“They kept me down”: Mark Martin recalls $225,000 paycheck story about Jack Roush

Retired NASCAR star Mark Martin has reminisced about his decades-old paycheck narrative with Roush Racing. The driver who opened the NASCAR victory account for Jack Roush took a jibe at his former confidante's meager payback.

Martin ventured into high-octane racing in 1981. Before that, the Arkansas native had already carved his name among the ASA Racing greats. He bagged three consecutive championships from 1978 to 1980 and raked in his fourth title after stepping into NASCAR in 1986.

Mark Martin jumped six teams until 1987, and couldn't find a long-term footing with any garage for the next season. However, that changed when he joined forces with Roush Racing in 1988. During his first year with Jack Roush's team, the retired driver posted three top-5s and ten top-10s. However, a staggering 10 DNFs later in the season stooped his #6 Ford Thunderbird to a 15th-place finish.

Nonetheless, after a tumultuous footing in the 1989 season as well, Martin geared up his on-track game, started bringing in top-5s, and finally clinched his and Roush Racing's first-ever NASCAR victory at the AC Delco 500 hosted by the Rockingham Speedway.

However, despite his unwavering efforts for the team, Martin told Dale Earnhardt Jr. his paycheck wasn't apt and drew parallels with his rival Brett Bodine's salary

"In 1989, I won six poles, one race, run third in the points, and run second about five times. And my entire paycheck for the year was $225,000. Brett Bodine was getting a $250,000 salary plus 50%. They kept me down," Martin told Dale Earnhardt Jr. via Dirty Mo Media on X. (0.31)

"It was gut-wrenching for me"- Mark Martin after parting ways with Roush Racing after 19 years

Though Mark Martin was a star in the ASA Series, he struggled during his early NASCAR days. Jack Roush, on the other hand, was a Ford engineer who found success in drag and road races but was unfamiliar with the workings of the pinnacle of stock car racing.

However, the coming together of the duo birthed a dominant Cup Series team. Mark Martin couldn't bag a championship but came home with four runner-ups for the team in 1990, 1994, 1998, and 2002. After deciding to step away from full-time racing at the end of the 2005 season, Martin returned to Roush Racing in 2006 on the "promise from Roush to race the Truck Series."

However, that never happened as Roush disapproved of Martin's truck pursuit, and as a result, the duo split, and the #6 Ford driver marked his switch to Gin Racing in 2007.

Speaking on his exit from Roush Racing, Mark Martin said.

"It was gut-wrenching for me to leave Roush Racing after 19 years. But they wouldn’t hear anything of a limited schedule in the #6 car. Exactly what they let me do in the #01 car. In retrospect, it would have been better for them and better for me both, if they would have done that, but they wouldn’t even talk about it,” via Speed Sport.

After exiting Jack Roush's garage, Mark Martin posted another runner-up finish in the Cup Series rankings during his first year with Hendrick Motorsports.