Background and career
Mark Anthony Martin (born January 9, 1959), nicknamed "the Kid", is an American former stock car racing driver. He most notably drove the No. 6 Ford for Roush Racing for the majority of his career. From 1989 to 2009, Martin recorded 40 NASCAR Cup Series victories, 35 of which were achieved with Roush Racing. He is frequently cited as one of the most accomplished drivers to never win a NASCAR Cup Series championship, having finished second in the overall standings five times (1990, 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2009) and third on four occasions. Recognized for his longevity and consistent performance, Martin remained competitive into his early 50s, placing second in the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings at the age of 50. Although considered a strong contender in multiple seasons, Martin failed to win the Daytona 500 in his career, despite several close attempts. In the O'Reilly's Series (formerly the Busch Series), he ranks second in all-time wins with 49. He also earned five International Race of Champions (IROC) titles and recorded thirteen race wins in the series, the highest total in its history. Martin was the final driver born in the 1950s to win a NASCAR Cup Series race.
Martin was born in Batesville, Arkansas in 1959. He began his racing career at a young age on local dirt tracks before transitioning to asphalt competition and entering the ASA racing series. During his time in the ASA, he competed against notable drivers such as Dick Trickle, Jim Sauter, Joe Shear, and Bobby Allison. Martin earned the ASA National Tour Rookie of the Year Award in 1977 and went on to win 22 ASA races and four series championships, secured in 1978, 1979, 1980, and 1986.
Martin experienced an unsettled start to his NASCAR career, competing for six different teams between 1981 and 1987. He made five starts in 1981 with a team owned by Bud Reeder, earning pole positions at Nashville and Richmond and recording a third-place finish in his final race of the season at Martinsville. Martin raced full-time in 1982 with the Bud Reeder team, supported by sponsorship from Apache Stove. As the season progressed, however, the team went bankrupt, and Martin did not receive payment. He was competing for Rookie of the Year honors that year. Overall, the team struggled for consistency, recording eight top-ten finishes but twelve DNFs in thirty starts, including a stretch of five DNFs in six races. Martin completed only 73.7% of the season's laps and led just four laps, resulting in a 14th-place finish in the final standings and a second-place result in the Rookie of the Year competition behind Geoff Bodine. Despite ending the season with improved performances, including two top-ten finishes in the final two races and a fifth-place result at Riverside, Martin and Reeder parted ways after the season. He remains the only driver to have competed in more than six races for a team owned or co-owned by Reeder. At the conclusion of the season, Martin sold off his equipment and signed with Jim Stacy to compete in 1983.
In 1983, Martin began driving for Jim Stacy. The two parted ways after just seven races, posting three top-11 finishes while having four races in which they finished 24th or worse. Following a two-race stint driving for D. K. Ulrich and one for Emanuel Zervakis, he landed a ride with Morgan-McClure Motorsports for six races, becoming the organization's first driver. While with Morgan-McClure, Martin recorded four top-20 finishes, including a 10th-place run at Talladega. Unable to secure a ride for 1984, Martin returned to the American Speed Association. Jimmy Fennig joined as crew chief in 1985, and the two went on to win the ASA championship the following season, which became Martin's fourth series title. His success during his three-year stint in ASA earned him a part-time ride with Jerry Gunderman. In five starts, he posted two top-15 finishes and started on the outside pole at Atlanta.
Martin's success over the previous three seasons earned him a full-time ride with Bruce Lawmaster in the Busch Series. The season began strongly, as he posted two wins, three poles, nine top-tens, and held fourth place in the standings after fifteen races. After recording just one DNF in those first fifteen events, Martin suffered seven DNFs in the final twelve races, including six caused by mechanical failures and four by blown engines. Despite finishing in the top-ten in the other five races, the team's inability to finish races late in the season dropped Martin from fourth to eighth place in the final standings. Although the late-season collapse ended Martin's chance at the championship, his performance in 1987 attracted the attention of Jack Roush, who selected him to drive in the Winston Cup Series for 1988. Martin ended the 1987 season with three wins, six poles, thirteen top-tens, and an eighth-place finish in the points standings.
Martin came aboard the newly formed Roush Racing, with crew chief Steve Hmiel, for the first of nineteen seasons in 1988, driving the No. 6 Ford Thunderbird. Martin showed both signs of struggle and potential in his inaugural NASCAR Winston Cup Series season, recording three top-five finishes and ten top-ten finishes, along with winning the pole at Dover. He finished a season-high second at Bristol early in the year. Consistency proved crucial, as ten DNF's prevented Martin from cracking the top-ten in points at any point during the season. He finished his comeback year 15th in the standings. Martin also competed in the Busch Series on a limited basis for Bill Davis Racing from 1988 to 1991. Martin's 1989 season began much like his 1988 campaign, with a DNF in the Daytona 500. After the first four races, he was 18th in the standings but went on to continue the year with four poles and a stretch of finishing sixth or better in the next seven starts. He spent much of the season fluctuating between second and fifth in the standings. With three races remaining, he won his first Winston Cup race at Rockingham, beating eventual series champion Rusty Wallace by three seconds. It was the first win for Roush as an owner. An engine failure in the season finale at Atlanta relegated him to a third-place finish in the standings. Martin led the series with a 5.3 average starting position, posting six poles and twenty-six top-ten starting positions in twenty-nine races. He also posted fourteen top-five finishes, eighteen top-ten finishes, and reduced his DNF total from ten to four. Martin entered the 1990 season as a favorite to win the Winston Cup championship. He started the year with a 21st-place finish in the Daytona 500, his first completed run in the big race in six attempts. His team was met with controversy following his second career win at Richmond. During post-race inspection, it was determined that he had raced with an illegal carburetor spacer. Had the spacer been welded instead of bolted on, it would not have been considered illegal. The consensus among Martin's fellow competitors was that the part did not provide a performance advantage, but it also was not strictly within the "letter of the law" with regard to the NASCAR rulebook. As a result, Martin was penalized 46 championship points, and crew chief Robin Pemberton was fined $40,000. Following a DNF the next race, Martin finished no worse than 14th over the final twenty-six races. He gained the championship points lead one-third into the season and held onto it for sixteen races before dropping it to Dale Earnhardt with two races remaining. Despite having three wins, sixteen top-fives, twenty-three top-tens, and three poles, Martin lost to Earnhardt by twenty-six points in the final standings. Had the 46-point penalty never occurred, he theoretically would have won the championship over Earnhardt by twenty points. Martin's 1991 season was disappointing compared to the previous year, as he entered with expectations of winning the series championship. Although he ran well, he never achieved the points lead throughout the season and was winless entering the season finale at Atlanta, a race that he ultimately won. He also came close to winning at Charlotte three races prior, leading 198 of the first 212 laps before engine failure ended his race. Along with his win at Atlanta, Martin finished the year with fourteen top-fives, seventeen top-tens, five poles, and a 6th-place finish in the standings.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
