Latest / Kenny Wallace Media / Mark Martin | Kenny Conversation Classics

Transcript

Mark Martin | Kenny Conversation Classics · Kenny Wallace Media

0:00
Well, you're looking at him. NASCAR Hall of Famer.
0:03
He's won more races than you and I will ever think of.
0:07
And this is called catching up with Mark the Kid.
0:10
Martin, Mark, how you doing? I'm doing great, man.
0:14
It's good to be with you here, Kenny.
0:17
You know, Mark, I've known you my whole life and it just feels
0:21
so good for me to say, Mark the kid, Martin, because you, you
0:25
started racing at such a young age.
0:28
Do you remember who named you that?
0:31
Pretty sure it was Bob Seneker. Yeah, I'm pretty sure Bob
0:36
Seneker. You know, Bob was had one of
0:39
those real quiet sense of humor is kind of like Matt Kenseth,
0:45
you know, a lot of sense of junior, but not not you know, he
0:49
doesn't say a lot, but when he does sometimes it's funny.
0:52
So I think he did. He also called me Captain Crunch
0:55
once, which really hurt my feelings in 1977.
1:00
But I learned not correct so much.
1:03
I I wasn't wrecking. The people in front of me were
1:05
wrecking and I was hitting them and I couldn't understand why
1:09
Bob and Dick Trickle and those guys could miss the wreck and I
1:13
couldn't. But somehow or another, after a
1:15
couple years I've started missing them just like just like
1:18
they did. You know what, you just gave me
1:21
a very good topic. It isn't that something about
1:24
racing, you know, Rodger Penske would say we create our own
1:29
luck. I don't know how much I I mean,
1:32
I don't know how much I believe that because you're right.
1:34
I mean, you there, there could be a deal where you know you're,
1:37
you're going down in the turn one at Dover and somebody blows
1:40
a motor in front of you and you're in their oil.
1:43
And then it can happen week after week.
1:46
Bad luck does happen, doesn't it Mark?
1:49
Well, you can create your good luck, but you can't create, you
1:53
know, you don't create your bad luck.
1:55
I mean, it's just, you know, some people have more of it than
1:59
others. And I probably had more than my
2:03
share in NASCAR. But yeah, I mean, you know, I
2:11
get what it what Rodger saying, but I also think that you can,
2:16
you know, if you just have untimely 1 untimely event that
2:21
you can't control that can destroy a win or a championship
2:27
or, you know, any, you know, anything that you're trying to
2:31
achieve, you know, sometimes things are just not in your
2:34
control. And before we move on, a great
2:38
example was Dale Earnhardt, senior going down the back
2:43
straightaway, coming to the checkered flag and I guess he
2:46
hits a seagull or whatever, blows the tire out and and
2:49
Derek, Derek Cope wins the race. Now that's bad luck, wouldn't
2:52
you say, Mark? Oh yeah, yeah, they'll had
2:57
horrific luck in the Daytona 500 leading up to his win.
3:02
I I think he had won something like 44 races at Daytona, but
3:08
the 500 just would not budget. Finally, they broke through
3:13
there. Yeah, I like that subject.
3:17
And and one more thing, when we create our own luck, I would say
3:20
that's because I'm going to use you as an example.
3:23
Mark Martin is such a great chassis man.
3:25
I grew up watching you work on your cars.
3:28
I think creating luck is Mark would make his car handle for
3:33
his ability and and I think that's, you know, make making a
3:37
fast race car maybe is what Rodger Penske was talking about.
3:41
Yeah, I think so too. All right, Mark, let's do it.
3:45
We're we're catching up with Mark Martin and it is a lot of
3:48
fun to follow you and your son Matt and the Mark Martin
3:52
archives. It's a big hit on Instagram.
3:55
We all watch. We get to see another side of
3:58
you and it looks like you are in that beautiful coach of yours
4:01
bus and you're everywhere. Charlie's going to drop some
4:07
pictures in here, but you all have been everywhere.
4:10
Where you been that is totally different?
4:13
That was really interesting. Oh, my goodness.
4:18
Well, we were just in Newport, RI, for the second time,
4:24
actually looking at old historic architecture, you know, homes
4:30
that were built in the 1600s. We had dinner in the oldest
4:37
restaurant in the United States. Oh my Lord.
4:42
Yeah, almost 400 years. I think they opened in 1670
4:49
something and and it was the best meal we had and we ate good
4:53
the whole trip. But that was absolutely
4:56
spectacular. And it was the old building.
4:58
They preserve so much more there than they do.
5:03
You know, around here, you know, there's old things get tore down
5:07
and new, new modern stuff gets built.
5:10
And that's OK. But it's amazing to see some of
5:14
the old history. So that was probably, that was a
5:18
fun trip. We did the IROC thing and then
5:21
we went to car museums in Newport and saw these homes.
5:27
And then we went up to Bentley Warren's.
5:29
Oh my. I mean, I'm telling you Bentley,
5:32
his saying is who has more fun than us?
5:35
We do, that's for sure. I love Bentley and, and just
5:42
hanging out with those guys and we had a, we had just a
5:46
fantastic trip and I'm off to State Park Speedway in Wausau,
5:51
WI, you know, going to have a big time there.
5:55
It's been, I think I raced there.
5:58
The only time I think I ever raced there was 1977.
6:01
I remember going to Larry Dejan's Body Shop and working on
6:05
the car before that night. There was Thursday race,
6:08
Thursday nights through the summer.
6:10
We went and did that regular show and I vividly remember
6:14
going out to qualify that night because I went out on stickers
6:18
and it was cool and a little slip slick, you know, slippery,
6:23
and I couldn't believe that I went faster.
