2005 Mark Martin Talladega Fast Facts - Sunday, October 2, 2005
UAW-Ford 500 / Talladega Superspeedway
#6 Viagra® (sildenafil citrate) Ford Taurus
September 29, 2005DRIVER: Mark Martin
TEAM: No. (6) Viagra® Ford Taurus
OWNER: Jack Roush
CREW CHIEF: Pat Tryson
2004 EVENT WINNER: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
MARK MARTIN - 2004 EVENT
EA Sports 500
Started 17, Finished 15Martin survived 500 miles of ferocious restrictor-plate racing to escape the “World’s Fastest Speedway” with his championship hopes intact and a solid hold on fourth place in the Chase for the Nextel Cup. Martin started seventh and ran much of the day moving up and down the field, running as high as fourth and as low as 28th. Martin spent the majority of the day jockeying for position in the draft, running between 10th and 15th positions. The veteran had teamed up with a trio of cars running the low line, moving his Taurus solidly into the top 10. He was running in ninth place when the day’s fifth and final caution was issued with just 10 laps to go, while several drivers - including Martin - were attempting to pit for just enough fuel to finish the race. Martin and two other cars were unable to make it onto pit road in time for the stop. The pause caused a chain reaction that ultimately saw the No. 40 car get into the No. 18. Martin went on to pit for fuel under caution and returned to the field back in 19th when the race went green with only five laps to go. Martin was quickly shuffled out of the draft, and dropped to as low as 25th on lap 186 with just two to go. Martin was back in 21st with only one lap to go, but made a push on the final lap. Two separate accidents went on to occur on the final lap, but Martin was able to avoid the carnage common to Talladega and move up to the 15th - place finish.
UP TO FOURTH IN THE POINTS, MARTIN MOVES ON TO TALLADEGA
NASCAR's Chase for the title moves to Sweet Home Alabama and Talladega Superspeedwday this weekend. Due to its unpredictable nature Talladega is considered by many the wildcard of the Chase, where drivers will hope to mount a strong run, while at the same time avoiding the 'big one.'
THE CAR
Chassis Number: (RK-286) - The team will run RK-286 at Talladega. RK-286 is the same car Martin was running in the top five with in the spring before getting caught up in an accident. The car also finished eighth in this year's Budweiser Shootout.
WORTHY NOTE
Martin is the only Chase contender with a win at Talladega.
AT TALLADEGA
Starts: 39 (19)
Wins: 2 (-)
Top 5's: 10 (4)
Top 10's: 21 (11)
Poles: 4 (3)
Highest finish: 1st (4 times)
First time: 5/16/82 (5th)
Last time: 6/5/05 (3rd)
9/26/04 (2nd)BREAKING DOWN THE CHASE
Martin has started a total of 195 races at the remaining eight tracks that will make up the Chase for the Nextel Cup. He has posted 12 wins, 61 top-five and 101 top-10 finishes at those tracks. Martin has finished inside the top 10 in 52 percent of his starts at the remaining 'Chase' tracks. He has an average finish of 14.4 and he has led a total of 3,277 laps, including 312 at Talladega.
THE LONE RANGER
Martin is the only driver of the 10 in the Chase that has won on the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway.
MARTIN AT TALLADEGA
This will be Martin's 40th race at Talladega Superspeedway, where he has won twice and finished inside the top 10 twenty-one times. Martin finished 12th in his first race at Talladega in 1982. He's finished inside the top 10 in six of the last 13 there, but last fall's sixth place finish is Martin's only top-10 in his last seven races there.
UNRESTRICTED
Martin is one of just six drivers to have competed in all 71 restrictor-plate races. Martin's 34 top-10 finishes are the most of any driver at restricted races. He has finished in the top 10 in 49 percent of the restrictor-plate races.
HALL OF FAMER
For his accomplishments at Talladega, which include two wins and 21 top-10 finishes, Martin was inducted into the Talladega Hall of Fame in 2002.
RECORD 12th IROC CHAMPIONSHIP ALL BUT LOCKED UP
Martin's dramatic win over Kurt Busch in last Thursday's IROC race was not only Martin's record extending 13th of the series, but it all but locked up what will be his record setting fifth championship in the International Race of Champions.
Mark Martin will make his final run at the Nextel Cup title in 2005. Martin has dubbed 2005 as his "Salute to You" tour, a year in which he hopes to take the time to thank each and everyone that he feels played a role in his success, including team members, fans, NASCAR and the media.
MARK MARTIN - FAST FACTS
- With a fourth-place run last week at Dover, Martin moved to fourth in the points; his highest position since April. Martin is currently 21 points behind points leader Jimmie Johnson.
- Martin is the only driver of the 10 in the Chase that has won on the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway.
- This will be Martin's 40th race at Talladega Superspeedway, where he has won twice and finished inside the top 10 twenty-one times. Martin finished 12th in his first race at Talladega in 1982. He's finished inside the top 10 in six of the last 13 there, but last fall's sixth place finish is Martin's only top-10 in his last seven races there.
- Martin is one of just six drivers to have competed in all 71 restrictor-plate races. Martin's 34 top-10 finishes are the most of any driver at restricted races. He has finished in the top 10 in 49 percent of the restrictor-plate races.
- For his accomplishments at Talladega, which include two wins and 21 top-10 finishes, Martin was inducted into the Talladega Hall of Fame in 2002.
MARK MARTIN FAST FACTS – TALLADEGA
- Martin's pace in the 1997 Winston 500 at Talladega set an all-time NASCAR Cup record for the fastest race ever run, as Martin won the caution-free event with an average speed a 188.354 mph. He covered the 500-mile distance in two hours, 38 minutes and 18 seconds.
- Martin has two victories at Talladega, with both coming in the spring race (1995 and 1997).
- Martin has scored top-10 finishes in six of his last 13 races at Talladega.
- Martin has finished in the top 10 in 49 percent of his 71 restrictor -plate races.
- Martin's 34 top-10 finishes in restrictor plate races are the most ever.
- Martin is one of six drivers to have completed in all 71 restrictor-plate races.
QUOTING MARK MARTIN AND CREW CHIEF PAT TRYSON ON TALLADEGA
Mark Martin:
"Everybody knows that I'm not the world's biggest fan of restrictor-plate racing. I know that it's really exciting for the fans and I know that if I were at home you couldn't pry me away from the TV, but for the drivers it can be pretty frustrating, because nothing is really in your control. If you make a move, whether or not it's a good or bad move, completely depends on what happens with the other people around you. You might go to the front or you might go to the back, but it depends more on what they do than what you do. On top of that you ride around hoping to avoid the big wreck and it can just make for a frustrating day.
"We had a good run last weekend at Dover and we are up to fourth. Talladega may really be a wild card here, because you just can't predict what's going to happen. I know that we'll have a good car and hopefully we can just stay out of trouble, get a decent finish and move on to Kansas where we also hope to run well."
Pat Tryson:
"We were pretty good a Talladega in the spring and I think we were running second or third when we got caught up in the 'big one.' We should be good this weekend as well, the key will just be staying out of trouble. I don't think there is really any trick to it, we just need to run well and hope that we don't find ourselves in the wrong place at the wrong time."
MEETING MARTIN
The Miami Herald
September 28, 2005In a NASCAR Cup career that started in 1981, Mark Martin has finished in the top five in the championship standings 11 times. But the original Roush Racing driver has yet to win the grand prize. Each Wednesday we will follow Martin's latest -- and perhaps last -- quest to hoist the champion's trophy.
IN THE REARVIEW MIRROR
With Martin in second place last week at Dover, Del., his crew chief Pat Tryson gambled on the last pit stop and changed only two tires. It gave Martin the lead, but with worn tires Martin settled for fourth in the race. But the finish moved him up three spots in the standings, in fourth and 21 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson.
IN THE WINDSHIELD
The Chase goes next to Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, the biggest and fastest track on the circuit, known for multicar wrecks. Martin is the only Chase contender who has won there, with victories in 1995 and 1997.
MARTIN Q&A
Q: In your postrace comments, you said you already have 34 victories and seemed unhappy with the two-tire decision that cost perhaps 10 championship points. Will you and Tryson change strategy for the past eight races?
A: ``Not really. Pat is one of the best on pit road at calling a race, and he knows what to do. We will continue to try to score the most points we can for each of the eight remaining races, and that means that we'll have to do different things from time to time.''
Q: Despite being 17th all-time in NASCAR Cup victories, how do you feel about a champion going the championship season without a points-race win?
A: ``To be honest, that's not really something I'm worried about. The criteria is set for what determines the champion, and that's what someone has to do in order to win it. They have to score more points in the final 10 races. That is what we are trying to do, and that is what the other nine teams are trying to do.''
Q: How were you able to win those two races at Talladega?
A: ``My car was faster than everyone else's on those days, and everything went right for us, which is key at Talladega. You can't win a race if you get caught up in somebody's mess and you tear up your race car. Unfortunately, that's not always in your hands.''
