Mark Martin looks back on his 1981 Talladega ARCA victory: ‘We just put our best foot forward’

Prior to 1981, Mark Martin had never raced on a track larger than a mile in length.

Martin at that point in his career had made a name for himself racing on short tracks across the Midwest. He was already a three-time American Speed Association champion after capturing three consecutive titles from 1978-80.

Martin, who would go on to win 96 races in NASCAR’s three national divisions and earn a place in the NASCAR Hall of Fame, decided it was time to prepare for the next step in his racing career.

With that goal in mind, he planned to use 1981 as a preparation year for what would be his rookie season in the NASCAR Cup Series in 1982.

“It was 1981, and I got an (Xfinity) car and was going to run a few races on big race tracks to get some experience,” Martin said. “The biggest race track I’d been on was the Milwaukee Mile prior to 1981. Then I built a Cup car to do short tracks. I was going to do five short tracks.

“Short-track racing was what I’d done, and it was my background. It was preparing to go full-time Cup (racing) in ’82, and I needed that experience on the superspeedways. I needed the five Cup races on the short tracks just to find out what I was getting into, so ’81 was a preparation year for getting ready to go full-time in ’82.”

RELATED: Everything to know about Saturday’s General Tire 200 at Talladega

Martin began the learning process on bigger tracks by competing at Daytona International Speedway in the NASCAR Late Model Sportsman division, the precursor to the modern NASCAR Xfinity Series, in February of 1981.

He finished 14th that day at Daytona, but that race was just phase one of Martin’s learning curve. Knowing he needed more experience on superspeedways, Martin planned to compete in the ARCA Menards Series race at Talladega Superspeedway on Aug. 1, 1981.

“Daytona was like a shock,” Martin said. “It was a good bit more challenging and new. There were a lot of things to learn about the car and about the track. By the time I got to Talladega, I had my arms around that much better. Daytona was the first one right out of the gate, so it was a little more of a challenge.”

Prior to the race, things didn’t get off to the best of starts. The engine Martin planned to use was late arriving, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as the company building the engine used the extra time for find Martin some extra horsepower.

“Prototype Racing Engines was doing my engines, and they were several days late getting the engine to me because they weren’t happy with the power it was making,” Martin recalled. “Then they finally got it where they wanted it.”

The power of Martin’s engine was obvious when he qualified an impressive second behind pole winner Billie Harvey.

Martin continued to impress during the main event. He led a race-high 44 laps, eventually beating Joe Ruttman to the finish to win in his one and only ARCA Menards Series start.

The event also included future NASCAR Cup Series winners Tim Richmond and Phil Parsons, 1985 Indianapolis 500 winner Danny Sullivan, future NASCAR Hall of Famer Red Farmer and musician and part-time racer Marty Robbins.

“It was a fast race,” Martin said. “I know that we qualified just under 200 mph, but in the draft we ran over 200 mph. That was kind of a big deal for a 21-year-old in 1981. That was kind of, ‘Wow.’ Those are the kinds of things I remember about the race.”

The win showed Martin he could be competitive on the larger tracks after spending so many years racing on short tracks around the Midwest.

While the confidence that came with winning on the 2.66-mile superspeedway was nice, for Martin, the experience gained by competing at Talladega was much more vital as he prepared for his future.

“I just went down there to get experience, and I didn’t necessarily have expectations,” Martin said. “I knew we’d have good stuff, but I didn’t expect to go down there and sit on the outside pole, lead the most laps and win the race. We just put our best foot forward, and that’s what we did all the time back then.

“If you expect too much you get yourself let down. If you don’t expect anything and put your best foot forward and you get great results, then you can be happy about that. I just didn’t try to set myself up to be disappointed.”

ARCA Menards Series drivers and teams will try to follow Martin’s advice Saturday when the series returns to Talladega Superspeedway for the running of the General Tire 200. Live coverage begins at 12:30 p.m. ET on FS1 and the Fox Sports App.