6:26
Yeah, and I and I remember Larry Dijon's Rusty and I were in The
6:30
Body Shop. I just want to show everybody.
6:33
Look. Look at Mark Martin, his
6:35
Instagram. Mark's always advertising
6:37
nowadays. Mark, I I really like the way
6:39
you have taken to social media. This is your advertisement for
6:43
State Park. Larry Dijon's was a legend.
6:47
I admired that he ran a Body Shop and sadly we lost him at at
6:52
Kukana. I believe it was off turn 2.
6:54
That's another subject. I'd like to go back to your
6:58
northeastern trip in Rhode Island though.
7:01
What keeps drawing you back to that area?
7:06
Well, it is the most historic. I mean, that's where it started.
7:09
Plymouth Rock. You know South America.
7:12
And, and they have been very conscious of preserving the
7:18
history there. So the roads, like if you, you
7:21
go into Newport and, and, and some of these places like the
7:26
streets are not quite wide enough for, you know, because
7:30
they didn't need wide streets back then with the horses and
7:33
the, the carriages and whatnot. I mean, they have preserved it.
7:38
And they're, you know, as you see, if you follow me, what you
7:42
do, you see that, you know, I think Matt had an influence on
7:48
me to really appreciate the history, not only of this
7:52
country, but of Motorsports, which we love so much.
7:57
That's why I wanted, you know, to to pay and, and, and, and be
8:03
at the Larry Phillips Memorial race there just to show, you
8:11
know, that we should remember. And we have to remember where we
8:17
came from, whether it's Motorsports or whether it's, you
8:22
know, as a country itself. You think about those, those
8:26
people sailing over here on those ships for months to get
8:31
to, you know, the new IT. Is it is amazing, isn't?
8:35
It, it is. And it, I mean, that area is
8:37
called New England because, you know, it was, I mean, it was a
8:41
new country And it, it's just fascinating to think about what
8:47
it was like here 400 years ago. So I've got some great things to
8:52
talk about. We're going to talk about IROC.
8:54
We're going to talk about the Larry Phillips Memorial race
8:57
that you were just at NASCAR. Scott Bloomquist.
9:01
Let's go back real quick. You you look good.
9:05
You said you ate really good. What are you eating nowadays
9:09
when you have a dinner like that?
9:11
Do they got some things that you like?
9:14
You know, you look good. Yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm eased up a
9:17
little bit on my diet now. I'm not training, you know, as
9:22
hard. I do exercise, but I don't lift
9:25
heavy weights anymore, beat myself up by my body up pretty
9:28
badly. And I struggle with with, you
9:32
know, with pains from all those years of hammering the weights
9:36
and stuff. So I had lobster ravioli and
9:42
every bite of it was like candy. It was so.
9:44
Big like ice cream? Man, it was so good.
9:48
I, you know, I do sort of limit my carbs to a degree, but I've
9:54
even eased up on that a little bit.
9:58
I think I he read it, you know, I think it's hereditary, but I
10:03
am borderline pre diabetic, even though I'm skinny.
10:09
And so I try to try to eat, you know, be easy on the carbs and
10:15
the carbs that I do have, you know, I try not, you know, try
10:18
to have fruit for, you know, carbs, which is like candy to me
10:22
as well. So, but I eat, you know, I eat
10:25
fish and chicken and, you know, vegetables, lots of vegetables,
10:32
lots of protein shakes. My protein shake will gross most
10:36
people out, but I have it for effect.
10:38
I have, I put frozen broccoli and avocado in my protein shake.
10:44
And I mean, it's a health, you know, rocket ship.
10:48
So, you know, when I, you know, I, I try to get some greens
10:53
every day and I eat, you know, a lot of lot of vegetables and a
10:57
little bit of fruit. My favorite thing about food is
11:00
when I repeat what you taught me.
11:03
Sometimes I go to Texas Roadhouse and I'll ask for a
11:06
plain sweet potato. And by the way, Mark Martin says
11:09
this is rocket fuel. It is certainly is.
11:13
Yeah, I love that you taught me a lot about food.
11:16
For everybody that is out there listening, Mark, I do want to
11:19
share with you that my blood sugar was at 1:21 1/22 and my
11:24
doctor said hey, you need to watch your blood sugar.
11:27
So I, it was hard on me, Mark, but I quit Coke, Pepsi, sweet
11:33
tea. I got rid of all that stuff.
11:35
I said, let me try this on my own.
11:37
And if you remember way back 2012, I called you and I said,
11:42
Mark, teach me how to eat. And I want to thank you in front
11:45
of everybody. You've changed my life.
11:48
You really have. And remember, I would text you
11:51
during dinner, Mark, what about this?
11:53
And you don't know. That's good, that's good, Kenny.
11:59
And it's hard to do, especially people giving up, you know, soft
12:02
drinks and you know, even the even the artificially sweetened
12:06
soft drinks are not good for you.
12:09
And they're, you know, they do affect your blood sugars as
12:12
well. So I'm glad that you're trying
12:14
to do something about it. You don't want to wind up being
12:17
a full blown diabetic and so and I don't either.
12:20
So that's why I have to watch it.
12:22
But it's funny that, you know, we're two skinny guys, slim
12:26
guys, not what you would typically expect to have, you
12:31
know, high glucose or, or blood sugar levels.
12:34
So your your diet definitely effects it.
12:37
Yeah, well, I we'll leave it like this.
12:39
My wife is got diabetes too, and she's and she, she got a little
12:43
weight on her, but she's beautiful.
12:45
And and Kim says to me with that mean look, she goes even skinny
12:50
people, you know, can it can be diabetic.