Q: How nerve-wracking is it to drive at Talladega, knowing the ''Big One'' could be just around the next corner?
A: ``There really isn't a lot you can do, so there really isn't much of a reason to get all worried about it. All you can do is your best and just hope to not get caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.''
Q: Last year your adopted home community near Daytona Beach experienced a hurricane. What have been your thoughts as you saw the devastation of Katrina and Rita?
A: ``It's terrible what has happened. . . . I really feel for all the people who have been affected by those two hurricanes.''
Wallace, Martin happy in twilight of careers
By Dick Brinster
AP Sports Writer
September 28, 2005Rusty Wallace and Mark Martin have been racing against each other for more than two decades. And as they prepare to leave the Nextel Cup circuit, they're going out as a couple of contented warriors of the road.
"Personally, I'm the happiest I've ever been in my life and I want to say that right now," Martin said. "There are a lot of reasons for that. Number one is the fans and what they've done and how they've responded this year. How they've supported me has been overwhelming."
Martin, perhaps the greatest driver never to win NASCAR's ultimate prize, is the sentimental favorite this year. And it could happen, with Martin just 21 points from the lead after two of the 10 season-ending Chase for the championship races.
Wallace, who won the Cup in 1989, is even closer, just seven points behind leader Jimmie Johnson. Does that tempt the 49-year-old driver to reconsider his retirement plans?
"It does make you think twice," he said last weekend at Dover International Speedway. "But, on the other hand, I've made the right decision."
What's been billed as "Rusty's Last Call" is just that. He's showered with gifts and salutes as he visits each track for the last time.
But Martin, despite his fan-inspired logo "My Salute to You", will be back next season in Roush Racing's No. 6 Ford. He didn't plan it that way, but was talked into it by car owner Jack Roush when newly hired Jamie McMurray was unable to get out of the last year of his contract with Ganassi Racing.
After that, he'd rather drive a truck. Martin will be doing that full-time in 2007, when he moves to the Craftsman Truck Series. The 45-year-old driver is happy that the lighter demands of the truck series will enable him to spend considerably more time with his family.
"Their support on what I'm trying to do really makes me feel good," he said.
That backing was essential to Martin, who had announced this would be his last season in Cup racing. Then Roush leaned on him to stay one more year.
Martin laughed when asked if his was the shortest retirement on record.
"That's funny, but I said over and over and over that I'm not retiring," he said. "I'm too young to retire. I'm going to continue racing cars."
Had the truck deal not worked out, had Roush not pleaded with Martin to return, he was not through burning rubber.
"You might see me at your local short track on Saturday nights, because I'm going to be racing," he said.
The decision to stay another season in the Cup car was as much about Martin's crew as it was his loyalty to Roush. The car owner brought Martin in from the ASA short-track circuit, where he and Wallace won championships in the 1970s and 80s, and helped him become one of the greats of his era.
"They want me to fill the seat for one more year until they can be prepared," Martin said. "I'm not going to let them down."
Wallace, who has 55 career victories, and Martin, who has 34, are turning their twilight laps in what has become a more pressure-packed sport, where millions of dollars are at stake each week and hungry young drivers are being far more aggressive on the track.
It got so bad earlier this month in New Hampshire that NASCAR sanctioned three drivers. Last Sunday at Dover, NASCAR president Mike Helton warned everyone to knock off the rough stuff. Wallace said Helton wants hard racing and excitement, but is looking for drivers to have the kind of respect he and Martin have shown each other for so many years.
"We've got multimillion dollar sponsors and 150,000 people in the grandstands," Wallace said. "He just wants all of us to act like men and represent NASCAR in the proper way."
Veteran drivers still showing grit
Martin, Wallace are in thick of Nextel Cup title race in their final seasons as full-time NASCAR drivers
By Mike Mulhern - Journal Reporter
Winston-Salem Journal
September 27, 2005DOVER, Del. - No matter what happens the rest of this season, Mark Martin and Rusty Wallace can say that they're finishing their NASCAR careers in fine style.
In fact, they're both in contention for the Nextel Cup championship, just a few points behind leader Jimmie Johnson, with eight races to go.
So Martin said he's not second-guessing crew chief Pat Tryson's two-tire call at the end of Sunday's MBNA 400, a track-position gamble for the win.
"That's too hard of a decision for me, so I didn't get involved," Martin said.
Although Martin may or may not have run his last race at Dover International Speedway, he said he's enjoying every moment of this season.
"I want to thank the fans for giving me the best year of my career," Martin said. "All the guys on this team have given me a shot at a championship.
"They tried to win the race. It maybe cost us 10 points, but that's not going to be the difference (in the title chase). We can win races, and we can still win this championship, and this was a good day for us.
"They tried to win, though I told them 'I've got 34 wins. Don't do that.' You need every point you can get. But I love Pat for trying to win."
Twenty-three points separate the top six drivers.
"There are a lot of races left, and I don't need to be talking about points; I need to be scoring them," Martin said.
Wallace, on the other hand, hasn't been this close to the title in years, and he said, "I'm excited, and calm, too.
"The crazy thing is, I'm probably driving right now better than I ever drove in my life. I guess I don't need to be retiring. But, hey, I made the decision.
"This is the last hurrah for me in this car before I turn it over to Kurt (Busch). And it's really running good. He's going to get a good ride."
"I'm not looking at next year because there is no next year."
There is only next weekend, and that's Talladega, with the ever-present threat of "the big one."
"The toughest one in all of the Chase is the one coming up," Wallace said. "Nobody knows what's going to happen there. That could shake up everything. Once we get out of that one, I think everybody will feel we've dodged a bullet."
As crazy as this season has been for Wallace, he just might get his first restrictor-plate win at Talladega this time. He hasn't won a regular-season Cup race on a plate track, though he did snooker Jeff Gordon at Daytona in 1998 to win the Shootout.
Wallace, who hasn't been atop the NASCAR points since early 2001, might have had a better shot at winning Sunday's race if he hadn't been blocked in so many times in the pits.
"The problem I had is, Jimmie pitted right behind me, so I had to come in at a big angle," Wallace said. "But then Elliott Sadler would come in and get me blocked in. It wasn't anybody's fault, it was just that there were three good cars compacted on this really tight pit road.
"I had to back up six times to get out of my pit. It was amazing how much time I was losing. Every time I'd come in I'd have to put it in reverse. It was frustrating, it was driving me crazy."
In the final laps, Wallace said, he was waiting to see if Kyle Busch could push Johnson up the track and out of position.
"He was going to try to make him loose, get him up the track, and I was going to try to follow through," Wallace said. "Everybody was doing that to each other all day, sticking their nose right up under the tail and making the guys really walk the tail pretty bad."
So Wallace stole the headlines from teammate Ryan Newman. Newman, who had won at Loudon the week before, started from the pole but battled poor track position most of the day, though rallying to finish fifth.
"When you're restarting 20th or 26th or whatever, it's difficult to pass," Newman said. "Luckily, the caution came out at the right time for us, when we were getting ready to pit. We gained a lot of track position, got ourselves in the top five, and held our own from there."
Johnson says he's watching Martin and Wallace very closely.
"Experience in our sport really, really goes a long way," Johnson said. "If you watched Mark here.... I had my eye on him all day long, considering how strong his car was in practice.
"And he's been there, done that.
"Those guys are great drivers. It doesn't matter their age. They know what they are doing. They have experience and they are a serious threat for the championship."
Sports Central | Sports Articles and Columns | Other | NASCAR Top 10 Power Rankings: Week 28
Note: the quotes in this article are fictional.
6. Mark Martin — On a rough day for Roush Racing, Martin was the only member to finish in the top five. His fourth-place result moved him from seventh to fourth in the points, 21 out of the lead.
"In times like these," says Martin, "it's up to the veteran to keep the team together. That would be me. I've got to keep the youngsters from pouting when the chips are down. In blunter terms, I'm the one to give 'em a good old boot in the tail if necessary."
Martin has 21 top-10s and two wins at Talladega in his career. He is always consistent, so expect him to add to his top ten tally.
Martin Posts Strong Fourth-Place Run at Dover ; Moves to Fourth in Points
Martin was strong all race, but a late two-tire gamble foiled team’s chance at victory
Mark Martin and the #6 Viagra® Racing Team
Dover International Speedway/September 25, 2005DOVER, DEL.– Mark Martin and the Viagra® (sildenafil citrate) Racing Team had one of the fastest cars throughout Sunday’s Dover 400, running inside the top five for the majority of the race’s 400 laps and never running worse than seventh at any time during the day. Martin was running in second position when the day’s ninth caution was called on lap 368. Hoping to preserve track position, crew chief Pat Tryson opted for a two-tire stop and Martin went back out in the lead with only 30 laps remaining in the race.
