For many, Mark Martin is arguably the greatest NASCAR driver who has never won the championship. Call it bad luck or simply destiny, but the Arkansas-native has come close to lifting the Bill France Cup on plenty of occasions. He has finished runner-up in the Cup Series a staggering five times, but the 1998 season will always stand out as the one where he came closer than ever.
However, a magical season by Jeff Gordon proved to be the stumbling block.
The Stage Was Set for Mark Martin
Martin knew he had his work cut out after finishing third in 1997. Driving the No. 6 Ford for Roush Racing, he secured four wins that year, but ended the season behind Jeff Gordon and Dale Jarrett.
Knowing that the gap was narrower than ever, Jimmy Elledge was brought on as shop foreman, with the team hoping that small changes in the pit crew would lead to big gains on the racetrack.
Recalling his ‘dream team’ in 1998, Martin candidly said on the “Door Bumper Clear podcast”, “From ’97, where we won, I think four races or so. To ’98, the only person on my team I kept was my spotter and Jimmy Finnig as crew chief, and maybe Dennis Ritchie, the truck driver. Everybody else was new. And Jimmy [Elledge] came on board. I think he was a rear tire changer and a general mechanic road crew. And I learned what an incredible racer he was. And we had such an incredible race team.”
The results reflected the competency of the pit crew. Martin finished the season with 4943 points, which should have been enough to win the championship. But standing in the way was his rival.
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Reflecting on just how close he came to lifting the Bill France Cup, Martin said, “By the way, we won the Winston in seven races that year and scored enough points to win the championship any other year except that year where Jeff Gordon won 13 races and destroyed us.”
Gordon’s dominance in 1998 was far from ordinary. It was the highest single-season Cup Series win total since NASCAR‘s ‘King’ Richard Petty won 13 times in 1975. The only driver who has even come close to that tally since is Jimmie Johnson in 2007, securing 10 wins. That just goes to show how dominant Jeff ‘Wonder Boy’ Gordon was.
What makes his season even more special is the fact that he won three times in the first 15 races, which would be considered exceptional for most drivers.
However, he then went on to win 10 times in the final 18 races of the season, including the Coca-Cola 600, Southern 500, Brickyard 400, and the second race at Daytona International Speedway.
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Gordon also showed his versatility by securing wins on road courses such as Sonoma Raceway and Watkins Glen International.
So it’s fair to say that Martin using the word “destroyed” would be pretty apt under such circumstances. Ultimately, ‘the Kid’ went on to finish runner-up in 98, left with bittersweet memories of that season.