12:53
So she, she's right. And you just and you just proved
12:56
it, Mark. So all right, listen, let's move
12:58
on to IROC. Let's kind of go in
13:00
chronological order here. I saw you up there in the
13:03
northeast. You went to IROC.
13:06
It it, it looks like Ray Everingham has has started this
13:10
baby up. And, and he, he, he, he called
13:13
in all the cars. Tell me about the phone call and
13:18
and did you have an IROC car? So I did.
13:21
I actually have two cars, but one I would never, never move
13:24
out of my museum because my 5th and final championship was one
13:30
at Atlanta in 05. And I got that car right off the
13:35
racetrack and it was a little physical.
13:37
It's got front bumper and back bumper damage from pushing and
13:41
shoving and, and all that. It's never been cleaned.
13:43
It's got the rubber on it and everything, so that thing's
13:47
perfect. But I had a A-95 IROCK car, it's
13:54
Avenger, and it's been in the museum for 30 years and I didn't
13:58
even know it had an engine in it.
14:00
You know, I'm just out doing everything.
14:02
I don't pay no attention. Got that car.
14:04
So. So when Ray put this thing
14:06
together and he's gathering up cars, I called down to the
14:10
dealership and I said, go out there and lift up the hood and
14:12
see if there's an engine in it. They come back and said, yeah,
14:17
there's the engine in it. And so I, I called Ray and I
14:22
said, Ray, I'll send this car to you if you'll get it running.
14:24
I don't have anybody to work on it.
14:27
And he said, yeah, send it over. He rebuilt the carburetor in the
14:30
fuel cell and the fuel system and change the oil and rebuilt
14:35
the brakes. And my thing ran perfect.
14:39
We, we ran that thing and oh gosh, we had a, we had a blast.
14:44
And I don't know if it's official or not, but I heard it
14:47
might have been exaggeration. I heard it was the biggest crab
14:49
Lime Rock had ever had for, for that event.
14:53
So we had a blast and it was so much fun hanging out with, of
14:58
course, you know, Schrader and and Biffle and, and you know,
15:02
all those guys. But you know, Danny Sullivan was
15:05
there and I got to hang with Danny and and, you know, Skinner
15:09
or you know, there was just it was a racers reunion and I was
15:15
really afraid because practice Skinner Those guys still race
15:20
Bobby Labonte Skinner they're. Still going.
15:23
Raider And so I knew that there was going to race, was going to
15:27
break out when we did our exhibition and I didn't want no
15:30
part of that. I mean, I did not.
15:33
I am not going to compete because it sucked the life right
15:37
out of me for 40 years. You know, I let it suck the life
15:41
out of me and I got life now and I'm not going to compete.
15:44
I don't even want to play cards. I don't even want to play cards
15:47
because I want to win and I don't like that.
15:50
So anyway, everybody played now they got going fast in practice
15:56
and I love trader. You know how trader is traders
15:59
like so they they said like, well, I think trader asked how
16:05
fast they going. Well, Skinner just went up, you
16:09
know, O 5:00 and you're O 9 and and he said, and they said you
16:15
worried about that 4 seconds. And Trader said, well, what did
16:22
he exactly say something about? He was whatever age and he's
16:27
going to play his own living 20 more years and that four seconds
16:31
could have a direct effect. Because you might read him.
16:34
He might read that was. Awesome, man.
16:36
I loved it. So he's right.
16:38
So everybody behaved during the race exhibition, but, you know,
16:42
had cars from 70 representing 73 all the way through 2006 when,
16:49
you know, the last year that they had, it was a big hit.
16:53
And Ray Abraham and Rob Kaufman are are, you know, teaming up
16:59
and working on, you know, doing more events, historical events.
17:04
Would love to have the series back in full form, but that's
17:08
going to be quite a challenge. But the historical thing is a
17:11
great draw for fans. You know, they got to come down
17:14
and see the cars where I hung around the whole time, signed
17:18
autographs, took pictures and told stories.
17:21
Yeah, so this is catching up with Mark Martin.
17:25
If you want to go in depth with Mark and hear how competition
17:30
wore on him, go go right here on YouTube and check out the Kenny
17:34
conversation with Mark Martin. Mark does go in depth about how
17:39
harsh, you know competition is. So we're not going to go down
17:42
that road, but scroll right here.
17:45
We had a good one with Mark about a year and a half ago and
17:49
he explains why he has chosen not to compete anymore because
17:53
like Mark said it. And Mark, I agree with you
17:56
because Father John told Kim and myself when we did pre can
18:00
because she's Catholic. He said, oh, be careful young
18:03
man, competition will kill you. And he meant just the way you're
18:07
talking, you know, because we all want to win.
18:10
We're the greatest, you know. And OK, so I rock was fun.
18:19
It looks like Ray has got a lot going on there.
18:22
Let's kind of end that I rock conversation like this.
18:25
It looks good. Where do the cars go now?
18:29
Do they stay there with him? When is the next event?
18:32
What's up? I don't.
18:34
They haven't announced the next event yet, but they are working
18:37
on that. My car went back to his shop.
18:40
Some of them may have went back. You know, Bobby Labonte had a
18:44
beautiful car there. I think Schrader may may have
18:48
had his own car there. I don't know if they get them
18:51
back or if they just like, I'm just leaving mine at at Ray's
18:54
because it'll be there for next time, you know, and I'm, you
18:58
know, I'm going to go participate.
18:59
As everyone should know, I rock was a crown jewel of my career.
19:06
And I, and I do want to talk about that.
19:08
I'm glad you reminded me because I have the note here.
