Mark Martin shares straightforward feelings ahead of Katherine Legge’s NASCAR Cup Series debut

Mark Martin, the NASCAR legend, wished Katherine Legge ahead of her Cup Series debut at the Phoenix Raceway. He called it a debut with an ‘underdog team’ and it was the ‘old school way’.

Mark Martin is a renowned NASCAR driver whose career spanned three decades with notable success in the Cup Series. Driving for Roush Racing, the Arkansas native secured 40 Cup Series wins with five second-place finishes in the driver standings. He holds the record for the second-most wins in the Xfinity Series behind Kyle Busch, with 49 victories. Nicknamed ‘the Kid’, for his youthful appearance and the perception as a rising star in NASCAR, Mark Martin is widely regarded as one of the greatest drivers in stock racing history.

The 66-year-old tweeted a foreword to the race at Phoenix Raceway, where he reminisced his ‘fun memories’ at the track.

"I’m looking forward to a great race today @phoenixraceway on @FS1 I have lots of fun memories from there," Mark Martin tweeted.

He also wished Katherine Legge a ‘great day’ for her Cup Series debut.

"I hope @katherinelegge has a great day too. She is a great driver and very humble person. Making her first @NASCAR start with a underdog team the old school way," he added.

Katherine Legge, a British racing driver, started her career in go-karts before transitioning to open-wheel series in the UK, including Formula Three, Formula Renault, and Formula Ford. She made history in 2000 as the first woman to secure a pole in a Zetec race. In 2005, Legge moved to the U.S. and showcased her versatility by becoming the fastest female Indy 500 qualifier in 2023. Now, at 44, she is poised to make history again as the first woman to compete in the NASCAR Cup Series since Danica Patrick in 2018, driving for Live Fast Motorsports in the No. 78 Chevrolet.

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When Mark Martin made his feelings known about his NASCAR legacy after retirement

With a career spanning over three decades and participation in more than 800 races, Mark Martin had a significant impact on NASCAR. He raced for notable teams, including Hendrick Motorsports, and announced his departure from the team at the end of the 2011 season, which led to speculation about his retirement.

In a conversation with NASCAR insider Jeff Gluck in 2011, Martin candidly stated that "most people" would not remember him, a sentiment he later described as somewhat "overdone."

"Most people aren't going to remember me, you know? There will be some people that I touched their lives in a positive way and there will be only be a few of those – a small portion – who will remember that. And I think everybody will move on," Mark said.

"I think that's a little overdone, that 'How do you want to be remembered?' It's a little overdone."

After his retirement, there were discussions about Mark Martin potentially returning to racing, but he firmly stated that he had no intention of making a comeback.