The strategy would ultimately backfire as the rest of the field took four tires. Martin was able to hold off second place Jimmie Johnson on the restart, as his 130 lap-old left side tires would prove too much a challenge. Still, Martin was able to hold onto a spot in the top five, settling for a fourth place finish that propelled him three positions to fourth in the Nextel Cup points race. With only eight races remaining to decide the 2005 champion, Martin currently sits 21 points out of first.
“I just want to thank the fans for giving me the best year of my career.” said Martin. “Viagra and all the guys on this team have given me a shot at a championship. They tried to win the race. It maybe cost us 10 points, but that's not going to be the difference. We can win races and we can still win this championship and this was a good day for us."
“The car was just awesome,” added Martin. “It was a great car and got better the longer the race went. It's just tremendous to drive for this team. This whole weekend was right there at the top of the list. They tried to win. I told them, 'I've got 34 wins. Don't do that.' You need every point you can get here, so it'll be OK. Still, I love Pat Tryson for trying to go for the win. He won me a race here staying out just about a year ago or so. I'm happy for him to make those decisions.”
Martin started the race seventh based on Friday’s strong qualifying session. He consistently had one of the fastest cars throughout the weekend and needed only 20 laps to break into the field’s top five. Martin had moved into fourth place by the time the day’s second caution was issued on lap 70. With the car handling tight in the center of the track, the team came into the pits for four tires, fuel and adjustment in both air pressure and wedge. A quick stop by the Viagra® Team allowed Martin to return to the field in fourth.
After another stop on lap 108, Martin began to move up the field. By lap 153 he had driven his No. 6 Ford into third place, where he would run for the next 50 laps before pitting under caution on lap 202. The team posted another quick stop and returned in sixth position after several cars opted for two-tire only stops. On lap 213 he broke back into the top five, and he would never run outside the top five again.
The team took four more tires and fuel under the day’s sixth caution on lap 270 and used another fast stop to gain position up to third place when racing resumed on lap 273. Martin moved into second 20 laps later, before briefly taking the lead for one lap on lap 320. Martin gave up the lead on the following lap to Kurt Busch, before dropping back to third place on lap 328 after giving up second to Johnson. Martin eventually passed Busch again for second on lap 345. He remained in second, steadily gaining on Johnson, before the ninth caution was issued on lap 368. The No. 6 team opted for the two-tire stop and Martin would spend the remaining 30 laps of the race battling for position against the field with fresher tires.
Johnson passed Martin on the restart on lap 370 and the No. 5 car of Kyle Busch would get around Martin with only 16 laps to go. Rusty Wallace was able to maneuver around Martin with only four laps remaining, just before the day’s final caution was issued. The caution forced a green-white-checkered finish and Martin would spend the final two laps of the race fighting off a feverish effort by Ryan Newman. The veteran was able to hold off Newman and move on to the fourth-place finish.
"It was a good run for us and a great run for the team,” said Martin. “They did a fabulous job. It's an honor to drive for these guys. There are a lot of races left in this thing (The Chase) and I don't need to be talking about it, I just need to be scoring them right now.”
Martin and the team will return to action next weekend at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama for the season’s fourth and final restrictor plate race of the season. Martin boasts 21 top-10 finishes and two wins during his Cup career at the 2.66-mile superspeedway.
WEEKEND IN NEW ENGLAND: NO. 6 HANGS TOUGH
Ford Racing: News
September 26, 2005BY TEAM FORD RACING CORRESPONDENT
Dover, Del. — The Ford Five spent a pleasant Sunday afternoon gathering the fruits of victory. On the way home, however, the bottom fell out of the basket.
Seemingly in control at halfway of the MBNA 400 at Dover Downs, the Ford teams suffered repeated blows, which knocked all but dogged Mark Martin out of the picture. And even Martin, who finished fourth, suffered from a questionable call during his final pit stop on lap 369.
As a result, all but Martin and Carl Edwards (who pulled ninth-place out of the hat at the finish) took losses in NASCAR's championship playoff, which the Ford men commenced with high hopes two weeks ago at New Hampshire.
Martin gained three positions to fourth in points, now 21 behind new leader (and Sunday's race winner) Jimmie Johnson. Edwards, who seemed to have been dropped in the deep end at New Hampshire, improved from ninth to eighth, 103 off the pace.
The losers were (in order of disaster) Kurt Busch, Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle. All three had potentially winning cars, and all three were grounded by trouble not of their making.
Kenseth, the Ford fleet's resident realist, sounded encouraged despite a flat tire under green that put him out of contention, and another flat tire on lap 367 that pitched his car to the wall and put him out of the race.
"There's a lot of racing to do," he reasoned. "Eight races is a lot of racing to do. We ran good today. I'm happy about that, and if it's meant to be it's meant to be.
"I don't feel like I could have done a lot different today. That piece of debris was right on the race track. With no caution, there was no way I could miss it. I got a flat and then blew that right-front, but it's something I don't think I could really control."
All right, we'll take them one at a time. Most devastated was defending NASCAR champion Busch, who led the most laps, 192 of the scheduled 400. He rode pretty much without a challenge, although Jimmie Johnson began to gain as the cloud cover changed and his team tuned the car for the finish.
Johnson finally passed Busch for the lead on lap 338, with Martin following. Busch settled into third place, biding his time until his crew had a chance to adjust during his final service stop. His No. 97 Crown Royal team had timed the stop for lap 366, and Busch got away clean under green.
The very next lap, however, teammate Kenseth lost the right-front tire on his car and banged the wall, bringing caution. Due to the green-flag stop, Busch hence was caught two laps down to the leaders, who were able to pit under green. The same happened to erstwhile points leader Tony Stewart, who struggled all day.
The 10 cars on the lead lap were then able to pit under caution, maintaining their positions. NASCAR then added insult when Busch had to pit for tires just before the restart and was penalized for speeding.
He finished 23rd, three laps down, and dropped to 170 points behind, all but dooming his chances for a repeat championship.
Busch had been sanguine after his troubles at New Hampshire, where he got wrecked out early and limped home 10th in points. With eight races to go to the end, first place seems a long way off.
Kurt was tight-lipped after the race, as you would expect from one who had endured a crushing disappointment. He did not stop to talk, saying only, “We just didn’t finish where we ran today, bottom line. We had a good car, we led some laps, we just didn’t finish where we were supposed to.”
Kenseth, who had been on a steady charge since first of August, clinching a spot in the playoff at Richmond, also ran across misfortune, literally. He was running fourth on lap 217 when he ran over a piece of debris that "must have been six feet long," he said. His car began to shake with symptoms of a flat tire, and he came to the pits under green for left-side tires, losing a lap and falling to 26th.
It got worse. His right-front tire gave out 34 laps from the scheduled finish, and he skidded to the outside wall. Matt's day was done, and he was listed 35th. He also dropped to ninth in points, 124 behind Johnson.
Biffle, who came to Dover second in points, 20 behind Stewart, ran steadily in the top-five and led at times, due in large part to very fast work by his crew during pit stops. He was running second when, on Lap 299, he had to pit with a flat tire, losing a lap. He recovered to finish 13th.
Although Biff now is listed tied for fifth (with Stewart) in points, the damage isn't as bad as it appears. He is only 23 out of the lead, with the top six contenders clustered within that margin. It's a fair way back to seventh-place Jeremy Mayfield, who is 81 behind.
As for Martin, he could have done a little better, but not much, and he did not gainsay the late-race call by crew chief Pat Tryson. During the final caution, Martin took two tires while the rest of the front-runners got four, thus vaulting Mark from second to the lead.
He was no match for Johnson, however, who swept by to the lead on lap 377. Martin finally settled in fourth place, so he did not lose much.
"They tried to win the race," he said of his team. "It maybe cost us 10 points, but that's not going to be the difference. We can win races and we can still win this championship, and this was a good day for us.
"I love Pat Tryson for trying to win. He won me a race here staying out just about a year ago or so. I'm happy for him to make those decisions."
So there you have it. At lap 200, four of the Ford Five were in the top five at Dover, with Busch running away toward victory. At the end, only Martin was left standing, with two Chevrolet and two Dodge cars overshadowing.
Oh, we forgot Edwards, who snuck in the back door. Carl had not been in sight all day, but he picked up dramatically just in time, due mostly to good fortune and timing. Edwards and team pitted on schedule all day and were 10 or so laps ahead of the leaders on cycle at the time of the caution on Lap 368.
As noted, that caught several of the front-runners, who had pitted under green, a lap or two down. Edwards, with time to wait for the caution, suddenly found himself in the top 10. He'll take it.
"We didn't deserve to run ninth, but we've had days where we didn't deserve to run as bad as we did," he said. "That's how racing goes, but you can't count on that very often. We have to be better, that's for sure."
Ford Racing: News: Ford Post Race Notes and Quotes - Dover - Nextel Cup:
MARK MARTIN - NO. 6 VIAGRA TAURUS (FINISHED 4TH)
THOUGHTS AT THE END ON FOUR OR TWO TIRES
"That's too hard of a decision for me, so I didn't get involved in that. I just want to thank the fans for giving me the best year of my career. Viagra and all the guys on this team have given me a shot at a championship. They tried to win the race. It maybe cost us 10 points, but that's not gonna be the difference. We can win races and we can still win this championship and this was a good day for us."
