close

Martin, Wallace honored before final race at Daytona

5 min read

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) – Mark Martin and Rusty Wallace were honored Saturday night before their final race at Daytona International Speedway. The retiring NASCAR stars were given framed photos of the first cars they drove at Daytona in 1982 and greeted with a standing ovation during the drivers meeting before the Pepsi 400. The photos also contained head shots that Martin said reminded him of “Starsky and Hutch.”

“You got me beat with the mustache, but I’ve got the hair,” Wallace said.

Martin and Wallace entered their final race at Daytona in the top 10 in the Nextel Cup series point standings. Martin was fifth, and Wallace was one spot behind.

Although both drivers have run well at Daytona over the years, neither has had much to celebrate at NASCAR’s most famous track.

Martin is winless in 40 career starts in Cup races at Daytona. He is 0-for-21 in the Daytona 500 and 0-for-19 in the Pepsi 400.

Wallace, the 1989 series champion, is 0-for-44 in Cup races here. He is winless in 23 starts in the Daytona 500 and winless in 21 starts in the Pepsi 400.

Throw in various other races at Daytona, and the two aren’t much better.

Martin has three wins at the track – two in the International Race of Champions series (2003, 2005) and one in the Bud Shootout (1999) – in a combined 108 starts. Wallace has two victories – one in the Budweiser Shootout (1998) and one in the IROC series (1989) – in 102 starts.

Martin said earlier this year that he won’t miss racing at Daytona.

“I don’t particularly love this place,” he said. “It never has been that kind to me.”

Wallace was much more nostalgic.

“I’ve had a lot of fun, and I enjoy it,” he said.

TRUEX TAKEN: When Martin Truex Jr. agreed to a three-year contract extension with Dale Earnhardt Inc., it took one of the most coveted drivers off the free-agent market.

Truex, the reigning Busch Series champion, said he signed the new deal right before Friday night’s Busch race at Daytona International Speedway. He won the race and announced the new contract in Victory Lane.

“I’m glad it’s out of the way and I don’t have to read all over the Internet that I’m driving this car or that car,” Truex said.

Hours before signing the new deal, Truex was reportedly being wooed by Penske Racing to replace Rusty Wallace in the No. 2 Dodge. He also was mentioned for the Roush Racing seat that will open when Mark Martin retires at the end of the season.

The Wallace and Martin rides are the two most prolific openings on the horizon. Neither team has indicated who they will hire, and team owner Roger Penske said Saturday he wasn’t panicking.

“There are all sorts of options, and I think we’ll just sit tight right here for a while,” Penske said.

EMOTIONAL EBERSOL: NBC Sports president Dick Ebersol thanked the “NASCAR community” Saturday for supporting him through what has been a difficult time.

Ebersol’s 14-year-old son, Teddy, was killed in a plane crash in November in Colorado. The pilot and a flight attendant also were killed. Dick Ebersol, Charlie Ebersol and co-pilot Eric Wicksell were injured.

“I wanted to tell you all from the bottom of my heart, ‘Thank you,”‘ Ebersol said, holding back tears. “This community more than any other in sports has been there for my family and for me through all of this.”

NASCAR driver Kyle Petty and team owner Rick Hendrick also have lost sons, and Ebersol said both reached out to him.

“To Kyle and to Rick, who belong to the same club that none of you I hope will ever have to belong to, I owe so much,” said Ebersol, who spoke during the prerace drivers meeting and received a standing ovation. “You don’t ever want to lose a child, but if you do, you want to have your faith in humanity renewed by the love and good works of the people around you trying to help you.”

RUMSFELD RECEPTION: Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld signed autographs, posed for pictures and was generally given a warm welcome as he made his way through the NASCAR garage area before the Pepsi 400.

Rumsfeld also got a standing ovation during the prerace drivers meeting.

“Everywhere I go around the world the troops talk about NASCAR and how much it reminds them of home,” said Rumsfeld, the honorary grand marshall for the race.

COACHING VIPS: South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier and Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops were among the VIPs at the Pepsi 400.

The NASCAR race was the first for Spurrier, the former coach at the University of Florida and for the NFL’s Washington Redskins. It was the second race for Stoops, but his first in about eight years.

Spurrier, who rode a few laps around the track in one of the pace cars, said drivers might be the best athletes of all. “You don’t see many fat drivers out there,” he said.

He also compared racing to golf, where dozens of individuals vie for victory each week.

“In football, we’ve got two teams, and one of is going to win,” he said. “If it’s an even game, you’ve got a 50 percent chance. So this is a much tougher sport, when you have just one winner out of so many competitors.”

LUG NUTS: Team owner Robert Yates missed the Pepsi 400 after battling kidney stones earlier in the week. He was expected to return next week at Chicago. … Singer Lisa Marie Presley, who performed several songs during prerace ceremonies, had quite an experience when she rode around the superspeedway with former NASCAR Cup driver Wally Dallenbach. “I want to kick his (butt) right this minute,” she said. “It would have been great if we just went around really fast in the middle of the track. But he perpetually wanted to make me feel like I was going to die every two seconds, riding me an inch from the wall.” … PGA Tour golfer Chris DiMarco also was recognized as a VIP at the race.

CUSTOMER LOGIN

If you have an account and are registered for online access, sign in with your email address and password below.

NEW CUSTOMERS/UNREGISTERED ACCOUNTS

Never been a subscriber and want to subscribe, click the Subscribe button below.

Starting at $4.79/week.

Subscribe Today