|| *Comments on the 1981 Wrangler Sanfor-Set 400:* View the most recent comment <#10> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. mcmurrayfan posted: 06.14.2006 - 4:34 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) First top 10 for Mark Martin in Cup. 2. Mr. Consistentcy posted: 06.14.2007 - 5:00 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) This was still four years before I was born, so I don't know much about the time period. So I've always wondered how Mark could have gotten off to such a great start, and not get a permanent ride until 1988. 3. most posted: 08.28.2007 - 8:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) All about the lack of $ for Mark. I have always heard that he had some alcohol issues he was battling back then also. 4. WillG46 posted: 09.03.2007 - 8:05 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The same thing can be said about Morgan Shepherd. He had problems with alcohol and womanizing early in his career. Ironically now he drives the Jesus car. lol. 5. 18fan posted: 01.23.2010 - 7:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sixth second of the season for Gant. 6. RaceFanX posted: 04.08.2010 - 1:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) BP's 20th and penultimate Winston Cup victory. He'd have to wait until 1984 to get his last one. 7. Anonymous posted: 11.27.2010 - 11:41 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Mark was a big star in the ASA series at this time, winning everything there was to win there. When he tried to jump to Cup no big ride was vacant, so he started his own team with Bud Reeder. They couldn't attract a major sponsor even after their great start in '81, so they struggled through 1982 with a massively underfunded operation. Mark did drink at this time, but he didn't become a full-blown alcoholic until 1983 when he was promised a full time ride with J.D. Stacy, sold all of his equipment, and was then fired by Stacy less than 10 races into the season. This understandably devastated Mark and that's when his alcohol problems began. Luckily by 1987 he was able to get help and landed a full time Grand National ride, which led to him getting hired by Jack Roush when he moved to NASCAR in 1988. 8. RaceFanX posted: 06.20.2019 - 9:21 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) This was BP's eighth and final short track Cup win. Parsons only drove one season in Bud Moore's #15 Ford but he and the team racked up three wins during it. The 1981 season would be Parsons' last full-time campaign for several years. 9. rateus posted: 02.10.2021 - 3:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Starting line-up shows Al Elmore qualified for DK Ulrich and Bill Dennis qualified for James Hylton. 10. Joshua posted: 03.22.2021 - 6:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Mark Martin said on his podcast on the 1981 season that when the race started, one of his crew guys had mistakenly left a rag in the carburetor, so his car didn't start on the command. They figured it out, got the rag out, and put the air cleaner back on, but Mark said by the time they did that, he left pit road a lap down after the field had completed Lap 1. Probably spoiled a Top 5 run and potentially a win. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: