Mark Martin's charge secures Joey Logano as a dominant winner in NASCAR!
No one knows what it's like to win deep into their 40s like the Hall of Famer
Motorsport photo Mark Martin is rooting for Denny Hamlin right now because he knows how hard it is to defy the odds and overcome Father Time when he starts working against a high level athlete. The 2017 Hall of Fame inductee says he was first drawn to Hamlin because he’s started to see something of a baby face turn from a driver that was long established as something of a heel, and he lived that when he watched Darrell Waltrip become the same thing in the late 80s and early 90s. But Martin also was winning Cup races through his 50th birthday in 2009 and really appreciates what Hamlin is starting to do right now at 45.
“So many people have changed the way they feel about him and he's one of the greatest drivers ever,” Martin said on Tuesday during a media availability at NASCAR Productions. “I don’t care what car he drove, you look at his numbers and it’s some of the greatest ever, and I appreciate that he can win a race at 45 because most winners can’t win races at 45. “It’s pretty damn cool.
When he said after the race that he’s working hard, I believe it because I think it’s harder now to win at 50 than it was when I did it and it was hard then. ” Read Also: Denny Hamlin, 'the old dog,' is still hunting with Vegas win So, with all of that said, what does Martin think Hamlin needs to be most prepared for as he continues to age while still seeking wins and an elusive championship that evaded them both over their careers. “So, I still had speed,” Martin said.
“At 54, I sat on the pole at Phoenix and I was running (with Rodney Childers) and it was not a slow car, it was rocket fast, but my race craft had been suffering for years. ” This next part is a metaphor. “I’ve got a 15-year-old iPad and it was fast when I got it but now it’s so slow that it’ unusable.