YOU WERE IN THE TOP FIVE ALL DAY.
"Yeah, she was awesome. It was a great car and got better the longer the race went. It's just tremendous to drive for this team. This whole weekend was right there at the top of the list. They tried to win. I told them, 'I've got 34 wins. Don't do that.' You need every point you can get here, so it'll be OK. I love Pat Tryson for trying to win. He won me a race here staying out just about a year ago or so. I'm happy for him to make those decisions."
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR THE CHASE?
"It was a good run for us - a great run for the team. They did a fabulous job. It's an honor to drive for these guys."
ONLY 25 POINTS SEPARATING THE TOP SIX
"There are a lot of races left. I don't need to be talking about it, I just need to be scoring 'em right now."
Ford Racing: News: Ford Post Qualifying Notes and Quotes - Nextel Cup:
MARK MARTIN - NO. 6 VIAGRA TAURUS (QUALIFIED SEVENTH)
"That's a 10 for the crew and for everybody with the Viagra team. It's an honor to drive for these guys. It's awesome. What an opportunity I have here."
HOW MUCH WERE YOU ON THE EDGE?
"Not on the edge enough to wreck it. These guys put a lot of work into these things and I drive 'em as hard as I can go. It's ridiculous to tear it up before it's time to use it, so it was under control. The car was awesome. It was a great lap. It's gonna be a good starting spot. It's a great car and I'm at one of my favorite places. This is just a great opportunity. What a privilege this is."
HOW ABOUT YOUR LAP?
"It's gonna be a great starting spot. I just want to thank my team. They're my heroes. This is a brand new car and we're ready to go. We're at a great place and it's just an honor and a privilege to be able to work with these guys. They've given me an opportunity to race for this championship and it's early on, but we're getting ready to do it."
Martin hoping for `old-school racing' at Dover
By Dick Brinster
AP Sports Writer
September 23, 2005DOVER, Del. (AP) -- Mark Martin is hoping his version of ``old-school racing'' will be the order of business Sunday at Dover International Speedway.
Martin wants less squabbling, fewer cautions and more hard racing. He agrees with the position of NASCAR, which issued a series of fines, point reductions and threats of even great punishment for future indiscretions after several drivers lost their cool both on an off the track last week at New Hampshire International Speedway.
``First and foremost, we need as a group to stop wrecking all the time,'' Martin said Friday before qualifying for the MBNA 400. ``There's no point in that and, hopefully, maybe we'll make some headway with that.''
Martin, hoping to become the only active driver with five career victories on The Monster Mile, figures to benefit from a clean race. He's seventh in points -- 54 behind leader Tony Stewart -- with nine races remaining on the schedule.
Seeking his first championship after nearly two decades on the circuit, Martin hopes cautions can be held to a minimum. He knows bunching the field for restarts causes more yellow flags than anything else.
``The amount of cautions that we have to start with is ridiculous,'' he said. ``Some are for drink bottles and rollbar padding, which we shouldn't be having, but the others are because parts are falling off these race cars because they're wrecked.''
Martin would like the younger drivers to show a little more patience but understands why they're so anxious to succeed.
``Most of the wrecks are not with veteran drivers,'' he explained . ``At the same time, believe me, there's a lot of pressure in this business and I think people are feeling the pressure and think that taking the risk on wrecking is worth the reward.''
Martin, who last won here in June 2004, also has finishes of second and third in his last three starts on the high-banked concrete oval. His toughest competition Sunday should be Stewart and Ryan Newman, the winner in New Hampshire.
Defending race champion Newman has won three of the last four events at Dover. But he knows there are no guarantees here.
``Tires can be a real issue at Dover due to aggressive setup combinations,'' he explained. ``It's not rare to see some right front tires go down throughout the race. Once a tire goes down there, your car is headed towards the wall and it's not going to be pretty. Dover just has a way of eating you up.''
As expected, Newman is upbeat after moving from 10th to a tie for third after the first of 10 races in the Chase for the Nextel Cup -- NASCAR's version of the postseason limited to the top 10 drivers.
``Winning at Loudon was great,'' Newman said. ``There's no better way to start the Chase off, especially when you're 10th in points.
But he's not about to relax despite moving within 40 points of Stewart.
``We need a string of nine top-five finishes to win this thing,'' Newman said. ``So, that's what we're trying to do.''
Stewart is seeking to break a tie with Greg Biffle, who won here in June, with a sixth victory this season. Stewart swept the races here in 2000.
``We've looked at the schedule and said, 'OK, these are tracks where we've had success in the past.' `` the 2002 series champion said of Dover and some of the other remaining venues. ``It definitely makes you feel better, but at the same time, every week is a different week and you've got to take it one week at a time.
``You never know what's going to happen. There are always variables that are out of your control each week. Even though we've had some success in the past at some of these places, it's no guarantee that we're going to have success this time around.''
Variety is spice in Martin's life
Ford Racing: News
September 23, 2005Mark Martin, driver of the No. 6 Viagra Taurus, held a Q&A session in the Dover International Speedway infield media center before practice and discussed a variety of topics.
MARK MARTIN - No. 6 Viagra Taurus
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THIS TRACK?
"I think everybody knows I love this track. We're always excited about coming to race here. It's always been a race track that I love to race on. I haven't always had the best result, but since we've learned how to keep the air in the tires, we've had good results almost every time."
LAST TIME HERE YOU USED THE TERM OLD-SCHOOL RACING. HOW WOULD YOU USE THAT TERM IN RELATION TO WHAT HAPPENED LAST WEEK?
"That's new-school racing."
DID YOU JUST TEST ONE DAY IN CHARLOTTE AND THOUGHTS ON THE TRACK?
"As the test went on the track did get better. I was pretty apprehensive starting out the test. I was the first car on the race track and I was very apprehensive because I had been there on Thursday night and saw that they had a car show there. They had cars and stuff all over the race track and it's very possible the race track could have been cleaned better than it was. It was definitely the worst condition I've ever seen Lowe's Motor Speedway to start practice. As the test went on it did get better. We made wholesale changes on our race car as well. By the end of the test, as far as going out and making laps, was no problem for me at all. But it's still basically the same race track it was in May. The groove in one and two was in the middle of the race track in May. It will be on the bottom now, so maybe the inside car won't lose control and knock the outside car out as much in one and two, but beyond that we still have basically, for the most part, what we had in May. We had an incredibly fast surface with a tire that has to be so hard that if it ever starts to slip it's like being on ice once it starts slipping, so you've got phenomenal, unbelievable grip until it starts to slide and then it's very difficult to catch the car up. So it is what it is. It certainly got better. The doom and gloom was really swirling around there minutes after Tony's accident, but, obviously, it got much better by the end of the night. So as they put the Busch cars out there and run them side-by-side, the groove will move up some. It's gonna be a little bit tricky."
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR POSITION IN THE CHASE AND HOW THIS TRACK WORKS INTO YOUR STRATEGY?
"I'm pleased with our result last week. It was our first top 10 in quite some time at New Hampshire. That was an improvement. A big thanks to Jim Fennig and the guys over there for helping us out. We did use a test for that and it was a successful weekend. We come here with a tremendous string of just killer runs here. We'll have to see how things work out because one thing that you can count on is that eventually things will change. Eventually. Hopefully not real soon, like later and later. But, obviously, this is a place we run really good. The last I don't know how many times we've been first, second or third and I feel great about it. Personally, I'm the happiest I've ever been in my life and I want to say that right now. There are a lot of reasons for that. Number one is the fans and what they've done and how they've responded this year. How they've supported me has been overwhelming. My family, we have made a special effort. Even though we've had less time together than ever before to make our time together special, their support on what I'm trying to do really makes me feel good. The race team that I have is, in my opinion, the best in the garage. They're there, I believe, for me and that really is special. That's why they're together and that's why they're doing such a tremendous job. They're doing it for me, I think, first and foremost and that's an honor. And the performance on the race track has been really good this year. There is a lot of racing to go yet. You know I don't make predicitions, but I can guarantee that the effort from the Viagra team in the 6 car will be outstanding - like nothing we've ever done before. That doesn't guarantee the results. We'll have to see what the results do, but, certainly, the effort is gonna be fantastic."
DO YOU SEE SOME SORT OF CLOSED DOOR DRIVERS MEETING TO DISCUSS LAST WEEK?
"That's an interesting question. We all can speculate on what might happen going forward. The amount of cautions that we have to start with is ridiculous. Some are for drink bottles and rollbar padding, which we shouldn't be having, but the others are because parts are falling off these race cars because they're wrecked. First and foremost, we need as a group to stop wrecking all the time. There's no point in that and, hopefully, maybe we'll make some headway with that. The respect needed to do that is hard to come by. Most of the wrecks are not with veteran drivers. At the same time, believe me, there's a lot of pressure in this business and I think people are feeling the pressure and think that taking the risk on wrecking is worth the reward. As a fan, which I'm gonna be before too long, I would like to see more racing and less wrecking."
