Mark Martin spent nearly 40 years in NASCAR. Recently, he took to X to express what his fans meant to him throughout his long journey.The Arkansas native faced names like Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, and Jimmie Johnson. He raced from 1981 to 2013 and made 882 Cup starts.Martin won 40 Cup wins, 49 Xfinity wins, and more than 700 combined top tens. He also finished runner-up in the Cup standings five times. Mark Martin was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2017.Today, Mark Martin lives a quieter life. He enjoys time with his family, travels in his motor coach, and runs small businesses in Batesville, Arkansas. He does not follow NASCAR closely and has no interest in driving again. The thing he missed most is the people and the energy that came with race weekends.The Scene Vault Podcast posted a clip about this on X. In the clip, Martin explained that his career was shaped by fan support."It's not about me, Rick. It's about the fans that weren't being heard. And I just decided that I wanted, because I love the fans, I was able to race till I was 54 years old, almost 55 years old. And I was able to race that long in NASCAR because the fans supported me.""And therefore sponsors wanted to sponsor me because we had such a great fan following. And I have a love, ultimately, for the race fans, for what they did, for their enthusiasm for the sport."Mark Martin reflects on watching Tim Richmond at RiversideMark Martin also looked back on a moment from the 1982 race at Riverside after NASCAR Legends shared a throwback about Tim Richmond’s win. Their post explained that Richmond won the Winston Western 500 that year and closed out the season with a strong run. When Mark Martin saw this he replied with one of his own memories from that same weekend."Tim was spectacular at Riverside. I skipped the second practice in that race to just go up in the eases and watch him slide through them. One of the most memorable experiences of my career."The throwback that started the exchange came from NASCAR Legends. It read:“Tim Richmond won the 1982 Winston Western 500 at Riverside 43 years ago today. It was his second career Winston Cup win and his second win at Riverside in 1982.”UPI reported that the race also played a part in the championship battle. Darrell Waltrip came into the event with a narrow lead but transmission trouble forced him to protect his car. Bobby Allison had two tire failures and then an engine issue that ended his title hopes.Tim Richmond stayed consistent and used the handling of his Buick to control the pace. He cycled through pit stops cleanly and by the closing laps had built a clear gap. This allowed him to win without pressure. Mark Martin finished inside the top ten that day.