"He was testing me" - When Mark Martin opened up about his intense relationship with Dale Earnhardt

Former driver Mark Martin shared his thoughts on the tough and complicated relationship he had with NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt in June this year.

Seven-time NASCAR Cup champion Earnhardt raced with Martin starting in the 1980s. During the 547th episode of the "Dale Jr. Download" podcast, Martin explained the details of his feud with Earnhardt and said that the rivalry began in the early 90s when he started becoming a serious contender in the series.

"I think Dale wanted to get to know me even better. I think he probably wanted to know who he was going up against. I had run third in the points in 1989, won a race, but damn near won a bunch of races. I think Dale wanted to know this guy even deeper because he might have to contend with me going forward," Mark Martin said (1:17:23).

Martin, who won 40 Cup Series races in his 31-year career, explained that Earnhardt would often push him to his limits to see how he would react.

"But he treated me with respect on the racetrack, and especially off the racetrack. Now, we did have a couple of brush-ups, and I go into that story every once in a while as well. But he was testing me when we had those brush-ups. It was a test to see what I would do, how I would react. Would I bow down? Would I cry and complain? Boy, he didn’t like that," he added (1:18:10).

Martin further said that Earnhardt did not like people who complained and remembered how the latter kept testing him. He talked about a 1993 practice race in Michigan, where he got upset because Earnhardt wrecked his "spectacular" car.

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Mark Martin commented on his friendship with Dale Earnhardt

Mark Martin was one of the best drivers in NASCAR who never won a championship. On the same episode, Martin discussed visiting Dale Earnhardt's house to watch his race tapes in 1982.

When Dale Jr. asked about the night, Martin recalled how Earnhardt treated him with respect and shared the story.

"In '81, when I started crossing paths with him in the Busch Series and the five Cup races I ran...It was warming to me that someone of his stature would give me the time of day. He was friendly with me, and we talked. I said, 'I’ve got a bunch of these tapes, these races I’d like to show you.' He said, 'Bring them up to the lake, and we’ll watch them," Mark Martin said (1:11:30).

Martin also revealed that he did not hang out much with Earnhardt and they only had dinner a few times together.