CAN YOU COMMENT ON YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH JACK AND THIS TREND OF SIGNING CONTRACTS A COUPLE YEARS AHEAD OF TIME?
"The situation with Jack and I, first of all, we built the foundation of our relationship at a very different time in NASCAR racing. That's what makes it so strong today. We went through a lot of things that the newer folks don't have to go through at this point in time in NASCAR, so my relationship with Jack took a long, long time to get where it is today. It didn't happen in a year. It didn't happen in three years. It was a steady growth all the way up, I think, until his accident and then maybe even since then has even strengthened some more based on us continuing to know one another even better and feeling the loyalty to one another. Not everyone can have that and not everyone can be happy enough to stay, whether it be a marriage or a marraiging business, or a partner in business or whatever. I look at Jack as my partner. He's a partner in my career and I'm a partner in his career. Things are changing and everything is gonna be OK. This sport is in great hands, but things are gonna be different going forward."
SHOULD THERE BE A SENSE OF LOYALTY?
"I totally appreciate what you're saying because you bring up a good point and it is the truth, but at the same time you have to remember that every individual has a personality and not everybody in the garage has made the kind of moves that you're talking about. There is a lot more money in this sport today. Even though the scale was much smaller, I was offered double what I made in the mid-nineties to go drive for another team who didn't look too bad at the time, the team didn't, but it's not here now anymore - just for example. You have to think about those kinds of things. There is a lot more money in this sport. There was always enough money in this sport to buy somebody out or to move around, and there has been plenty of moving around in the past. This is a high-profile thing that we're in now with big, big numbers, and a lot more people are watching, and you are gonna have people that make moves, whether it's for money - Kurt Busch still says that this was a career move that wasn't about money. He contends that there were other motivations. I'm telling you what he says, so you have to understand that there are individual personalities here and people do different things. There might be somebody that comes along that would be as loyal as I, a Carl Edwards for example, might be. Maybe not, I don't know. Or a Reed Sorenson or a Todd Kluever may come along, do really well, and show some incredible loyalty. That's possible as well."
WHAT IS IT ABOUT THE ROUSH ORGANIZATION THAT ALLOWS YOU TO SHARE EVERYTHING?
"The first thing that comes to my mind, I don't know if it's humility or what, but the humbling experience I had in 2001 - that Matt Kenseth had in whatever year - the humbling experience that Greg Biffle had as a rookie. This sport can humble you really quick and you can find out that when you thought you were smarter than everybody and better than everybody, you can find out real quick that that's not the case. And I think that everyone in Roush Racing has gone through that, every driver and every crew chief has kind of gone through that in the last five years and have looked around and said, 'We really, really want to work together to make this thing stronger. We have to pull together.' We've been working our guts out since 2001, really unbelievably hard on making this thing work and working together, instead of individually.
"Prior to that, Roush Racing was much like any other multi-car team, each team worked individually to be better, instead of working together to be better. We've worked hard on that since 2001."
WOULD YOU AGREE WITH BIFFLE IN THAT ONCE YOU GET ON THE TRACK IT'S EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF?
"It is and that's a very good point. You know I struggle with you guys all the time to try to explain to you that I don't feel that teammate is the proper term because I raced Rusty just like Biffle raced Matt because Rusty is my friend and I respect him. So I had to race him on the race track the same way that Greg did. Greg had to be extra careful to not mess Matt up, and I had to do the same with Rusty. We do work together. We do share information. We have this thing working the way it should work, but at the end of the day each one of us goes out on the race track and still races individually. If we give one another considerations on the race track, it's the same considerations we give our buddies because there are some guys out there that we like and there are some that we don't necessarily like. I have always treated the people that I really like on the race track with the same kind of respect that I give Matt Kenseth or Greg Biffle or Kurt Busch or Carl Edwards."
HOW DO YOU KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON?
"My spotter or Pat will say so-and-so is wild today, or even may have mentioned sometime along the way this year, 'Watch out for Carl. He's excited today.' It didn't go specifically for a teammate or non-teammate, it's just that this is reality. When we get on the race track we are racing and we all have different personalities. We all drive differently and we watch one another in different ways based on our driving personalities, I think."
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT WHEN ALL OF YOU LED A LAP A FEW RACES AGO AND ARE THERE ANY NEGATIVES BEING WITH SUCH A BIG TEAM?
"As long as I've been racing in NASCAR, 'Hey, tell Rusty I'm just trying to get five points, that's all.' As long as I've been in NASCAR, since 1982, you've asked and you don't get it from the guys that don't like you, OK? So I happen to like my teammates, so they can get a consideration that somebody I don't like might not, for example. Now as far as having five cars in the chase, we have done a great job of harmony and I think that we will be able to maintain that. I don't see any real negatives. It can get stressful as it goes down to the wire and we'll deal with that, but you know what? It gets stressful going down to the wire with Tony Stewart or anyone else. At the end of the day, the greatest teams in the greatest sports believe that the best man will win. That's how I look at it. If it goes down to myself and Greg Biffle or Kurt Busch or whoever, if it boils down to the very last race, yeah, I'm gonna want to beat them really, really bad, but at the end of the day I will accept defeat as the best man won this one from them as well and better in some ways than I would someone else because at least I can be happy for those guys because we all have great respect for one another. We're not sitting behind the scenes saying, 'I hope something happens to him bad.' We don't. We all honestly have good relationships and tremendous respect for one another and incredible harmony."
WHAT ARE THE PLANS FOR A 2006 TRUCK TEAM?
"The first new truck is finished. I sat in it on Monday. I will be testing it a week from Monday and Tuesday in Homestead. Kevin Harvick has been so incredible in giving up the number six for the Truck, which I just can't believe. It's really incredible. The Truck will run the full schedule. I'm gonna run Homestead, so I'll be in all three races at Homestead, which was all part of the grand plan that has somewhat changed now. But it will run the full schedule. We won't have the number six until '06 and, at this time, we're looking at seven races that I will drive it to help refine the team and the whole truck program because we have some work to do there to get the truck program more competitive than what it is. Then, obviously, the truck will run - there's no announcement on David Ragan - but we will be looking at other driver or drivers to fill the seat and run the full schedule with the truck so that the team will really be ready in '07 and the whole truck program, hopefully, will be elevated for '06 so that they can get out there and win some races."
IS DAVID RAGAN A CANDIDATE?
"Yes, David Ragan is a candidate to drive some of the races."
IS THIS THE SHORTEST RETIREMENT IN HISTORY?
"That's funny, but I said over and over and over that I'm not retiring. So everyone that got on the retirement thing kept being confused because I continued over and over to say that I'm not retiring. I have no intention of retiring. I'm too young to retire. I'm gonna continue racing cars. I didn't know what I was gonna be doing, but I was gonna continue to be racing cars. I hope to be racing the full truck schedule in '06 and if that was to happen to not work out, you might see me at your local short track on Saturday nights because I'm gonna be racing cars, but I was not gonna do a full Nextel Cup schedule, and that was not something that I was interested in. Even a limited schedule was not as great of an interest to me as the truck thing. That's really what I want to do, but I'll tell you one thing, I'm in the chase and I have a shot to win this championship and I'm in it because of my heroes and they're the guys that work on the 6 car. Maybe for them even more than for Jack Roush, I won't let them down. They want me to fill the seat for one more year until they can be prepared and I'm not gonna let them down."
IS THIS A THIRD ROUSH TRUCK TEAM OR IS IT GOING TO BE UNDER YOUR NAME?
"It is a Roush team. For most purposes I would say it would be a new team. I don't know that they can announce that they're gonna have three or two trucks just yet, but there's been talk of three trucks, although there may only be two. It's hard to say. It's so incredible to answer your guys' questions the last three months because if I would have answered your questions, they would all be wrong because I've already been wrong about a number of things. It's so unbelievable how much stuff is in the air and the pieces of the puzzle are just not in place yet. It's really a mixed-up deal now and there is a reason why announcements haven't been made. As late as a week ago things were swapping around and moving around. There is a lot of good stuff going on. There is gonna be a lot of great stuff within Roush Racing, but it's just not worked out yet because one piece has to fit in before the next piece can go in before the next piece can go in, so it's kind of a mixed-up time. I do want to say that that we announced the last time here about the sweepstakes presented by Viagra. Somebody is gonna win a Mark Martin Signature Series F-150 and we're pretty excited about it.
Unpredictability at Talladega a concern for Martin
By Mark Decotis
Florida Today.com
September 23, 2005Nine races on nine speedways remain in NASCAR's 10-race playoff, and Mark Martin can do without one of those tracks: Talladega.
