(As instructed by Mark Martin)
The NASCAR low season is usually sluggish, with little in the best way of breaking information.
However not the present low season. It’s just like the 2025 season by no means ended by way of information, with the one factor lacking being precise racing. Throughout the low season, we had the settlement of the contentious lawsuit between NASCAR and 23XI Racing and Entrance Row Motorsports. We additionally had the tragic aircraft crash that claimed the lives of seven individuals, together with NASCAR nice Greg Biffle, his spouse and two kids, and the dying of Denny Hamlin’s father and demanding accidents suffered by his mom in a horrific home hearth.
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As well as, NASCAR lastly unveiled the long-awaited change to the playoff system for 2026 and past. NASCAR Commissioner Steve Phelps introduced his resignation efficient on the finish of January, and we inducted Kurt Busch, Harry Gant, Ray Hendrick and Humpy Wheeler into the NASCAR Corridor of Fame.
We’re now headed within the homestretch en path to the 68 working of the Daytona 500 on Sunday, February 15. The race and Speedweeks shall be bittersweet: whereas everybody is worked up to get the brand new season underway, we will even mark a tragic milestone – the 25 anniversary of the dying of Dale Earnhardt within the 2001 Daytona 500 on February 18.
Personally, I loved a fantastic vacation with my household. I turned 67 years previous in January, I’ve been doing lots of touring, seeing buddies and followers throughout this nice nation. I’m getting extra excited by the day for the discharge of my e book “By no means Carry,” which is because of come out in early summer season (and which I’ll share one other story from the e book in as we speak’s column). I just lately began an everyday podcast with my good buddy Kenny Wallace and, in fact, I’m having fun with my items proper right here on .
And, in fact, I’m excited for the beginning of the brand new season. I actually consider 2026 shall be a 12 months that’s going to be very memorable, top-of-the-line we’ve seen in our sport in a very long time.
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Let’s mirror upon the low season and stay up for the 2026 season
So, with my co-writer asking the questions, let’s mirror again on among the issues which have taken place within the three-month low season:
1) Are you able to discuss in regards to the tragic lack of Greg Biffle, his spouse and two kids, plus three others, in addition to the horrific home hearth that claimed the lifetime of Denny Hamlin’s father and severely injured his mom?
“Greg and I had been clearly teammates and immersed in our racing program. I knew Greg from his very begin with Roush Racing and every thing. I didn’t keep as tightly related with him away from the racing, however like all the racing neighborhood, I admired all the nice issues that he did throughout his racing profession and after he retired. He was only a actually, actually good individual. Did lots of nice issues for lots of people and introduced lots of smiles to lots of people’s faces. It’s such a tragic, darkish time for us, together with Denny’s loss as nicely of his father. All we’ve got now’s the reminiscences, and I’ve nice reminiscences of my nice expertise at Roush.”
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(Maybe extra so than most individuals in NASCAR, Mark Martin can relate to the Biffle tragedy as he misplaced his father, step-mother and half-sister who had been killed in a aircraft crash in Nevada in 1998).
BROOKLYN, MI – June 12, 2010: Greg Biffle talks to Mark Martin earlier than apply for the Heluva Good! Bitter Cream Dips 400 race on the Michigan Worldwide Speedway in Brooklyn, MI. – ZUMAa55
2) Do you might have a favourite story about Greg Biffle?
“After I consider my favourite recollection of Greg Biffle, I actually consider the time in 2005, we had been at Kansas, I used to be main late and he was chasing me down however I nonetheless managed to carry on for the win (by simply over a half-second). After the race, he laughed as a result of he might see me up forward of him, slipping and sliding, making an attempt exhausting to remain out entrance. I obtained that one.
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“After which not lengthy after that, about six races later within the last race of the season at Homestead, Greg and I had an epic 20-lap battle on the finish of the race. He wound up beating me by about three ft. We had some nice races collectively and he was a great teammate and buddy.”
NASCAR wants to start therapeutic from the contentious lawsuit
3) Your ideas on the resignation of NASCAR commissioner Steve Phelps? Had been you shocked that he stepped down?
“I’d have been shocked if it didn’t occur. After the issues that got here out by means of the lawsuit, it will have been a stunning shock to me if that didn’t occur. That entire lawsuit was a really ugly factor and it’s going to take some time for everybody to recover from and get previous, but it surely had the very best end result I believe that it might have had. I’m actually joyful for NASCAR typically, the followers and the groups. I’m joyful for everybody to have it behind us and transferring ahead and beginning to, I’d say, head the ship in the fitting route.”
