Does Mark Martin Need To Dump the "Mr. Nice Guy" Personality?

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With two races left to decide the 2009 Sprint cup champion, this is not the time for Mark Martin, who is close enough to dethrone the champion, to sit back and wait on fate to decide his final destiny.

It's time that Martin sheds the angel halo, and grows a set of horns if he ever expects to win his first championship.

Championships are not just given to a driver because he is the most respected, kind hearted, classiest, or because his demeanor is not to make enemies, but instead to keep his fellow competitors happy.

Championships are won because the driver takes on the mindset of someone who wouldn’t think twice about taking candy from a baby, or for a better way to put it, to push his way to front and fight tooth and nail to keep that position.

There is a transformation of the evil kind, that needs to take place if Martin expects to rip that championship away from his fellow competitors.

As of now, the championship is still up for grabs, and will be until the final checker is waved at Homestead.

Martin needs to get his hands a little more dirty, and not be afraid to play in the mud for these last two races.

Seizing the moment has not been one of Martin's strengths, and this could very well be the reason that he has been denied the chance to put his lips on that shiny peice of gold, but instead finishing second four times.

Martin has no one to blame but himself.

There comes a time when he has to look in the mirror and tell himself, “enough is enough, today is when I will begin taking risks and put all of my cards on the table, and at the same time doing whatever it takes to bring that championship home with me. No more mister nice guy."

Martin has made himself the most vulnerable driver on the track, with the other drivers knowing they can pull up on him without any worry of a hard dirty fight, which is why he only has 40 wins for his career.

Martin, who entered the chase in the No. 1 position, is still very much alive even though Jimmie Johnson stood his ground and took the points lead from him.

So far this season, Martin has shown that he has the skill as well as the knowledge of the sport, but he still lacks that mean rotten knock-out-punch that will get him his first championship.

After finishing second four times, Martin should have went back to the drawing board to figure out where it was he has gone wrong.

Dale Earnhardt Sr. won seven championships because he knew what he was racing for every time he buckled himself into his fire breathing, fuel thirsty, 3,500 pound office on wheels.

There wasn’t a race that went by where he didn’t give 150 percent, while being vicious enough to not let any driver get in his way of victory.

Earnhardt’s personality, along with these words of wisdom, is part of the reason why his legacy is still spoken about boldly around the Motorsports world.

“Get the hell out of the race car if you’ve got feathers on your legs or butt" Earnhardt once thought. "Put a kerosene rag around your ankles so the ants won’t climb up there and eat that candy ass. You win some, you lose some, you wreck some."

Now Martin on the other hand, needs to begin thinking if these are the words of wisdom that he wants left as his legacy, “Definitely no heartbreak whatsoever. I wasn’t BS’ing you guys; I didn’t take this job to go try and get a championship trophy.”

Because if they are, all he is doing is selling himself as well as his fans short.

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