position and finished the second twenty-lap segment in third. He held his position in the third twenty-lap segment and finished 3rd. Martin lost a spot during the mandatory four-tire pit stop before the start of the final ten-lap shootout for the $1 million. However, as the field took the green, Martin was hit by another car and crashed, finishing 17th. A week later, Martin returned to
Charlotte Motor Speedway for the
2010 Coca-Cola 600. Martin qualified 11th and struggled with handling issues for much of the race. However, during a caution with twenty laps to go, most of the field pitted, and Martin chose to stay out. He restarted second and finished the race in fourth. Martin had a season best finish of second at the
2010 TUMS Fast Relief 500. Martin crashed with 275 laps to go, but managed to work his way up fifteen spots with bent fenders and no rear end.
2011 In 2011, Martin began the season with an accident in the
2011 Budweiser Shootout. During the
2011 Daytona 500, he was involved in a multiple-car accident. In the
2011 Subway Fresh Fit 500, he managed to finish 13th. One week later, Martin participated in the
Nationwide Series Sam's Town 300 at
Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where he was able to win his 49th race in the series. He finished the Sprint Cup season 22nd in points. Martin parted ways with
Hendrick Motorsports at the end of the 2011 season, with
Kasey Kahne taking over the No. 5 Chevrolet.
Michael Waltrip Racing and part-time days 2012 in 2012 On November 4, 2011,
Michael Waltrip Racing announced that Martin would replace
David Reutimann in 2012, signing him to a two-year deal to drive the No. 55. He was signed to drive 25 races in both 2012 and 2013, sharing the car with
Michael Waltrip and
Brian Vickers. Martin finished the year with four top-five finishes and ten top-ten finishes. He led the most laps after winning the pole at the
2012 Pure Michigan 400, but was involved in a bizarre accident around lap 64. Martin was about to lap
Bobby Labonte and
Juan Pablo Montoya when Labonte's car got loose, collecting Martin and
Kasey Kahne. Martin's car skidded down pit road, allowing the opening of the concrete pit wall to penetrate just behind the driver's compartment, breaching the car's oil tank and sending Kahne's pit crew scrambling for cover.
2013 Martin's 2013 season started with a 3rd-place finish in the
2013 Daytona 500. He backed up his strong Daytona finish by winning the pole for the
2013 Subway Fresh Fit 500, becoming the second-oldest driver to win a pole in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. He finished 21st at Phoenix, followed by a 14th-place finish at
2013 Kobalt Tools 400. Martin skipped
2013 Food City 500, where
Brian Vickers drove the car. When Martin returned at
2013 Auto Club 400, he finished 37th after spinning on the back straightaway late in the race, collecting
David Gilliland. A few days after the Auto Club 400,
Joe Gibbs hired Martin to drive
Denny Hamlin's No. 11 FedEx Toyota at the
2013 STP Gas Booster 500 after Hamlin suffered a
compression fracture of a vertebra in his lower back after being involved in a crash with
Joey Logano on the last lap of the Fontana race. In his one appearance in the No. 11, Martin was involved in a melee on lap 180, sustaining damage, and later had a mishap on a pit stop that caused him to be penalized a lap, but he managed to finish tenth. Martin returned to the No. 55 at the
2013 NRA 500. Following two top-15 finishes in his original car in the next two races, Martin qualified tenth at the
2013 Toyota Owners 400, but finished 38th after an accident on lap 348. At the
2013 Coca-Cola 600, on lap 324, Martin was involved in a crash with
Jeff Gordon and
Aric Almirola, which brought out the red flag. In early August, it was announced that
Brian Vickers would drive the No. 55 full-time starting in 2014. Thus, Martin's future status with MWR was left uncertain. At the
2013 Pure Michigan 400 at
Michigan International Speedway, Martin nearly won before running out of fuel with three laps remaining. Afterward, it was announced that Martin would be given an early release from MWR, and would be joining
Stewart–Haas Racing to drive the No. 14 Chevrolet, beginning with the
2013 Irwin Tools Night Race at
Bristol Motor Speedway. Martin drove in all but one race for the remainder of the season as a substitute driver for the injured
Tony Stewart. ==Post-racing career==