Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Motorsport prime

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Edition

USA

BUSCH: Martin to Do Triple Duty This Weekend

Martin to pull double-duty this Sunday DARLINGTON, S.C. (Sept. 2, 1998) To conquer the track "Too Tough to Tame," you have to be a pretty tough individual. To conquer the Los Angeles Grand Prix, you also have to have a lot of talent. To ...

Martin to pull double-duty this Sunday

DARLINGTON, S.C. (Sept. 2, 1998) To conquer the track "Too Tough to Tame," you have to be a pretty tough individual. To conquer the Los Angeles Grand Prix, you also have to have a lot of talent. To attempt to conquer both on consecutive days, you have to be a little crazy, too. That's exactly what Valvoline's Mark Martin will do Sept. 6-7, as he competes "cross country" in both the NASCAR Winston Cup Pepsi Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway and the Ford L.A. Street Race/Kragen Z-One 200 in the streets of Los Angeles. After a grueling 500 miles in his No. 6 Valvoline Ford NASCAR Winston Cup car, he will climb into a chartered jet to make the four-and-a-half hour flight to California where he will take over the wheel of the No. 6 Valvoline/Hot Wheels Ford NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Tour car. To make matters even more exhausting, Martin will also be driving his No. 60 Winn Dixie Ford in the 200-mile NASCAR Busch Series, Grand National Division race Sat., Sept. 5.

"There really is no time to prepare for three consecutive races mentally," said Martin, who is currently second in the NASCAR Winston Cup points standings. "I'm going to take the fastest airplane we can get and go to bed as soon as I get there. There is nothing you can do in the short term to prepare physically for something like this.

"It's more about your lifestyle. If you eat right, get plenty of rest, exercise and take care of yourself on a regular basis, a trip like this is not quite as bad."

The Ford L.A. Street Race may also be Martin's debut on the popular television drama, "Baywatch." The show plans to use footage from the race in an upcoming episode featuring Martin. The Valvoline driver isn't planning to become a Hollywood star, however.

"My main reason for participating in this race is to help Ford promote the event," said Martin. "As the title sponsor for the race, it's a great opportunity to gain exposure for them and our team sponsors since this race will be incorporated into an episode of 'Baywatch.'"

All three cars Martin will be competing in Labor Day Weekend are Roush-prepared Fords. In addition to the race shops in North Carolina that service its NASCAR Winston Cup and Busch Series cars, Roush Racing also has a facility in Long Beach, Calif., that is used for West Coast events. The Southwest Tour racer, a slightly smaller version of a NASCAR Winston Cup car, will be serviced by team members based in Southern California.

The Ford L.A. Street Race follows a 1.4-mile street course that begins near the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and winds its way to the University of Southern California campus.

Although this will be Martin's first Southwest Tour event, and his first race on a street course, his road course expertise should be a great asset during the race. Martin won the 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup road course event at Sears Point (Calif.) Raceway and finished second Aug. 9 in the series' most recent road course race at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International.

Source: NASCAR Online

Be part of Motorsport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Darlington Schrader Preview
Next article Hmiel Out At Roush Racing

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Motorsport prime

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Edition

USA