Known as the “greatest driver to never win a championship,” Mark Martin fetched 40 sparkling trophies across his Cup career. But a legendary career is also marked by some drama. And Martin, out of all, falls prey to the hunting tactics of The Intimidator, as he retells the story to the latter’s son.

Dale Earnhardt was a thorn in Martin’s side

Mark Martin had a breakout season in 1989 and entered the following season with full energy. However, 1990 spelled some problems. Although he fetched a second career victory in Richmond, an illegal car part stripped him of his win and led to a 46-point penalty. Later that year, he finished second in the championship standings, losing by 26 points to Dale Earnhardt.

That is why, when Earnhardt decided to ruffle his feathers in the mid-1990s, Mark Martin responded in kind. In 2018, he talked about when Dale Earnhardt undertook this project: “He treated me with great respect until one day in the mid-90s he wakes up and he just thinks, ‘Boy, I’ll just mess with Mark; see how much he will take.’”

In a recent episode of The Dale Jr Download, Martin narrated the story with zest about The Intimidator’s son, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Initially, he admitted to starting the feud that blew out Earnhardt’s fuse. “I flew hot and somehow or another, I flipped it on him. Just like that, I was on his outside. He lost it, wiped us out. I never lost it.”

But that made Martin’s blood boil, as he said, “Boy, I was mad. We’d build one good car and three mediocre cars and this one was spectacular. And I was going to kill him with that thing.”

So Mark Martin got payback later, aiming to topple Dale Earnhardt from his championship ambition. “He was running for a championship and I was so far out on points, I wasn’t. I was like, he’s got a lot more to lose, do that as much as he wants. We never spoke about it, so that wasn’t the end of the story. The next week, we go to Loudon, he sees me, gets on my outside. I just, bam! Doored him, up into the marbles.”

Even after all this drama, Martin acknowledged Dale Earnhardt’s respect for him. Earnhardt consciously put a stop to their on-track conflict.

However, the two legends later made it up

The Intimidator knew where to wrap things up, and that has endeared him to peers and fans across generations. So when Dale Earnhardt’s feud with Mark Martin seemed to get out of hand, the former drew a line. At a practice session in New Hampshire, they battled hard. But Earnhardt got out of his car and told his PR guy, “I think Mark’s had enough.”

This pacifying statement also came because Earnhardt respected Martin. Dale Earnhardt irritated other drivers, like Geoff Bodine, as well. But Martin said he got special treatment among a lot of drivers. “I can’t recall him ever bump and running me. I’ve seen him race a lot of people a lot rougher than he ever did me. So for that, I’m really humbled and proud, because I believe that he had a lot of respect for me in that, you know, in that way.”

Such a story is bound to send titillating goosebumps across a diehard NASCAR audience. Reminiscing about the good old ‘90s can always be exciting, as Mark Martin showed us.