@55MarkMartin Takes to Twitter

(Photo by Brandon W. Mudd)

It started rather simply.

On the morning of Jan. 23, Mark Martin, dressed in his new firesuit, waited patiently in an office at Michael Waltrip Racing reading texts on his Sprint iPhone. An Aaron’s commercial was to begin filming in the shop a few minutes later.

A messenger brought in the word.

“Hey Mark, Michael just signed up you for Twitter and your address is @55markmartin.”

Martin looked up puzzled and simply said “OK…what does that mean?”

Within minutes Martin began Twitter lessons on his phone but was obviously still a bit unsure what his new boss just got him into.

“I don’t know about this,” said Martin, who begins his 30th Sprint Cup season in 2012.

“I’m not what they call an early adapter to new technology. I wasn’t a big fan of HDTV when it first came out, but after trying it out I can’t live without it now. So, I’ll try it.”

Waltrip, whose own Twitter following exceeds 81,000, offered some advice.

“I said, 'You don't have to be controversial, just follow along and let the fans have a peek into who you are,” suggested the two-time Daytona 500 champion.

Martin took the first tentative steps on Twitter and cautioned new followers that he’s still learning about social media.

“I don’t plan on tweeting about once a week,” he warned.

Martin began answering fan questions on subjects ranging from what he thought of his new team, his 25-race schedule or how much he can bench press. As the days ticked by he became more prolific, tweeting more than 200 times the first week. Mostly he talks about racing and his favorite music. He even learned to block followers jokingly threatening former teammate Matt Kenseth.

“I just like playing with it and talking to the fans,” said Martin who even tweeted over the weekend. “Never thought I’d get into it, but it’s kind of neat. At first I wasn’t sure Michael did me a favor because the last thing I need is something to take up more time, but it’s been fun so far. I’d have never done it on my own. I thought just kids did it, but I’ve got people all ages following me now.”

Within the first week his following surpassed 10,000.

“I guess they’ve hooked me,” Martin said.

Is Kevin Harvick the Greatest Nationwide Driver Ever?

In 2000, when Mark Martin drove in what many thought would be his last races in what was then the NASCAR Busch (now Nationwide) Series, his 45 wins, including five that year, were thought to be unbeatable. He started racing in the series again in 2004 and has racked up three more wins in the past five years, putting the number of victories in the NNS to 48.

On Saturday, Kevin Harvick won the Nationwide race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, his 35th in 239 starts, putting his win percentage at 14.6. That number is well behind Martin's percentage of 20.7 percent (48 wins in 231 starts), but as far as wins and impact on the series, Harvick has to be looked at as the driver who will finish his career as the best Nationwide driver ever.

The 2000 series' rookie of the year followed that campaign with a 2001 that may never be repeated. Tabbed to fill the seat of the late Dale Earnhardt, Harvick not only finished the Cup Series season with a top ten in that series' points and two wins while missing the season-opening Daytona 500, but won his first of two NNS titles. In 2006, he became the first driver to win the Nationwide title while also driving fulltime in the Cup Series. Since then, every Nationwide Series title has gone to a Cup Series regular (2007-Carl Edwards, 2008-Clint Bowyer, 2009-Kyle Busch).

He won both titles driving for his Cup team owner, Richard Childress, but went on to form his own team, Kevin Harvick Inc., with his wife DeLana. The team fields entries in both the Nationwide Series as well as the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, where he was won two title as an owner with Ron Hornaday behind the wheel.

The Bakersfield, Calif., native has not only dominated the series with wins, top-fives (120), top-tens (168), and average finish (8.9). While he has had an impressive career in the Cup Series with 11 wins, including a victory at the Brickyard and the 2007 Daytona 500 in addition to two Budweiser Shootout wins and a win in the Sprint All-Star Race, and is currently leading the Cup Series points standings, it is the Nationwide Series that could potentially launch "Happy" Harvick into the rarified air of the NASCAR Hall of Fame.