The circuit hits the giant 2.66-mile Alabama speedway on Oct. 2 -- this Sunday's race is at 1-mile Dover -- and Martin believes Talladega is the wild card that can derail a championship contender's chances in the blink of an eye.
Martin is one of the 10 drivers eligible for the Nextel Cup championship, standing seventh in points, 54 behind leader Tony Stewart, which sharpens his concern.
"I wish we weren't going there in the chase because it's kind of like playing Russian roulette," Martin told Ford Racing. "Certainly having a win there doesn't give you any advantage because it's kind of rare that people finish where they should."
Martin won in 1995 and 1997 and holds the track's race speed record, 188.354 mph or 2:39:18, set in capturing the May 1997 event that was a rarity: a caution-free, restrictor-plate race, something that happens about as often as pigs fly.
Martin, who has had some hard crashes at Talladega, doesn't expect much different this time.
"There are just a lot of things that go on out there that you really don't have any control over, and you have to hope that things turn out in your favor," he said.
"The best that you can do is to try and have a good car, but it's really difficult to have a better car than everyone else when NASCAR governs every 16th-of-an-inch on the car from top to bottom and front to back. It's quite a challenge with all the wrecks that happen. It's certainly the biggest wild card."
Martin blames the fact that cars, choked by the restrictor plates, really can't race. And if anything, Talladega is a racetrack, or in some people's eyes an anachronism, but let's save that discussion for another time.
"We have a huge racetrack that is capable of 230 miles an hour, and we're trying to go around it in 190," Martin said. "It's just like a bunch of guys out there in a little bitty, underpowered go-kart or something. Everybody is fighting for the same piece of real estate. There's not anything that you can do about that, but just hold on and hope that everyone really respects one another. And we haven't seen a lot of that."
That's for sure.
There's no escaping the topic of drivers acting like punks, with the histrionics at New Hampshire still fresh in everyone's mind and more tight, tough racing forecast for Dover and for half-mile Martinsville on Oct. 23.
Thanks to the circus at New Hampshire, NASCAR, possibly for the first time, threw a red flag for no other reason than to calm down the drivers.
Martin, an unabashed fan of hard-nosed but clean old-school racing, believed it worked.
"It wasn't all a bad thing," he said. "I think they should just do that at every race before the green flag comes out and maybe we could have some real racing. As you noticed after that, it resembled a NASCAR race from the old days, where we ran about 60 laps without a caution, which is unheard-of nowadays. I applaud NASCAR and I applaud the drivers for letting us have a little real racing."
Martin would love nothing more than to race to his first Cup championship after four runner-up finishes and a total of 14 top-eight finishes in his past 16 seasons.
Heading into 2005, he thought he had everything perfectly scripted. This was to be his final season and he, his sponsors and Roush Racing put together a farewell package that suited Martin's low-key style. Martin was frank in discussing how he would love nothing more than to win the championship and then retire.
But reality got in the way. Team owner Jack Roush signed Jamie McMurray from Chip Ganassi Racing to move over, beginning in 2007 with the hope Ganassi would release McMurray a year early. Ganassi refused and is still holding firm. Rather than put a one-year fill-in into the ride, Roush begged Martin to return. Martin relented for no other reason than the deep friendship he shares with Roush and his strong sense of loyalty.
Now Martin faces not only the pressure of the remaining nine races but another 36-race grind in 2006. For now, though, his focus is on 2005.
"I doubt if I'll have as much fun next year as this year," Martin said. "I don't think about next year. I'm having a blast this year. The fans have made this the best year of my career, and all the folks that I've been able to work with and the competitors and everyone have made it great.
"I'm not thinking about next year, obviously because I don't want to. I'm thinking about these last 10 and the final activities that I'm gonna do with the fans and the salute program. That's where my focus is."
PAST VICTOR MARTIN EAGER FOR DOVER TO GAIN CHASE GROUND
Ford Racing: News
September 20, 2005THIS WEEK IN FORD RACING
Dover, Del. — Tuesday’s “Ford Five” teleconference featured drivers Greg Biffle and Mark Martin. Biffle is coming off a fourth-place finish in Sunday’s Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway while Martin posted a seventh-place effort. Both drivers spoke about the Chase for the Nextel Cup and a number of other issues.
Mark Martin, driver of the No. 6 Viagra Taurus, has four NASCAR Nextel Cup Series wins at Dover International Speedway, including three-straight fall race triumphs from 1997-99. He’s coming off a third-place run in the spring and enters the weekend in seventh place, trailing points leader Tony Stewart by 54 points.
MARK MARTIN
YOU’VE FINISHED FIRST, SECOND AND THIRD IN YOUR LAST THREE DOVER RACES SO YOU MUST BE LOOKING FORWARD TO THE WEEKEND.
“We are. I love that place and we couldn’t be going to a better place right now.”
WHAT CAN YOU SAY ABOUT ALL FIVE ROUSH CARS MAKING THE CHASE?
“I’m not sure how to do that other than to say that it is an incredible accomplishment for a man who has certainly worked for it and deserved it. I don’t know what else to say about it.”
IS IT DISAPPOINTING TO SEE ALL THIS TALK ABOUT PENALITIES AND RETALIATION, INSTEAD OF THE CHASE?
“Yeah, it is. I don’t like it, but to be honest with you, I watched the news when I got home to see what everybody said and to see what everybody did – and my wife is a great indicator – she’s not the biggest fan in the world, but she said that was the greatest race she’d seen all year because of all that stuff. Be real honest about it – the people love that stuff. Not that it’s a good thing, I think it’s a really bad thing, but it is news – big news.”
IS THERE ANYTHING ABOUT THE CHASE THAT YOU DIDN’T EXPECT HAVING BEEN IN IT ONCE ALREADY?
“No, to be real honest with you, I’ve been in the top 10 15 times in the last 18 years and, really, the biggest difference in the chase in the way it was before was that if you didn’t make the cut, now that there’s a chase your opportunity is over. If you do make it, things are not that much different than they have been in the past, to be real honest with you.”
HAVE YOU EVER BEEN IN A RACE WHERE IT WAS RED-FLAGGED JUST TO GET TEMPERS IN CHECK?
“No, obviously that was a first, I think, for everyone. It wasn’t all a bad thing. I think they should just do that at every race before the green flag comes out and maybe we could have some real racing. As you noticed after that, it resembled a NASCAR race from the old days, where we ran about 60 laps without a caution, which is unheard of nowadays. I applaud NASCAR and I applaud the drivers for letting us have a little real racing going on there.”
HOW IMPORTANT ARE PIT STOPS IN THE CHASE SEGMENT?
“The pit stops are always incredibly important, but now that the spotlight is on 10 races anything that goes wrong can be the critical mistake, whether it’s behind the wheel, whether it’s on the race track, or whether it’s just flat bad luck – if it’s in the pits or whatever. So the spotlight is on right now and, in some ways, that makes the pressure a lot higher. But in the real world it’s down to 10 races and that’s quite a bit of racing and a lot of things happen. The championship won’t be decided in the first race and it won’t be decided, really, in the last race. It’s decided by all 10 put together.”
TALLADEGA IS IN A COUPLE OF WEEKS AND YOU’RE THE ONLY ONE IN THE TOP 10 WITH A WIN THERE. IS THAT AN ADVANTAGE AND WHAT ARE YOUR SENTIMENTS ABOUT THAT PLACE?
“I wish we weren’t going there in the chase because it’s kind of like playing Russian roulette. Certainly having a win there, actually I think I’ve got two wins there, doesn’t give you any advantage because it’s kind of rare that people finish where they should. It’s just a race of who is where they are when the shuffle goes on and if you were lucky enough to be in the right place when the shuffle goes on. One of the things I’ve always said about when you make a move on the race track and it turns out to be the right one, everybody makes you out to be such a smart guy. But that same move would be wrong if other people on the race track did something different and you don’t have any control over that. So I say that there are just a lot of things that go on out there that you really don’t have any control over and you have to hope that things turn out in your favor. The best that you can do is to try and have a good car, but it’s really difficult to have a better car than everyone else when NASCAR governs every 16th-of-an-inch on the car from top to bottom and front to back. It’s quite a challenge with all the wrecks that happen and everything there. It’s certainly the biggest wildcard in the chase.”
WITH ALL THE TALK ABOUT YOU COMING BACK TO THE 6 NEXT YEAR, YOU SEEM TO BE HAVING SO MUCH FUN. DOES THAT TAKE SOME OF THE LUSTER OFF WHAT YOU WANTED TO DO AND DO YOU THINK YOU’LL HAVE AS MUCH FUN NEXT YEAR AS THIS YEAR?
“I doubt if I’ll have as much fun next year as this year. I don’t think about next year. I’m having a blast this year. The fans have made this the best year of my career and all the folks that I’ve been able to work with and the competitors and everyone have made it great. I’m not thinking about next year, obviously because I don’t want to. I’m thinking about these last 10 and the final activities that I’m gonna do with the fans and the salute program. That’s where my focus is.”