19:11
Mark Martin, you were by far the greatest, the winningest IROC
19:16
driver. Why were you so good against
19:20
every race car driver in the world that you they brought in
19:23
every discipline, AL Junior, you name it, I line dyke Steve
19:28
Kinzer. But you just, and I'm saying
19:31
this, you kicked everybody's butt.
19:33
You won more races than anybody. Why do you think you were so
19:37
good in IROC? Well, one of the reasons was
19:42
that I excelled at lower power cars like like the busher
19:52
Xfinity, now the trucks. My cup car was under powered for
19:58
many, many years and and you know, I had to focus on handling
20:05
and on momentum. And I became very, very good at
20:11
center of the corner speed and momentum and exit speed.
20:16
My entrance wasn't as good as some people's like I was.
20:19
I was, I'd get in easy, but I would set my car up.
20:23
Actually it looked loose and it was loose, but it, it was
20:27
usually a tighter setup than most, most folks because I
20:31
actually got back in the gas as soon as I got to the corner.
20:33
There ain't no passing going on going into the corner.
20:36
It's all from the middle off and carrying down the back the
20:40
straightway. So I was good at that.
20:43
And, you know, I like to say that you drew for the car.
20:48
You know, you didn't know What Car you were going to drive
20:50
until right before the race, and you drew for the car.
20:53
And I always drew the fastest car.
20:55
Oh, yeah, right. Don't listen to him, race fans.
20:59
He's being humble. You know, Mark, when I think
21:02
about center of the corner speed and keep it rolling, I I think
21:05
of David Pearson and Butch Lindley.
21:09
You, you and I have been racing so long, you know, that we heard
21:13
about how Pearson would let off and he would end.
21:16
They they would say that he started getting on the gas at
21:19
Darlington as he'd entered the corner.
21:22
And in Butch Lindley, they say he never used brakes, but really
21:27
good stuff. And and thank you for taking me
21:31
down. And now I want to say this.
21:33
I feel a little proud that I knew you were going to say
21:38
momentum roll the corner because boy, when when I would be on top
21:42
that Bush Grande National holler and I would watch you go down
21:45
the back straight away at Charlotte.
21:48
You had this big high and higher than anybody and everybody.
21:52
We all tried to emulate you and we just, you were just the best
21:57
at it. You would roll in high and go
21:59
down that white line. You would just murder, kill
22:02
everybody and win every Bush race.
22:06
I know you're trying to keep this short, but I got to tell a
22:08
quick story about that Charlotte.
22:10
When it was steel guardrail in the corners, you know you would
22:15
get at the end of the straightaway in the concrete
22:17
with the end and you could actually turn right.
22:20
So I'd go down the straightaway and get right at the end where
22:24
where you turn in to three and I'd turn right and then then get
22:29
my R. Get get ready to exit that
22:32
corner. OK, like you said Mark catch
22:35
catching up with Mark Martin. We want to be careful.
22:38
Some fans do want us to go an hour, but we'll try to keep it a
22:41
little shorter. Everybody all right let's move
22:43
on so far we've we we see traveling the United States.
22:47
We talked about that historical sites, Rhode Island.
22:51
We talked about IROC. Let's talk about our hero, Rusty
22:56
Wallace's hero, your hero, mine, many people in the Midwest.
23:01
You were just at the Larry Phillips Memorial, and I thought
23:06
it was really awesome because you're somewhat shy.
23:09
But I saw you giving a little talk before the race and that
23:14
made me very happy and I commented on it.
23:16
You responded. Tell me about the Larry Phillips
23:20
Memorial over the over the weekend.
23:23
Well, it was a great, great event and Terry was there.
23:26
And when you see Terry, you see Larry, you know, you see the
23:30
mannerisms, you see that stuff. Smart.
23:33
Ass I spent the whole night telling stories and remembering
23:39
1977 when we raced out at the fairgrounds.
23:42
And I, of course, every time I tell any story back then,
23:46
Rusty's in it. Rusty was a huge figure in my my
23:50
life and in my career all the way back to 1977.
23:54
But yeah, but it's just just a absolute honor to be a part of
24:02
it and to see people and try to remind people they don't realize
24:07
Larry Phillips was a racing God. I absolutely, and you know, I
24:13
know that we're it's probably going to come up, but I can't, I
24:16
can't hold back here. The reason that Larry, in my
24:20
opinion, the reason Larry's not in the Hall of Fame is because
24:24
none of the people that are voting for him ever had to race
24:27
against him or watched him race. And and if they had, he'd
24:33
already be in. And, and let's start right
24:36
there. I want to, I want to prove to
24:38
people this. I have my notes and I'm glad you
24:43
touched on it because you just opened it up and and we're going
24:46
to get there quicker than what? So here it is right here.
24:50
You see that right there? I said is NASCAR it?
24:54
So here's the question the the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
24:58
Now this is my opinion, but I want to hear what you say.
25:01
It just seems like the NASCAR Hall of Fame is NE dominant.
25:05
Richie Evans, Cook. It just seems like everybody
25:09
that votes, everybody goes that Hall of Fame.
25:11
Now, listen, I love Dave Moody, but he's just Northeast and just
25:16
everybody in NASCAR is Northeast.
25:19
NE. Why?
25:21
Why is Larry Phillips the great one of right there with Dick
25:25
Trickle? Why is he not in the NASCAR Hall
25:28
of Fame? And you already said a little
25:29
bit, but I want you to expand on that and and am I right?
25:33
What is this voting system? Well, you know, unfortunately
25:39
every year when when he misses the cut and doesn't get in,
25:44
somebody new comes into the fold and they, you know, and, and
25:49
their pick, you know, above, above Larry, now your, your
25:53
little paper there should say that he won something like 88%
26:00
of every single race, NASCAR, you know, weekly regional race
26:06
he ever ran NASCAR regional. Yeah, that's not, that's like
26:12
all but 12 out of 100 or something like that.
