USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series
Photos and story © 2005 Dwight Drum
Web work by Gary Larsen

Mark McFarland
Driver, No. 32 stock car

"You've got to make sure you don't make it again and run hard."

Some of us have electric personalities as if a three-prong outlet was built in somewhere. Others of us are calm as a lazy lake on a breezeless day. Still others seem to be as boring as a stored ironing board. Most of us have a mix of the above with varying degrees of emotions. Simply said, we are all human and that means we are not all the same even though some of us are similar.

Competent drivers ascend the racing ladder with each having a special mix of personality. Some are quiet, some are animated, some stoic. All are human. All have drive.

Mark McFarland is driver with a good smile and a quiet demeanor, a worker with a core sense of balance that augments his drive. Without a good mix of the all the emotions that make us human becoming a driver at the top levels in NASCAR is a long climb.

Listen to the honest words of one solid person who has just stepped up to the venerated NASCAR Busch Series as a driver for Chance 2 motorsports with Dale Earnhardt Jr. as owner. McFarland won't waste your time with long explanations. Perhaps that reality with his obvious driving skills may foretell his future achievements.

Time: Season finale 2005
Place: USA International Speedway, Lakeland, Fla.
Event: Hooters Pro Cup race

Dwight asked Mark McFarland:

"With the run we had at Homestead, I think we'll do well. The team is coming together. Getting the right people in place is the main thing right now. Getting the car settled. We have a great sponsor with the Navy. Everything is pointing to 110 per cent so it should be a good time for everyone. Hopefully get some wins next year. "

"Yes. We definitely learned. We expected to maybe have a few more wins but we've had a good time with good consistent runs. I'd like to finish the year on a good note here and try to win this thing."

"I'm really low-keyed. I only speak up when feel I need to. I just like to have a fun driving the cars. It's just a privilege being out here driving these things and to be with the team that I'm with it makes it even better. "

"It kind of all blends together just like driving a car down the road, once you get used to it. If you drove this track enough you could drive it just like we are. Some you got to get used to, some make it fun."

"I don't know, probably it's just we dedicate ourselves all year long to try to go faster than all the other guys out here. You can't feel bad about yourself when you do make a mistake. You've got to make sure you don't make it again and run hard."