IS THERE ANYTHING THAT CAN AFFECT THE OUTCOME AT A PLACE LIKE TALLADEGA? THEY’VE GONE TO THE GREEN-WHITE-CHECKERED, SO HOW DO YOU PREPARE YOURSELF FOR SOMETHING LIKE THAT?
“I prepare for a wreck if it’s Talladega with a green-white-checkered. We can do it and not wreck, but I think the last time we did it the sides of the car maybe looked like a Martinsville car. You can’t help that. That’s what the racing does. I’m not blaming that on the drivers, I’m blaming that on the set of circumstances that we have. We have a huge race track that is capable of 230 miles an hour and we’re trying to go around it in 190. It’s just like a bunch of guys out there in a little bitty underpowered go-kart or something. Everybody is fighting for the same piece of real estate. There’s not anything that you can do about that, but just hold on and hope that everyone really respects one another and we haven’t seen a lot of that.”
NASCAR Racer's Car, Trailer Stolen
Police: Thieves May Not Have Known Car Was Inside
nbc4i.com
September 21, 2005PICKERINGTON, Ohio -- A top NASCAR racer had one of his cars stolen during a trip through Central Ohio. Someone stole Mark Martin's No. 6 car and it hasn't been seen since, NBC 4's Mike Bowersock reported.
Early Saturday, at a Holiday Inn in Pickerington, a stock car worth $250,000 was stolen. Martin's batman car was inside a racing trailer when someone stole the Ford F-150 and the trailer hitched to it.
Police said the thieves may not have even known that the racing car was inside.
"Unless you're a race fan, or a race car driver, you wouldn't have any purpose for this, and the trailer isn't marked, so they could have just been stealing the truck and the trailer, not even knowing the car was in there," said Cmdr. Steve Annette, of Pickerington police.
Martin is the NASCAR racer known to some for driving the Viagra car. He wasn't in Columbus when the racing car, a show car, was stolen, Bowersock reported.
The car was on its way to Akron for a display.
"Maybe (the thieves) were a racing team that had a small race car and (they) wanted parts. Well (they) got some good parts," Annette said.
2005 Mark Martin Dover Fast Facts - Sunday, September 25, 2005
MBNA NASCAR RacePoints 400 / Dover International Speedway
#6 Viagra® (sildenafil citrate) Ford Taurus
September 21, 2005DRIVER: Mark Martin
TEAM: No. (6) Viagra® Ford Taurus
OWNER: Jack Roush
CREW CHIEF: Pat Tryson
2004 EVENT WINNER: Ryan Newman
MARK MARTIN - 2004 EVENT
Started 12th, Finished 2ndMartin and the Viagra® team went to Dover looking to follow up their June win there with yet another strong performance at the one-mile track that Martin often calls his favorite. In the end they found just what they were looking for, another top-five finish and continued movement up in the Nextel Cup point standings. Martin took over second place on lap 284 and held the position for the remaining 116 laps of the race. The race featured a combination of solid work in the pits and a fast car, to help Martin continue his advancement forward in the point standings.
MARTIN LOOKS FOR FIFTH CUP VICTORY AT DOVER
DOVER, Del. -- After notching a seventh-place run at New Hampshire last weekend in the first of 10 races in the Chase for the Nextel Cup, Martin shifts his focus to Dover, one of his favorite tracks on the circuit and where he has won four times.
THE CAR
Chassis Number: (RK-314 or 314) - The team will run either RK-314 or 315 at Dover this weekend. RK-314 has posted finishes of 17th at Michigan, seventh at Indy and 11th at Fontana. RK-315 would be making its first career run.
AT DOVER
Starts: 38 (19)
Wins: 4 (3)
Top 5's: 18 (8)
Top 10's: 23 (10)
Poles: 4 (3)
Highest finish: 1st (4 times)
First time: 5/16/82 (5th)
Last time: 6/5/05 (3rd)
9/26/04 (2nd)WORTHY NOTE
Martin has finished inside the top three in his last three at Dover, including one win, a second and a third.
BREAKING DOWN THE CHASE
Martin has started a total of 233 races at the remaining nine tracks that will make up the Chase for the Nextel Cup. He has posted 16 wins, 79 top-five and 124 top 10 finishes at those tracks. Martin has finished inside the top 10 in 53.1 percent of his starts at the remaining 'Chase' tracks. He has an average finish of 14.3 and he has led a total of 4,931 laps, including 1,654 at Dover.
MARTIN AT DOVER
This will be Martin's 39th start at Dover, where he has won four times. Three of Martin's wins at Dover have come in the fall. The four wins tie for the most ever at the track. Considered one of his favorite tracks on the circuit, Martin has 23 top-10 and 18 top-five finishes at the Monster Mile. The 18 top-fives are the most of any driver. In addition, Martin earned his first ever career Busch Series win at Dover in 1987.
FAST FROM START TO FINISH
Martin was fast at Dover from the start, running fifth in the Mason-Dixon 500 in his first ever start at the one-mile track on 5/16/82. Martin started the event seventh, the first of his 23 top-10 starts at the track. Martin has four poles at Dover and started in the top 10 in 23 of his first 29 races there.
Mark Martin will make his final run at the Nextel Cup title in 2005. Martin has dubbed 2005 as his "Salute to You" tour, a year in which he hopes to take the time to thank each and everyone that he feels played a role in his success, including team members, fans, NASCAR and the media.
QUOTING MARK MARTIN AND CREW CHIEF PAT TRYSON ON DOVER
Mark Martin:
"Dover has always been one of my favorite tracks. We've had great success there over the years, including the last three years when we've been up front and a serious contender. The very first time I went to Dover, I loved it from the start. It is definitely in my list of top tracks and there probably is no cooler track to go and race on. I'm looking really forward to getting back up there this weekend and hopefully putting together another strong run.
"We were pretty happy to get out of Loudon with a seventh. It's one of our weaker tracks in the Chase, and we were able to go there and do what we needed to do. This weekend and Dover couldn't come at a better time. We are looking to put together another strong run there and hopefully we'll be able to leave there in pretty good position in the chase."
Pat Tryson:
"Dover is one of Mark's favorite tracks and it's a pretty special place for this race team. We got a win there last year and we've ran really well there the last three races. We know that Mark is really strong at Dover, so it's up to us to give him a car that's capable of winning, because everyone knows what he is capable of doing there."
MARK MARTIN FAST FACTS – DOVER
- Martin has four wins at Dover, with the last coming in the spring of 2004.
- Martin holds the track record at Dover, winning on 9/21/97 in 3:00:50 (132.717 mph avg).
- Martin's 18 top-five finishes are the most of any active driver at Dover.
- Martin has 23 top-10 finishes at Dover, including three straight top-three's.
- Martin finished fifth in his first Cup race at Dover on 5/16/82.
- Martin has finished in the top 10 in almost 60 percent of his races at Dover.
- Martin finished one-two in both Dover races last season in 2004 and third this spring.
- Martin earned the first of his record 47 Busch Series wins, at Dover in 1987.
Mark Martin has finished inside the top three in his last three starts at Dover, including a win, a second and a third.
After his top-10 finish at Loudon, Martin is seventh in the points, 54 points behind first. He is only four points behind fifth and he's 41 points out of eighth.
This will be Martin's 39th start at Dover, where he has won four times. Three of Martin's wins at Dover came in the fall. The four wins tie for the most ever at the track. Considered one of his favorite tracks on the circuit, Martin has 23 top-10 and 18 top-five finishes there. The 18 top-fives are the most of any driver. In addition, Martin earned his first ever career Busch Series win at Dover in 1987.
Martin was fast at Dover from the start, running fifth in the Mason-Dixon 500 in his first ever start at the one-mile track on 5/16/82. Martin started the event seventh, the first of his 23 top-10 starts at the track. Martin has four poles at Dover and started in the top 10 in 23 of his first 29 races there.
Q & A with Mark Martin
By Lee Spencer - The SportingNews
September 21, 2005TSN: Are you going to stay in the No. 6 car next year?
MARTIN: I couldn't say that definitely, but it looks real strong -- and every day it looks stronger. I don't think if I were Chip Ganassi that I would let Jamie (McMurray) go. You know? He's an awesome driver. I thought he was the most sought-after driver in the garage. I thought it was a coup when Jack (Roush) signed him up for '07. Jamie had choices, and he made the choice to come here.
I'm committed to this team. They put me here. They put me in this Chase. They made supreme sacrifices so I could be in this Chase. That's what I asked them to do, and I respect that 100 percent. I refuse to leave them hanging. That's not me. I'm not going to leave them hanging. I'm not going to put them in a position to do a one-year driver and then deal with three drivers in three years. We're not going to do that. That's the man that I am. That's my commitment.
TSN: How has the merger between the Roush and Yates engine programs improved your cars?