26:15
You know, that's 88 out of 100. It's unbelievable what he did in
26:20
the NASCAR regional. You know, I don't have great
26:26
confidence that he'll ever make it in because that, you know,
26:29
someone new comes in every time that one goes out and you know,
26:34
they they you know, he's just not recognized for what he
26:38
really did accomplish. And of course, rest of you and I
26:41
are are biased because we knew him besides NASCAR weekly Rd.
26:45
racing program. We knew that he was just, He was
26:49
racing God, a late model racing God.
26:52
And he built all his own race cars.
26:54
And then he built the the, the Ed Howell by Phillips, which my
26:59
dad had one, Rusty had one. Did you ever have one of Larry's
27:03
cars? Oh yeah, yeah.
27:05
I took my 55 Chevy up there my my dad did in 75 and had Larry
27:12
put a roll cage in it because we didn't have, we built our first
27:16
car with water pipe. And so and then and then the
27:21
next year we went to late model and and Larry built a late model
27:26
and hung the body on it, actually put a Camaro body on
27:29
it. And so we ran that all of 76 won
27:32
a bunch of races with it. So, and then in 77, the day I
27:38
graduated from high school, I went to Springfield and got an
27:42
apartment and Larry gave me my first job and the he was testing
27:46
me the first day he opened up that door on Commercial Street,
27:49
that back door, roll up door. Back.
27:52
Door and there was an old Camaro sitting out there and he said
27:55
get streetcar, you know and I got from a junkyard something
27:59
got that thing out and don't hurt the body.
28:01
Do you know cut the all the interior out of it, but don't
28:05
don't hurt the body. That's a nasty job.
28:07
It's a it's a nasty job and I got right after it.
28:10
I was tickled to death. I was, I was going to learn how
28:12
to be a shop guy and a fabricator and all that stuff.
28:16
And Larry. Larry gave me a first job.
28:19
And my experience with Larry is that if you were worried about
28:24
feelings, you should never be around him.
28:29
Yeah. That's why.
28:31
That's why us Midwesterners, I guess, are a little rough around
28:34
the edges. I'll never forget as a little,
28:38
little kid, I might have been nine years old and I'm at
28:42
Springfield, MO, where you and Rusty and Mark went, You, Rusty
28:47
and Larry, Ozark, Empire Fairgrounds, Springfield, MO.
28:52
And somebody comes up and they're just aggravating Larry
28:54
for an autograph after the race, Larry, Larry signed my autograph
28:59
and he said, boy, here's a dime call somebody who cares.
29:04
I ain't got time right now because that's what the phone
29:07
call would cost back then, you know, $0.10 and that as a little
29:13
kid, I'll never forget. He didn't have time.
29:15
He was busy making a living. That's right, he did.
29:19
He had very little help. He worked on his cars, built
29:22
those cars and and had some volunteer help and that was that
29:26
was the extent of it. Well, Mark, before we go to the
29:29
next subject, I'm, I'm just going to say this.
29:31
I, I, I just can't fathom in my brain that Mark Martin, NASCAR
29:37
Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace, NASCAR Hall of Famer Jamie
29:42
McMurray, Carl Edwards, four of the best NASCAR drivers in
29:48
history say, hey, why is Larry Phillips not in?
29:52
And that nobody listens. It's their loss.
29:55
And, and I'm going to leave it right there.
29:57
I, I just cannot get over that. And Mark, you're right that it's
30:01
no, you know, I'm saying this, they just never raced again.
30:05
But here you all did And, and I knew.
30:07
So, all right, so I want to talk about we're going to end with
30:13
NASCAR, but I want to talk about something that's sad, but we're
30:20
going to try to have a little fun with it.
30:22
Lately here we lost the greatest dirt racer of all time, Scott
30:27
Bloomquist. My disclaimer is this, before we
30:30
talk about him, I feel like Scott Bloomquist had a lot of
30:33
Batesville, AR in him. He won six of the topless races,
30:39
some of the biggest races, the crown jewels.
30:42
He won 6 topless races, meaning the top comes off the car.
30:47
You can see the driver. He won six of them at your home
30:50
track, Batesville. He became friends with your one
30:54
of your best friends, Larry Shaw.
30:56
And let's go way back Mark, down there in Batesville, your track,
31:02
they said we're going to pay $100,000 to win a modified race.
31:07
Well, your buddy Larry Shaw built this car and there are
31:12
stories galore, but Bloomer helped reinvent this car and he
31:18
won the race. What do you know about Scott
31:21
Bloomquist and that whole Batesville, AR story?
31:26
I just know of the legend of, of Scott Bloomquist and it, it, it
31:29
starts way back when he's a teenager is such a character.
31:36
And you know, he did win all those races, including the the
31:40
100,000 to win mod race, which was years ago.
31:44
It was really a lot of money back then.
31:47
But then my partner Lance Landers, you know, he's got a
31:53
race team and he came to me and said, you know, I'm not doing as
31:58
good as I want to do what I need to do.
32:00
And I said, you need to get the best cars and the best motors
32:05
and, and the best people to work on it.
32:07
And that's how you do it. And so, you know, we determined
32:11
that Bloomquist cars were, were going to be the best car for
32:14
him. And so I went with him to
32:17
Scott's shop. And Scott's quite a yeah, he's
32:22
quite a character. He he, you know, we're supposed
32:24
to meet him in the morning. He don't.
32:25
He comes in about about noon, comes in the shop.
32:29
We're sitting in the shop waiting for him and he says hi
32:33
and he says I got to go make me a drink.
