Whether Mark Martin overtakes Jimmie Johnson, or not, for the NASCAR Sprint Cup title, no one can question the amount of drive and desire that takes this 50-year old to the top of the standings.
Many athletes have the desire to win, the strength to win, but what else makes Martin the worthy rival that he is?
When it comes to judging a race car driver no one can be better than a crew chief. And when it comes to crew chiefs you couldn’t ask for better judges than his crew chief, Alan Gustafson, or Chad Knaus who works with teammate and rival for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Jimmie Johnson.
Knaus said “Mark is a fantastic talent. I've been a fan of Mark since I was just a child. My father and Mark used to run ASA together, so I've got photographs of myself and Mark when I was like six and he was, like, 18 or something like that, 20 years old. So that was kind of neat to be a part of this deal.”
“I think he brings great experience, not only from a motorsports side of things but life experiences. Obviously he's older than we are, so he's done more and he's experienced more things. He really pulls out good information out of the other drivers,” said Knaus.
“With this car that we've got, there's only so much you can do to it before the driver just has to say that's about as good as it's going to be and I have to go through with it and drive it.”
Gustafson said “Mark has got obviously a lot of talent. He's a great person. I think the biggest thing; his professionalism is above, considerably above, everybody else I've worked with on and off the racetrack, the way he works at his trade, the way he communicates with the team, the way that he works with his teammates. Everything he does, he is very, very professional, very dedicated to what he does, and he does it in a really positive way.
photo:Philippe Champoux-Auto123.com
Many athletes have the desire to win, the strength to win, but what else makes Martin the worthy rival that he is?
When it comes to judging a race car driver no one can be better than a crew chief. And when it comes to crew chiefs you couldn’t ask for better judges than his crew chief, Alan Gustafson, or Chad Knaus who works with teammate and rival for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Jimmie Johnson.
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Knaus said “Mark is a fantastic talent. I've been a fan of Mark since I was just a child. My father and Mark used to run ASA together, so I've got photographs of myself and Mark when I was like six and he was, like, 18 or something like that, 20 years old. So that was kind of neat to be a part of this deal.”
“I think he brings great experience, not only from a motorsports side of things but life experiences. Obviously he's older than we are, so he's done more and he's experienced more things. He really pulls out good information out of the other drivers,” said Knaus.
“With this car that we've got, there's only so much you can do to it before the driver just has to say that's about as good as it's going to be and I have to go through with it and drive it.”
Gustafson said “Mark has got obviously a lot of talent. He's a great person. I think the biggest thing; his professionalism is above, considerably above, everybody else I've worked with on and off the racetrack, the way he works at his trade, the way he communicates with the team, the way that he works with his teammates. Everything he does, he is very, very professional, very dedicated to what he does, and he does it in a really positive way.
photo:Philippe Champoux-Auto123.com