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4) Are you shocked that after a number of years of lobbying to have a commissioner function within the sport, Phelps will probably go down as the primary and solely commissioner within the sport’s historical past, with a tenure of solely 10 months, as NASCAR has introduced they won’t fill that place as soon as Phelps leaves workplace?
“No, probably not. If you have a look at the lawsuit and every thing that transpired in it, there have been going to need to be some issues that occurred. Who is aware of if this transfer to maneuver him into commissioner was only a transfer to as a long-term a part of what was going to come back out within the lawsuit. Steve Phelps is being sacrificed at this level. Generally you simply have to make adjustments in something you do. Your race crew, generally a crew chief has to go for one thing for causes that he actually doesn’t deserve it, however it’s a must to make a change.
“I really feel like NASCAR was going to need to make a change when all of the mud settled on this. And it’s a must to begin change on the prime. I’m not shocked and I ain’t mad. I additionally suppose it’s completely inappropriate to bash Steve Phelps. I don’t suppose that we ought to be doing that. I believe we ought to be specializing in transferring ahead and turning the ship in the fitting route. I believe that’s what we ought to be doing proper now, and never hyper-focusing on Steve Phelps and what his job was and what he did and what his half was. He did some good issues for the game, helped champion some good issues, and he presided over some dangerous issues. So let’s simply transfer on.”
ATLANTA, GA – FEBRUARY 23: Steve Phelps, President of NASCAR, Motorsport, USA appears on previous to the working of the NASCAR Cup Collection Ambetter Well being 400 on February 23, 2025, at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, GA. Picture by Jeffrey Vest/Icon Sportswire AUTO: FEB 23 NASCAR Cup Collection Ambetter Well being 400 EDITORIAL USE ONLY Icon250223742
5) Would you be thinking about working NASCAR?
“My first reply was clearly no. Truthfully, I like this sport a lot and I care a lot about it that I’d take into account it. However it will take some in-depth it and analysis. I like the game and I wish to see it thrive. I wish to see the followers get pleasure from it and find it irresistible. And that’s all I can actually say about that. Nevertheless it’s not one thing that may ever be provided to me anyway. As a substitute of claiming no, I’d say I like the game a lot that I’d be prepared to do no matter I might to attempt to get it to the place it might thrive once more.”
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6) How a lot are you wanting ahead to the 2026 season?
“Yeah, I’m actually optimistic and I can’t wait to get began.”
Who’re among the drivers Mark can see profitable the 2026 Cup Championship?
7) Is there a man that you just’re leaning in direction of profitable the championship? May Denny come again and be extra decided than ever to win it? Or is there any person else? How do you have a look at 2026?
“I actually like Christopher Bell. Underneath different previous championship codecs, he would have been our champion already. He’s fabulous in relation to consistency. And I believe he would make us a fantastic champion. I believe that this might be his 12 months. Sentimentally. I’d like to see Denny come again and win it. I used to be pulling for him final 12 months, I’d wish to see it occur and he might do it. Or it might be a difficult 12 months for him after every thing that he’s been by means of. He actually might do it. If anyone was dominant in 2025, it was him. He’s positively obtained the potential to come back again and do it once more.”
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8) Is there a man or crew you see as a darkish horse to win the championship?
“I don’t see something that you’d put in that class. I imply, clearly, Chase Briscoe or Christopher Bell might be in that place, however they wouldn’t be thought-about darkish horses in my view. It’s actually for somebody exterior of Gibbs and Hendrick or Penske, actually, to tug one off proper now. Nevertheless it actually might be achieved. There are lots of nice groups. (Tyler) Reddick has been sensible. 23XI has been sensible. There’s been lots of groups which have been actually spectacular that aren’t within the prime three. Anyone might get away, all they need to do is hit one thing setup-wise or car-wise that nobody else has found out but they usually can shine for simply lengthy sufficient to tug off a championship. However the season isn’t all a couple of championship. There’s a dadgum race each weekend.
“And the championship (is the end result) of the huge battles which can be had each Sunday.”
How about sharing one other story about your profession out of your upcoming e book?