32:35
He goes and makes him a drink. Crown Royal.
32:38
Yeah, he goes back and sits down and we make a plan and and so so
32:45
Lance runs these cars for for a year and so I go to some of the
32:50
races and so and talk to Scott and stuff.
32:53
So I, you know, I have had a little bit of, you know, a
32:56
closer time with with him through that.
33:00
And I just think that he's one of those guys there was so
33:06
smart. He was brilliant, brilliant guy.
33:10
And some of those, if you notice a lot of people through the
33:16
years, through the history that are just insanely brilliant,
33:21
also are troubled to some degree or have have some issues.
33:25
Look, Randy Sweets 1, you know I can't preach enough to people
33:30
what, you know a genius Randy Sweet was, but he was also
33:35
crazy. Yes, yes, no, no doubt, no doubt
33:39
and. And and I think Scott, you know,
33:42
I think Scott was kind of reminds me some of that, you
33:47
know, and he was his own person. He was the best thing that ever
33:50
happened to late model dirt racing.
33:52
He was the Dale Earnhardt in the face forever.
33:56
And he just, you know, he ran into some tougher times the last
34:00
several years. And but you know, when when
34:04
Lance was running his car, Scott was still winning big time.
34:07
And, and Jared was driving, you know, that that Bloomberg's car.
34:10
And Jared was, Oh my gosh, he was fast.
34:14
He would take my breath. Absolutely.
34:16
He'd go out to qualify and just take my breath in that car.
34:18
So we had a lot of fun. And I'm it's a real sad thing to
34:23
see see Scott gone so, so early. Yeah, and I do want to fill
34:30
some, some dots there for the fans that are listen, when you
34:36
talk about Lance Landers, that is the owner of Jonathan
34:39
Davenport's car. And boy, Mark, just for a
34:44
minute, I mean by far the latest, I'd say 5-6 years.
34:51
Jonathan Davenport and and your dear friend Lance Landers, they
34:55
have just owned dirt racing, won $1,000,000.
35:00
One one it won everything there is to win.
35:04
Lance really has it going on. He really does.
35:07
Not only does he have an incredible organization from top
35:12
to bottom, like he's got the most incredible, you know,
35:17
hauler, he's got the, you know, the the most incredible driver.
35:21
He's got great people working on the cars, got an absolutely
35:25
unbelievable shop and he's got the best sponsors and the most
35:31
sponsor dollars of anybody in the sport.
35:36
And he credits me for telling him what to do.
35:41
I encouraged him to spend the money.
35:43
It cost a lot of money to have a Bloomquist car.
35:46
You didn't even own it. You know, I mean, he's like,
35:49
dude, it's like unbelievable. And go get the best.
35:53
At the time, I wanted him to to get, you know, Durham Ford's,
35:57
you know, Ford engines, get the best motors and the best cars
36:01
you can get. And, and Jerry ran the car for a
36:04
while and and, and Lansing and, and he decided that that wasn't
36:09
for them. And Lance Scott got Davenport
36:12
and it the rest is history. He got all that sponsorship
36:16
because of performance. And you only get that
36:21
performance if you get the best equipment and put the best
36:25
people in place. It's a couple things.
36:27
First of all, I want I want to brag on your father, Julian.
36:32
As a child, I remember your father being first class all the
36:36
time. I remember his jeans being
36:38
perfectly ironed. Harry Gant.
36:40
Harry Gant had his jeans weren't as good as your dad's.
36:44
And and I remember everything. When I would come to Arkansas, I
36:48
would just marvel and how perfectly clean your father
36:52
always was. He would come to the pit gate
36:55
and and I know that's passed on down to you.
36:57
And now I see Lance is the same way.
37:00
Do you think you and Lance are somewhat living through your
37:02
father? Well, I know, I know I am.
37:06
And you know, Lance is the most special friend that I've ever
37:11
had. I mean, we're just Blood
37:14
Brothers. That's awesome.
37:16
And we get each other, you know, we're both off the center line a
37:21
little bit, kind of off the beaten path.
37:24
We're different, a little bit different people, but Lance is
37:27
such a good quality dude and he likes his stuff, you know,
37:34
perfect, absolutely more perfect in my, his motorhome is cleaner
37:39
than mine. No, I mean, there ain't no way.
37:42
Well. Dude, he never grow it in the
37:44
rain, you know, I mean, he won't drive it in the rain, you know,
37:48
I mean, it's unbelievable. He's unbelievable.
37:50
But back back to him, he's the best partner I could have ever
37:55
dreamed having in those car dealerships.
37:58
I mean, he just, he wanted everything and he, you know, he
38:04
always anything. He anytime he made a decision
38:08
that had to do with money, he came to me first.
38:12
He said, look, I'm and I said like Lance, don't worry about
38:14
it, man. You're, you're running the show.
38:17
I didn't run the show. He ran it 100%.
38:20
But he always clued me in on whenever he was making a, you
38:24
know, any kind of decision of consequence and just such a
38:27
great guy and. And, and back to Bloomer one
38:30
more time. I'm going to say what I think.
38:33
And then you make you, you make it right.
38:36
So what I heard was that if you bought a Scott Bloomquist car,
38:41
it was like a automatically $100,000.
38:44
You had to sign a contract that if you no longer ran the car,
38:48
you had to give the car back. Basically paid a lot of money
38:51
and you never owned the car. Although tell me what you know.
38:57
Scott really guarded his knowledge.
38:59
Like, OK, I'm going to give you the car now if you want to know
39:02
more, you got to pay a lot of money.
39:05
Take me back to what you know about that.
39:07
So that's, that's the way I remember it as well.
