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NASCAR: Martin Back to Defend Bud Shootout Win

31 January 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

"I feel like a brand-new person," is the way Mark Martin describes his recovery from back surgery last November and prepares to return to the cockpit of the Valvoline Ford Taurus for the start of Daytona 500 practice. His first test under race conditions comes Feb. 13 in the Bud Shootout, the special pole-winners event Mark won last year. Martin was forced to spend 22 hours a day for six weeks lying down after a successful lumbar fusion.

"My strength is coming back, my stamina is coming back, I'm pain-free . . . I had no idea I was in as much pain as I was and how much it was ruining the quality of my life," he said.

Text Provided by Valvoline

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