9) I do know you’re rising extra excited by the day for when your e book comes out in about 4 or 5 extra months. We’ve shared some tales from the e book in earlier columns right here on EssentiallySports. What’s a narrative you’d wish to impart for this episode?
“There’s a lot to speak about within the e book. It’s on the writer, it’s edited, it’s about 460 pages. So there’s an terrible lot. I had a whole profession previous to becoming a member of Roush Racing in 1988 that lots of people don’t learn about – and that point of my profession was crucial.
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“One of many issues that I used to be most happy with is once I turned 20 years previous (in 1979), I moved from Arkansas to North Liberty, Indiana, as a result of (chassis builder) Ray Dillon gave me an previous pole barn to work out of without spending a dime and I rented a home for 150 bucks subsequent to it. I took two workers with me, (crew chief and Martin’s early mentor) Banjo Grimm and David Leventhal, my ex-brother-in-law, with me up there and we went to work racing. We received the ASA (American Pace Affiliation) nationwide championship with one race automobile, an open trailer, as everybody else in ASA had again then, and out of that little previous pole barn subsequent to Dillon Enterprises.
“And through that ‘79 season, Ray and I designed the Dillon Mark II chassis, as a result of my quantity was “2”. The chassis debuted in 1980 and received every thing. We conquered the brief observe world. It was an unimaginable time. We received the ASA championship, set observe information at virtually in all probability 80% of the races that I went to in 1980. We broke the observe report so many occasions with that race automobile and everybody had to purchase one, together with Rusty Wallace, Dick Trickle, Butch Lindley, David Pearson, Darrell Waltrip, even Dale Earnhardt purchased one. Everybody appeared to purchase one; it was what you needed to have. It was THE automobile.
“Ray was such an unbelievable character and was so good for me and my profession. He was only a farmer form of man that cherished racing, that attempted to race himself after which latched onto me and constructed his enterprise constructing race automobiles. It’s fairly darn unimaginable what we did out of North Liberty, Indiana in ‘79, ‘80 and ‘81. I can’t look forward to the followers to learn that story within the e book as a result of it’s fascinating. The one factor that I favored — the idea of going approach, approach, approach again to the start — is that it additionally is an effective introduction into what occurred to Mark Martin.”
(Click on right here to look at the interview with Ray Dillon)
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10) If you constructed the No. 2 chassis, might you might have ever envisioned the profession you had been about to embark upon and the success you’d go on to have in NASCAR and the notoriety and culminating with induction into the NASCAR Corridor of Fame?
“I had already received the ASA nationwide championship at 19 years previous (in 1978) out of Arkansas after which I received it once more in ‘79. So I used to be two-time ASA nationwide champion, which was an enormous deal on the time. Folks as we speak don’t perceive that but it surely was an enormous time collection again then, it was a reasonably large deal. However I additionally had my eyes on NASCAR. I wished to be a NASCAR driver however I had no thought easy methods to get there from the place I used to be as a result of I didn’t have the wherewithal or contacts.
“All I knew to do was to maintain profitable races and profitable championships. So, I used to be pretty established by the point we broke out our No. 2 race automobile, however that simply took us and my notoriety to the subsequent stage. I had been getting lots of Nationwide Pace Sport Information protection again then; it like X/Twitter as we speak. I used to be in Pace Sport Information on a regular basis, they usually had been overlaying me in Inventory Automotive journal lots, too. And there have been adverts for merchandise. The best way I used to be capable of race again then, I didn’t have a cash sponsor, however I had all product sponsors. So I obtained wheels, brakes, tires, springs, every thing without spending a dime. All these producers’ elements gave me all of the parts of the automobile.
“So my title was constructing from 1977 on. And once I first got here to NASCAR racing, lots of people knew who I used to be already due to my success that I’d had in ASA as a result of it was a really a lot revered collection. Darrell Waltrip raced it on a regular basis, and Bobby Allison and a bunch of the opposite guys would come run these races once they might, simply because they had been an enormous deal. And since they had been racers, they didn’t simply race NASCAR, they raced every thing they might race.”
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11) In conclusion, is there something in your bucket listing that you just nonetheless haven’t achieved or achieved?
“I’m pleased with what I’ve achieved. I like being retired. I work actually exhausting each day and am busy as I ever was once I raced. That’s what individuals, human beings, had been designed for: to get after it. And I get after it each day.”