39:10
That, that was the counter. I remember that.
39:13
And I was sold on it and Lance was sold on it.
39:17
And so we entered into it and, you know, I, I, I don't think he
39:22
ever regretted it. He had rocket ships for cars.
39:26
And Scott, what, you know, I mean, he was real.
39:31
I mean, he twisted his cars, you know, he knew when it was in the
39:37
fixture, in the jig. You know, he, he knew how much
39:40
he wanted, he didn't want it too stiff.
39:43
You know, he wanted it just so so he knew about the seal that
39:47
went into the car. I mean it was like insane the
39:51
detail that he knew about these cars and he didn't want, you
39:56
know, he didn't want that stuff out there.
39:58
And he did share information with I say yes with Lance and
40:05
Jared and Jason Durham was was working on the car then was like
40:11
the crew chief of the car and they did share information.
40:14
He did. He was a good.
40:16
He was good. He made it good.
40:18
And Jared, you know, at times was faster than Bloomer.
40:23
Bloomer had a little bit better race craft because of all of his
40:26
experience. But Jared would take your breath
40:30
away in that car, man, He was fast.
40:32
I remember, I remember and I remember Jared coming to Granite
40:35
City here, Tri-City Speedway and and biking down in turn 3
40:40
flipped violently. And I think that that listen,
40:43
you know Jared way more than me, but that was a violent wreck
40:47
that took the breath out of him and the whole whole grandstands
40:50
there. But well, what, what a what a
40:52
sad time, you know, and I want to end like this on Bloomer.
40:57
I want to say this and I want you to comment.
41:00
You and I are of age now. I'm I'm going to be 61 Friday
41:04
and you're just a couple years older than me in my lifetime,
41:09
whether it's an Elon Musk or an Einstein or a Scott Bloomquist,
41:14
when those type of people talk, it's like what?
41:18
It's like, what are they saying it?
41:19
It's like they're so different. It's like, I can't even like,
41:24
where are you going? It's strange.
41:26
Like, you know what I'm saying? Do you know comment on what I'm
41:30
trying to say? Well, I.
41:32
Know what? You're, I know what you're
41:33
saying. Some of it sounds insanity, but
41:36
gibberish like, yeah, but sometimes there's some knowledge
41:42
in there that you don't, that you don't pick up because you're
41:45
you're thinking that, yeah, this is, you know, some of some of
41:48
that insanity coming out. But if you a lot of times with
41:52
Scott, if you listen to the context of the whole thing, you
41:57
would there would be a lesson in it or there would be wisdom in
42:00
it. And yeah, there, you know,
42:04
people that are, I mean, you and I are, are not that smart.
42:08
So we're pretty easy to follow. But some some people that are
42:12
really, really brilliant aren't as easy to follow well.
42:15
What I find is that when you ask an incredibly brilliant person,
42:20
and I'm using the word brilliant, not smart, when when
42:23
I ask a brilliant person a question, they never answer the
42:27
question right away. They go back with some
42:31
psychology lesson, lesson, then they get.
42:35
And like you say, you got to listen from the beginning.
42:39
It is interesting, yeah. And that's not easy for your,
42:42
you or I 'cause we don't move fast so.
42:45
I'm like. Listen, that's the psychology
42:47
part of. It oh, Mark Martin, here we are
42:50
at 45 minutes. We we did it again.
42:52
So let's, let's end it like this.
42:56
NASCAR. First of all, I want to thank
42:58
you for talking about Scott Bloomquist.
43:02
You know, and that story's not over.
43:04
From what I know. There's going to be more to come
43:07
out and we'll just leave it right there.
43:10
So Mark, we, we, we have just witnessed one of the wildest 2
43:15
weeks in NASCAR history. We watched Austin Dillon lay it
43:20
all on the line and and and clear out two cars to move into
43:26
the championship. Then NASCAR three days later
43:28
said, hold on. You get to win the race.
43:31
You get to keep the money in the trophy, but it don't even count
43:35
it. You don't get to go to the
43:37
championship. And listen, Dale Earnhardt
43:40
Junior is a dear friend of yours and mine, and I know you've
43:44
already talked about it there, but maybe some people, maybe
43:48
we're going to bring something a little different up right here.
43:52
When you watch that you said 2 words on X.
43:58
You said good grief. I was, I was watching it by
44:02
myself downstairs and I laughed out loud.
44:08
Look, I, I was in, I was entertained like I, I that's
44:13
probably the most outrageous one I've ever seen right there.
44:18
You know, it wouldn't have been if it had just been joy, but
44:22
getting two and one whack, man, that was huge.
44:25
But you know, so, so I'll give it a 10 for entertainment.
44:33
Obviously it was over the line. Obviously I'm not a big fan of
44:38
of that. I've come to accept bump and
44:42
runs, you know, or even running a guy high because that's the
44:47
day and age we're in now. It wouldn't fly back in in our
44:52
day. But but but you know, that that
44:55
was over the line and, you know, NASCAR was in a horrible
44:58
situation. I don't know how they could win.
45:02
I think, you know, I I neither agree or disagree with what they
45:06
did. I understand what they did and
45:09
I'm kind of in the middle. You know, I don't the the move
45:14
was fun to watch. I mean, I don't know who in my
45:19
era, I don't know who had the balls to do that.
45:22
No, and let me add this, because I was on the receiving end of
45:26
it. That's why I'm going to comment
45:27
on this part. If I did something wrong.
45:31
Mark Martin, Rusty Wallace, Dale Senior, Terry Labonte, Dave
45:36
Marcus. You guys were going to take me.
