In life, there are certain decisions we come across that can change the course of our careers. Decisions that we never forget, especially when we wonder what could’ve been. NASCAR veteran Mark Martin learnt this the hard way.

In 1981, a young Martin was lethal. Before he made his full-time Cup debut, ‘the Kid’ of NASCAR had already won three consecutive ASA championships and impressed the garage with his results despite running in a small independent team. This success naturally made his phone ring one day with an offer of a lifetime, one that he regrets turning down to this day.

Martin recently appeared on the Dale Jr Download podcast to promote his autobiography, Mark Martin: Never Lift, where he spoke about receiving a phone call from legendary crew chief Waddell Wilson in November 1981. Martin was offered a ride in the iconic No. 28 car.

“That could’ve been life-changing. And not only did I not even take a beat, I didn’t even take a breath. I said, ‘No, what else? I’ll rather do my own deal,’” said Martin.

45 years later, Martin still realizes the magnitude of what turned out to be. That year, NASCAR legend Bobby Allison drove the No. 28 and secured five wins, finishing second. Later, the seat went to Cale Yarborough, who won back-to-back Daytona 500s in it in ’83 and ’84.

And what’s worse? Martin, who rejected the offer for the ’82 season, entered the series with Bud Reeder’s independent team in the No. 2, which had just two cars and sponsorship issues. He finished 14^th in points and even lost the Rookie of the Year title.

A split-second decision became one of his life’s biggest ‘what-ifs’.

“I wonder what would’ve happened if I’d taken that ride. I could have possibly been the Jeff Gordon of that era. I was only 23 years old,” he added.

But why didn’t he say yes? The reason was simple: Loyalty.

“My first thought was, ‘What do I do with David Lovendahl, and Banjo Grimm, and whoever my third employee was? …and what do I tell Ray Dillon, who was giving me free race cars? And what do I tell Ron Neal, who gave me free engines?

“I could not be a NASCAR driver and might not have ever been a NASCAR driver if it hadn’t been for Ron Neal.”

When Martin moved to Indiana in 1979, it was Ray Dillon who gave him an old pole barn to work out of and helped him build race cars. Ron Neal later supported Martin with free engines, something that Martin has repeatedly said played a big role in him getting into the sport.

But the repercussions of that gamble were serious. So much so that Martin admitted the garage had practically boycotted him.

Martin on the garage after his failed gamble

Martin’s decision to run his own small team in 1982 was daring, but not successful. Owner Bud Reeder invested in his team, but the result was upsetting. In that season, Martin led just 4 laps, secured two top-5s, and DNFed 12 times in 30 races.

“I will tell you that nobody wanted anything to do with me. Nobody in NASCAR would touch me,” Martin said in a YouTube feature released by The Scene Vault.

Martin felt that the failed decision had almost ended his NASCAR career before it truly began.

This is because the problems continued. For the next few months, he juggled underfunded teams to revive his career somehow. But things just didn’t go his way, as he drove for JD Stacy in 1983 without a contract and left the team after a crash with Dale Earnhardt.

His next chance with Morgan-McClure Racing also did no good. He drove a “piece of junk Oldsmobile Cutlass” and didn’t get on good terms with crew chief GC Spencer.

By 1983, his NASCAR career was next to over, and it forced him to return to the Midwest. It was only after 1987 that he returned and never looked back from there, going on to build the Hall of Fame career he is known for today.