Top Row Seat - Unrestricted Lies
Dateline: 02/21/2000
"I got lied to." This pretty well sums up Mark Martin's thoughts after the Daytona 500. He had the word of a friend and the word of a teammate but when it came time to test their loyalty Mark found himself going backwards... alone.
Mark was running a strong second in the Daytona 500 behind former teammate Johnny Benson when his crew told him that then third place Dale Jarrett and fourth place runner Jeff Burton had both agreed to go with him when the time came for Mark to make his move.
Mark got a run going off into turn one and pulled up high around Benson who was guarding the low line. But instead of taking the lead (and quite possibly the win) Mark found himself all alone on the high side without a drafting partner where he was forced to watch helplessly as Jarrett, Burton and 5 other drivers passed him on the bottom.
Certainly it's every man for himself out there as all forty-three drivers want the money and the glory for themselves. But even if Mark's championship rival Jarrett welches on his end of the deal you would still expect Mark's own Roush teammate to honor his word. But when it came down to it Burton chose to finish second behind Jarrett instead of second behind Martin.
In post race interviews both Jarrett and Burton expressed regrets for breaking their promise to Mark. These very unusual statements (nobody ever apologizes for winning) just underscore the fact that they both know that their actions were beyond the bounds of regular restrictor plate racing.
This was true betrayal.
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Were Jarrett and Burton justified in not honoring their deal with Mark?
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