Mark Anthony Martin (born January 9, 1959), nicknamed "the Kid", is an American former stock car racing driver.

Known for his longevity and endurance, Martin continued to compete for wins and championships well into his early fifties, finishing second in the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings at the age of 50.

Additionally, Martin has won five IROC Championships along with 13 race wins, the most by any driver in series history.

During his ASA career, Martin raced against Dick Trickle, Jim Sauter, Joe Shear, and Bobby Allison.

He made five starts in 1981 driving for a team owned by Bud Reeder,[6] earning two pole positions at Nashville and Richmond and finishing third in his final race at Martinsville.

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.

His success in his three-year stint in ASA landed Martin a part-time ride driving for Jerry Gunderman.

Martin's success from the previous three seasons landed him a full-time ride driving for Bruce Lawmaster in the Busch Series.

Martin came aboard the newly formed Roush Racing, with crew chief Steve Hmiel, for the first of 19 seasons in 1988, driving the No.

The consensus among Mark's fellow competitors was that this was not a performance advantage, but also was not strictly within the "letter of the law" with regard to the NASCAR rulebook.

Martin was one of three drivers, the others being Dale Earnhardt and Sterling Marlin, to be ranked in the top five for all 31 races; none of them won the championship.

He even led the standings at one point, but a late-season penalty at Rockingham arguably cost him the championship, as he came home second again, this time to Tony Stewart.

A 46-point penalty at Richmond, for using an illegal (but non-performance-enhancing) carburetor spacer, caused him to lose to Dale Earnhardt by 26 points in the final standings.

Martin won the Nextel Challenge in a "Retro 93" paint scheme, picked up his final win with Roush at Kansas, and again made the Chase for the Cup with a ninth-place finish in the standings at the end of the year.

Ultimately, it was announced that McMurray would be released from his contract at Chip Ganassi Racing one year early and would take over for Busch, who was dismissed from the Roush organization before the end of the 2005 season.

On September 20, he won his 40th and final career victory in Cup competition by taking the 2009 Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in the first race of the Chase.

Entering the season finale at Homestead–Miami Speedway, Martin and Johnson were the only drivers still able to win the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship.

Martin started the Daytona 500 well, leading the majority of the first 30 laps, but after being stuck in the middle line of the racing pack, he dropped down as low as 33rd and had to pick his way through the rest of the day, eventually finishing 12th.

At the 2010 Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500, Martin was leading the field and running top-5 during most of the day until a flat tire relegated him to 21st.

On November 4, 2011, Michael Waltrip Racing announced that Martin would replace David Reutimann in 2012, signing him to a two-year deal to drive the No.

When Martin returned at 2013 Auto Club 400, he finished 37th after spinning on the back straightaway late in the race, collecting David Gilliland.

11 FedEx Toyota at the 2013 STP Gas Booster 500 after Hamlin suffered a compression fracture of a vertebra in his lower back after being involved in a crash with Joey Logano on the last lap of the Fontana race.

At the 2013 Coca-Cola 600, on lap 324, Martin was involved in a crash with Jeff Gordon and Aric Almirola, which brought out the red flag.

He also owns Mark Martin Powersports in Batesville, Arkansas, which sells boats, motorcycles, ATVs, and UTVs manufactured by companies such as AlumaCraft, Mercury Outboards, Tohatsu, Excel, Honda, Kawasaki, and Yamaha.

Martin's father, stepmother and half-sister died in a plane crash on August 8, 1998, in Nevada near Great Basin National Park.

Martin was regarded as one of the first drivers in the United States to adopt a personal fitness and nutrition regimen, which he credited for allowing him to race at a high level into his 50s.

During the 1990s, he co-authored a book entitled Strength Training for Performance Driving, outlining workouts useful for adapting to the rigors of auto racing.

Martin and his wife Arlene currently reside in his hometown of Batesville, Arkansas, and he frequently visits the local state park of Petit Jean Mountain in Morrilton.

[43] Martin recounts that what had gotten him into rap music was a test at Charlotte Motor Speedway where crew chief Ben Leslie was playing Dr. Dre in the transporter.

[45] Martin campaigned for Donald Trump in the 2016 Republican primaries, appearing at a rally in Concord, North Carolina and continued to endorse him through the general election.