Legendary NASCAR driver Mark Martin is often known as the best driver who never won the championship. In his 19-year spell at Roush Racing driving the No. 6 Ford, he had four runner-up finishes. It feels as if Lady Luck wasn’t by his side whenever he was close to winning the biggest prize in the sport. But what if we tell you that Mark Martin probably had a better offer on the table from another team that could’ve changed his destiny?

Back in 1988, team owner Jack Roush was in search of a new driver who could take his racing program to new heights. Rather than going for a star driver, he placed his trust in Mark Martin, who was fairly new to Cup racing. And given the longevity of this partnership and the near misses, it feels as if this pairing was a success, but things weren’t so good off track.

Mark Martin could’ve been a Yates Racing driver

Jack Roush didn’t just casually put Martin into his Cup car, as the driver had already proved his mettle in the Nationwide Series, the second tier of NASCAR racing. Despite running part-time, Martin racked up multiple race wins. So it wasn’t a blind bet by Roush, and the young driver also earned his spot to compete at the top level. But a seat at Roush Racing wasn’t the only offer Martin had received.

Although it’s been a long time since Mark Martin made the crucial career choice, he’s now gone on to reveal that he was close to joining Yates Racing. Both the teams were fairly new and wanted to challenge the supremacy that Richard Childress Racing and Dale Earnhardt were enjoying. But with Jack Roush being able to retain his prodigy, Robert Yates found his new gem in Davey Allison.

Many NASCAR fans have long imagined what a Mark Martin and Robert Yates partnership could look like. Replying to one such query on X, the veteran driver replied, “I was offered the 28 three different times. I will explain it all in the book.” This wasn’t the only revelation he made, as he also touched upon how things weren’t always good at Roush Racing and that he would open up more about it in his book.

One of the fans asked if the competition meetings at Roush Racing were brutal. Well, Martin didn’t exactly spill the beans on what the environment within the team was, but stated, “Yes, they could be at times. The good the bad and the ugly is in the book. Actually, this part of the book is already written. We are past halfway on it.” Well, one can only wonder how Mark Martin’s career would’ve turned out had he opted for Yates Racing.

Davey Allison himself had close calls in his bid to claim the biggest prize in NASCAR racing. He finished third in the standings back-to-back in 1991 and 1992, with the last race at Atlanta proving to be a thorn in his side. But by no means was Martin’s time at Roush a failure; as we previously said, there was an element of luck and misfortune linked with the driver at the time. And it was indeed hard for him to part ways with his team on his own terms.

Martin had a bitter-sweet exit from Roush Racing

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Originally, Mark Martin and Roush Racing had decided to part ways after the end of the 2005 Cup Series season. Although the partnership didn’t win the championship, it did deliver some iconic moments and memories for them to cherish. Out of the 40 wins in Martin’s career, 35 of them came when he was piloting the #6 ride. But despite the long union, his departure from the team was far from simple.

At the time, the constant demands of the competitive racing took a toll on the Arkansas native. Which is why he wanted to step down from full-time commitment; he didn’t want to retire at the time but wanted a brief pause. But Kurt Busch’s exit from the team in 2005 foiled Martin’s plans to take a break from Cup Racing in 2006.

Extending his run a year, Martin wanted to focus on a partial schedule in 2007 and groom David Ragan from the switch in the No. 6 car. However, Jack Roush wasn’t sold on the idea and wanted his driver to run the full season. This forced Martin to jump ships at Ginn Racing as he got what he wanted, but this wasn’t how Martin hoped his time at Roush Racing would come to an end.

“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 six-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 had done that, but they wouldn’t even talk about it.” Mark Martin said this to Speed Sport.

Well, going by the veteran driver’s latest updates, the fans will be able to get a deeper dive of what his time at Roush Racing was like through his book.