"I'm not interested in competing in anything": When Mark Martin embraced retirement from NASCAR

Former NASCAR driver Mark Martin opened up about his dislike for competing in all kinds of sports and games four years ago. Martin, a Batesville, Arkansas native, started racing on dirt and moved to the ASA racing series in the late 1970s. He joined NASCAR in 1981 and retired after the 2013 season. During a 2021 interview, Martin talked about his life since stepping away from racing completely.

"I’m not interested in competing in anything. I don’t even like to play cards or games or anything that requires competing," Martin said (via NASCAR.com).

"I’m really enjoying retired life, that’s really all I’ve got going on. I enjoy seeing and spending time with family and seeing friends and traveling and seeing the country. Arlene and I have done a good bit of motor coaching."

Mark Martin collected 40 wins in the Cup Series and 49 Xfinity ones. He drove for Roush Racing (now Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing) for most of his career and joined the team as a driver development coach for a year after retirement.

While Martin shifted to a quieter life running car dealerships and other sports equipment, he admitted that he missed the people and the teamwork in NASCAR.

"The thing I guess I really miss about racing is the people. Working with a team was like a family, the energy of the fans and whatnot. So I kind of miss that. But 40 years of competing at the highest level, and digging as hard as I could possibly dig with every ounce of focus I had, I’m done with that," Martin said.

Martin also worked with a dirt racing team in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series.

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"I didn’t feel like I belonged" - Mark Martin on NASCAR Hall of Fame induction

Mark Martin was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame only a few years after his retirement. He was part of a class with five inductees, including NASCAR team owners Richard Childress, Rick Hendrick and Raymond Parks in 2017. He spoke about his induction and said:

“I was embarrassed because I didn’t feel like I belonged when I looked up at the banners of the Bill Frances, the Junior Johnsons, the Dale Earnhardts and Richard Pettys and Cale Yarboroughs, David Pearson," Martin said (per Nascar.com). "I didn’t feel worthy of being in that crowd, especially as early as I felt like I went in."

Mark Martin never won a championship, but finished second in the standings five times: 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, and 2009. He also missed a Daytona 500 win after a close second-place finish by just 0.02 seconds in 2007.