Thursday, November 14, 2013

Top 5 Mark Martin Moments: Roush Racing

The countdown of the Top 5 Mark Martin Moments continues today with number three!

3. Roush Racing

No matter how many times Martin changes teams, many will still think of him as the driver of Jack Roush's No. 6 car.

Roush gave Martin a fresh start in the Cup Series when Roush picked Martin as the driver for his start-up Roush Racing team in 1988.  Together, they paired for 35 wins and 41 poles between 1988 and 2006.

Martin was the face of the team, and was a teammate to many drivers in the garage who came through Roush Racing.  Some of the drivers he mentored include Jeff Burton, Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch, Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards.

Martin celebrates his final victory with Roush Racing with his team in Kansas in 2005.  Martin won 35 races while at Roush Racing.  (Photo courtesy Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images)

Unfortunately, the pairing split up after almost 20 years together when Roush did not have any room for Martin in 2007.  The rules stated that no one could have more than four teams, but Roush was grandfathered in because he had five at the time.  As much as he would have liked, Roush could not add a sixth team so that Martin could run a partial schedule like he wanted.  Instead, Martin headed to Ginn Racing, which eventually became DEI.

Martin's tenure at Roush was long and successful, but all good things must come to an end.  Fans everywhere will always remember the great things that Roush and Martin did together.

What is your favorite memory while Mark was at Roush Racing? Comment below!

Be sure to check out number 5 and number 4 on our countdown, and check back tomorrow for #2 on our list of Mark Martin memories!

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