In Last Sunday's Daytona 500 Everyone Thought ...

In last Sunday’s Daytona 500 everyone thought the winner of the race would be Mark Martin. And he was in the lead up, until the last few moments when Kevin Harvick put on a burst of speed and edged Martin out at the finish line.

Martin is a legend on the Nascar circuit, but it wasn’t always so. At one time in his life, he was just a so-so driver with a tendency to live life loose and party hard.

But then he lost a close friend in a racing tragedy. He said:

"When I lost that person, it totally changed my life because it made me realize... what is the most important thing in life. I’m not sure if (my friend) was prepared, and I decided right then and there that I WAS GOING TO BE READY in case something was to happen to me. I couldn’t put that off. I needed to be ready. If something was to happen to me going to, from or during any racing event, or going to the grocery store for that matter - my concern is what happens to me after that. That’s a lot more important to me today than when I was a kid or in my teens."

Martin re-dedicated his life to Christ, making certain that he knew Jesus Christ personally. He didn’t do it merely as an eternal life insurance policy, however. "I also needed the strength of the relationship, the strength it gives to deal with all the things that are important in life;’ he said. "Having that relationship has made life more manageable."