How long does it take?

Saturday Mark Martin won his first race since 2005. I've always been a Martin fan. I've never really liked Rousch Racing, but there's something about Mark Martin that you just can't dislike. Very few racers have it and I wonder how long it takes to get it. What does it take to be the driver that other drivers root for? Does it have to do with age? Is it only from showing respect on the track to other drivers? Is it the fact that he's finished 2nd in the points four times and has never won a championship? There are a ton of reasons that could explain this but I don't think any of them are right but none of them are wrong.

There are a select few drivers that are loved by many and hated by virtually none. Jimmie Johnson isn't one, Dale Jr isn't one, Jeff Gordon isn't one, and even the late Dale Sr. isn't one. These drivers are loved by many, but are probably hated by many more. They win too much, or they're too arrogant, or fans can't stand them for reasons they can't explain. But talk about Mark Martin and you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who says anything bad about him.

My feeling is that you add up his on track respect, with his talent, his desire to win, his age, and the lack of a championship and that's how you get 20 some odd competitors to come to victory lane and shake your hand once you've won a race. It's what makes your former boss, and biggest owner of your competition, come and give you a hug and say "nice job". You don't see that very often. I kind of doubt that Rick Hendrick was hugging Kyle Busch after his first win with JGR and I doubt Teresa sent Junior a gift basket after his first win with Hendrick's.

Mark Martin has done a lot for the sport of stock car racing but he's done it quietly and in a way that you almost forget about him, and that's how he seems to like it. He likes being questioned about being too old to compete and being put in a car that has struggled some over the last few years. All those "obstacles" will make it that much sweeter when he finishes in the top five at the end of the year. And while it's a crap shoot at this point, don't be surprised if we have a silver haired Champion for 2009 because Mark Martin has what it takes to make that very thing happen, and he knows it.

Gordy Got His Boots

After 16 tries and 16 failures the Dupont Chevrolet finally found victory lane in Texas. And not only that, they did it after a 47 race winless streak that had been looming over their heads like a storm cloud promising a rain delay. While the 24 team is not quite at the level they ran in 1998 pulling off 13 wins that year, I can say that they are looking better than they've looked in a very long time. In 2007 Gordon racked up 30 top tens and 6 wins and still managed to finish 2nd behind the 48. After a "bad" 2008 where he finished 10th it looks like the whole team is back on track to be a championship contender.

With Jeff 6th on the all time win list and having 4 Cup Series Championships you can't deny that the man is a good driver. The burning question that comes up in discussions with friends is if Jeff Gordon is better than Dale Earnhardt Sr. If you look at wins Jeff is better. If you look at Championships then Earnhardt is better.....maybe. Yeah he has 7 rings to Gordon's 4, but they were all won under the old points system. If you run all of Jeff's seasons under the same points system he would now have 6 championships and is still arguably in his prime. And while I'm a fan of the "good old days" racing I do believe that the competition today is more stiff than in Earnhardt's prime.

I'm not taking anything away from Earnhardt Sr., he was a great driver and I would put him in the top three of all time. And for sure he's done more for the sport of racing than any other driver except maybe The King himself. I just think that when it comes to raw talent Jeff Gordon deserves a little more credit than what he gets.

Now if we could just get Ray Evernham to come out of retirement Jeff could go out and win 4 more titles then no one could question his talent.