45:39
You were going to take me between the trailers and you was
45:42
going to chew my ass out and you was going to make me feel this
45:46
small. It I don't know how it changed,
45:49
but I just think back then it was true.
45:52
We did police ourselves because, you know, that's the way it was
45:57
And and now it's not like that. So I just want to say that it
46:02
didn't fly back then because of what I just said.
46:05
You would have kicked my ass verbally.
46:08
Back then it was policed by the drivers back then.
46:14
It's there's no going back. You may as well embrace it.
46:17
It's the racing that we have today and and you know, you can
46:22
go into all the things reasons that it leads us to that.
46:27
But you know, you watch, I watch racing all the time, late
46:30
models, dirt and asphalt. The dirt still, in my opinion,
46:35
still pretty clean. The dirt lake models are and the
46:39
mods pretty clean. But man, those asphalt late
46:42
models, it's just every single race and and that's what you're
46:46
going to have in NASCAR coming up in all three divisions.
46:50
That's that's what you see and what you have.
46:52
So embrace it. That's what we have.
46:54
I love racing and I got a laugh. I got a laugh out of Austin
46:59
Dillon and and I felt bad for NASCAR for having to make a call
47:03
at all because it would have been much better if drivers
47:06
could have handled it, but they can't.
47:08
It's it's beyond that. I'm going to say this, I feel
47:14
like hang with me. This is a Bloomquist moment in
47:17
my brain. We would go to McDonald's and if
47:21
we waited 3 minutes for our food we were screaming and hollering
47:24
Oh my God I've been waiting 3 minutes.
47:27
Then this came about and we got instant gratification of news.
47:34
So today, if the people watched the way you and Rust raced and
47:39
Mark Martin, you took care of your equipment because the
47:42
equipment wouldn't last as good. If we tried to race today like
47:48
we raced back then, the people would fall asleep.
47:51
Oh, they throw us out of out of the place, Yeah.
47:53
So, so now they said, OK, in this era we're going to run
47:58
stage racing because we want these drivers to drive so hard.
48:05
And I think because of what I just said, that's why we're
48:08
where we're at now, you know? That's one.
48:13
Tell me what the other one is. Double file restarts, green,
48:19
white checkered, equal cars you can't pass arrow dependent cars,
48:27
winner take all. When you in all these things
48:32
lead to that, you know, you're, you're, you're right in in a
48:36
sense, but there are more components to that in, in, you
48:41
know all those things lead and you know the the racing was good
48:47
when Rusty and I raced in the 90s.
48:50
It was fabulous, but it's not good enough for today.
48:56
I mean, people still watch it. It's still fun to watch, but
48:59
it's a whole different thing. Oh, I forgot, I left out the
49:03
lack of power. Yeah.
49:05
You know, so, so in one lap, Joey Logano can't get any
49:09
further than he got and it's still, he still wasn't safe.
49:13
Well, that's what they want. We got it.
49:15
You know, they have to make it entertainment.
49:17
They have to make it entertainment, So so taking the
49:22
power away also plays into that. You can't get away from one
49:26
another. You double file them on the
49:28
restarts. Wow.
49:29
You put it all in the line. You see where it's all going.
49:32
The intensity builds with every piece and component and you know
49:36
it just that that's what we have.
49:39
And the new generation sees one hell of a spark fest, you know?
49:49
Yeah, and, and instead of me using a, a curse word, I would
49:52
say it's a blank show. I call it everything you just
49:55
said. I call it scrambled eggs, buddy.
49:58
Like you just said, everybody got same horsepower, same car,
50:01
double file, restart. We go down in one, it's going to
50:04
be scrambled eggs. That's right.
50:10
Oh, Mark Martin, you've been wonderful.
50:13
Listen, thank you so much. And and there's more to always
50:16
talk about everybody. We can ask more questions, but
50:20
here we are. And thank you so very much, Mark
50:24
Martin. And hey, where are you at?
50:26
It looks good behind you. Yeah, this is my shop.
50:29
I'm doing a little a little tinkering here in my shop.
50:32
I come here about every day and and and tinker on things and
50:37
just just loving life and I am coming to your place for coffee
50:43
with Kenny. I'm I'm going to I'm going to
50:45
make an appearance when these damn.
50:46
I don't know when because it seems like I've been awful busy,
50:49
but I'm coming to Saint Louis. I'm coming to see you park that
50:53
coach out there by your shop and do coffee with Kenny.
50:56
I can't wait, Mark, I, I, you know, I mean my place.
51:00
You and Rusty are just like above me with, I mean, I just
51:05
got a normal house, so don't expect a lot.
51:08
I'm going to be embarrassed. I'm going to make sure we clean
51:10
everything up and have my grass cut.
51:13
But but I'm still proud of what I got and I'm looking forward to
51:17
you and maybe Arlene and Matt coming up the driveway.
51:20
And I got a big hill, put it in low.
51:23
OK, It it's not, it's all concrete.
51:25
But you know, we live on the hill, Herman's Hill.
51:29
Hey, I got that twin turbo on it.
51:31
I can go up any hill. All right, everybody will
51:33
listen. You heard from the great Mark
51:35
Martin. Once again, this is catching up
51:38
with Mark Martin. This is a new segment, and we
51:41
might try to reach out to Tony Stewart.
51:43
It's been 2 1/2 years since we talked to Tony.
51:46
And listen everybody, we are in podcast form.
51:49
This is a good long 1. So you're going to listen to
51:51
Mark on the way to work in the morning and then you turn it
51:54
back on and listen to Mark on your way back home.
51:58
We are on Spotify and iTunes until the next catching up with
52:04
whoever it's going to be. Thanks again, Mark.
52:07
Thank you man, it's fun. Bye, bye everybody.