November 22, 1999 5:22 PM EST

HUNTERSVILLE, North Carolina (Ticker) -- NASCAR Winston Cup veteran Mark Martin underwent back surgery today, a day after the conclusion of the season at Atlanta.

Martin had a lumbar fusion done this morning which is expected to relieve the majority of the back pain he has had for several years. Dr. Chuck Kollmer performed the 3 1/2-hour procedure at New Smyrna Beach, Florida. He is the same physician who performed surgery on Martin's knee in July.

"Mark did very well through surgery," Dr. Kollmer said. "There was no nerve damage from the procedure and now it is just a matter of the bone healing. His back pain should be much better, although not entirely gone."

Martin suffered from a condition known as spondylolisthesis in which part of the bone in the back is broken and creates instability. That puts pressure on the nerves which causes pain. Dr. Kollmer removed the portion of broken bone and inserted hardware and additional bone which will fuse together to stabilize his lower back.

Martin is expected to remain in the hospital until Friday.

"He will be laying down today and we hope to start him walking by tomorrow," said Dr. Kollmer. "Once the pain is under control, we will be able to send him home. We hope to start a slow rehabilitation program of his extremities next week. He will wear a lower back brace to keep that area stable."

The full recovery time for this type of procedure is usually about one year. Dr. Kollmer said Martin should feel better in about six weeks once the bone heals.

At this time, Martin does not plan on climbing into a race car until February 10 at Daytona.

Martin finished fourth in Sunday's NAPA 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway for his 20th top-five of the season. He raced in all in all 34 events, winning at North Carolina Speedway in February and at Dover Downs Speedway in September.

He finished third in the Winston Cup points standings behind champion Dale Jarrett and Bobby Labonte. Martin also captured six victories in the Busch series.

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