MARTIN: The merger was fantastic for everyone. Last year, we had really good cars, and a lot of that came from the engineering group, the crew chiefs and the drivers. But the engines are fabulous. Last year, we had some mechanical failures -- I broke four engines. This year, I haven't broken any -- period -- and the horsepower is awesome. That's what we need. We need that kind of reliability and horsepower, and we have both.
TSN: What can you say about Jack Roush having five cars in the Chase?
MARTIN: I love it. Jack has worked for it. He deserves it. That says something about the man.
THE FORD FIVE: TRYSON GIVES KEYS TO DOVER
Ford Racing News
September 20, 2005THIS WEEK IN FORD RACING - WEEK TWO FEATURE
Dover, Del. — Pat Tryson, crew chief of the No. 6 Viagra Taurus, won with driver Mark Martin at Dover International Speedway last season, and he offers these five keys to winning at the high-banked concrete oval nicknamed “The Monster Mile.”
“The car has turn really good in the middle.”
“You can’t get it where you’re too loose off.”
“You have to take care of your right-front tire.”
“You got to be really good on long runs.”
“You’ve got to have some luck go your way.”
THE FORD FIVE QUICK FACT
The five Ford drivers in this year’s Chase for the Nextel Cup have a combined total of 68 series wins. Mark Martin leads the way with 34 while Kurt Busch (14), Matt Kenseth (10), Greg Biffle (8) and Carl Edwards (2) follow. Martin ranks in the top-five of all-time Ford Cup winners trailing only Ned Jarrett and Bill Elliott.
ALL-TIME FORD TOP FIVE WINNERS
1. Ned Jarrett (43); 2. Bill Elliott (40); 3. Mark Martin (34); 4. David Pearson (29); 4. Dale Jarrett (29)
Carlotte LMS test notes
September 20, 2005Title contender Mark Martin was third fastest on the unofficial stopwatches with a lap at 184.414 mph in the Viagra Ford but, like Stewart, has reservations about the track surface.
"It's pretty messed up," was Martin's summation. "This is the world's greatest race track and it was awesome the way it was. It's messed up now. 'Humpy' has tried to make it better by fixing the lower groove in one and two but they shouldn't have manipulated this race track in the first place. Did you see the race last time? The race in May was an indication of what we are going to have this time."
Tickets for all events during UAW-GM Quality 500 weekend, including round five of the 10-race Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup, can be purchased by calling 1-800-455-FANS or online at Lowe's Motor Speedway
The top-10 unofficial speeds:
Showing driver, car number and speed:
1. Boris Said, 36, 185.376
2. Greg Biffle, 16, 184.938
3. Mark Martin, 184.414
4. Dave Blaney, 07, 183.692
5. Jeff Burton, 31, 183.636
6. Ricky Rudd, 182.420
7. Bobby Labonte, 182.168
8. David Reutimann, 00, 181.996
9. Kurt Busch, 97, 181.366
10. Scott Wimmer, 22, 180.644
MEETING MARTIN
The Miami Herald
September 21, 2005In a NASCAR Cup career that started in 1981, Mark Martin has finished in the top five in the championship standings 11 times. But the original Roush Racing driver has yet to win the grand prize. Each Wednesday we will follow Mark's latest -- and perhaps last -- quest to hoist the champion's trophy.
REARVIEW MIRROR
In Chase race No. 1 on Sunday at New Hampshire, Martin finished seventh. He's seventh in the Chase.
IN THE WINDSHIELD
The Chase goes next to Dover (Del.) International Speedway, the site of his last points victory, June 6, 2004 -- 50 races ago.
MARTIN Q&A
Q: In light of the recent rash of retaliations that could endanger safety workers, do you think NASCAR should implement uniform penalties?
A: ``I don't really feel like that's necessary. I feel if they do it on a case-by-case basis, depending on the severity -- well that's probably the best way to do it.''
Q: You're one of the cleanest drivers, but have you had the urge to retaliate?
A: ``I may have, but I don't really recall any direct retaliation. I have been the aggressor a few times in my career, where I caused something that I shouldn't have. I try to race people the way that I would want them to race me, but I'm not perfect either.''
Q: Is it disappointing to see the talk revolve around the retaliations instead of the racing?
A: ``Yeah, it is. I don't like it, but to be honest with you, I watched the news when I got home to see what everybody said and to see what everybody did. And my wife is a great indicator. She's not the biggest fan in the world, but she said that was the greatest race she'd seen all year because of all that stuff. Be real honest about it. The people love that stuff.''
Q: Up next is Dover, where you've had three consecutive top-three finishes, including a third-place earlier this year that propelled you from 12th to sixth in the standings. Why do you do so well there?
A: ``It's really hard to tell why you run better at some tracks than others, but I've just always had a knack for getting around Dover.''
Q: What TV program are you most interested in watching for the upcoming fall season?
A: ``Lost. It's a great show, and I can't wait for the new season.''
Sports Central | Sports Articles and Columns | Other | NASCAR Top 10 Power Rankings: Week 27:
Note: the quotes in this article are fictional.
7. Mark Martin — Martin finished seventh at New Hampshire, leading 31 laps in a car from the camp of teammate Kurt Busch. Martin is in sixth, trailing Tony Stewart by 54 points.
"As long as we're in the top 10," says Martin, "we should be fine. We just want to qualify for the Chase. What? The Chase has already started? Oh, dear. Well, as Murtagh says over and over in the Lethal Weapon series of movies, 'I'm getting too old for this #$%&.' And I am."
Hey, Mark, you're never too old to show these young bucks how to win. So, go out and win one for the old guys.
In his last three races at Dover, Martin has not finished worse than third. He could make a substantial jump in the standings with such a finish this Sunday.
Martin Kicks Off Chase with Seventh-Place Run at Loudon
No. 6 Team notches first top 10 at Loudon since 2001; turns attention to Dover
Mark Martin and the #6 Viagra® Racing Team
New Hampshire International Speedway/September 18, 2005LOUDON, N.H.– Mark Martin and the Viagra® (sildenafil citrate) Racing Team scored their best finish at Loudon since July of 2000 with a seventh-place run at New Hampshire Int’l Speedway in Sunday’s New Hampshire 300. Martin was solid all day, leading 31 laps en route to a strong finish in the first of 10 races that will decide the 2005 Nextel Cup Champion. Martin battled fellow veteran Rusty Wallace down to the wire, narrowly missing out on sixth.
“First of all I have to thank Jimmy Fennig and the No. 97 Team for letting us use a great car,” said Martin. “And Pat Tryson and the Viagra® Team did a great job setting the car up. We had a good car and I’m a little disappointed that I couldn’t get it up there a little further.
“Still it was a good start to the Chase and a top-10 finish at a track that hasn’t been our strong point,” added Martin. “Now we’ll get ready for Dover where we hope to be really strong again and if we can put together another run there, we’ll be in good shape.”
Martin started the race 15 th and struggled early with the car’s grip on the slick track. By lap 33 he fell back to as low as 25 th before the car’s handling eventually came around. By lap 48 Martin had moved the Viagra® Ford back inside the top 20 and he had motored his way up to 16 th by lap 71 when the day’s third caution afforded the No. 6 team the opportunity to come into the pits for the first time of the day. Taking four tires and fuel the team delivered with a fast stop that moved Martin up to 12 th position when the field went green on lap 77.
Martin was still running in 12 th when the day’s fourth caution was called on lap 104. Martin again came into the pits for four fresh tires and fuel. Many of the cars opted for a two-tire stop and Martin returned in 12 th when green flag racing resumed. Having taken four tires on lap 104 gave Martin the opportunity to take two tires under the next caution on lap 136. The nifty strategy by crew chief Pat Tryson sent Martin back out in the lead when green flag racing resumed on lap 141.
Martin would lead the next 30 laps of the race, before giving up the lead to Tony Stewart on lap 171 just after the restart after the day’s seventh caution. Running against cars on fresher tires, Martin quickly dropped back to sixth place.
Kyle Busch spun out on lap 179 causing the eighth caution of the day and the team came down pit road for four tires and fuel. Now on a different pit cycle than much of the field, Martin returned in 20 th place when green-flag racing resumed.
Martin was able to narrowly avoid the spinning No. 38 car just in front of him on the restart after the day’s ninth caution on lap 201. The incident cost Martin two positions, but he quickly regrouped, eventually breaking back inside the top 10 on lap 235. As the field began to pit under green Martin moved up to as high as third position, before coming into the pits under green himself on lap 266. He returned to the field in 21 st place as many of the cars were on a different pitting cycle and had yet to pit.
The No. 6 Ford was up to 13 th position when the day’s 10 th caution was called on lap 279. Once the other cars had pitted, Martin returned to the field in seventh position. The veteran would spend the remaining 17 laps holding off the No. 48 car of Jimmie Johnson, while batting for sixth position with the No. 2 car. Martin would come up just inches short of passing Wallace at the finish line, as he moved on to the seventh-place run.
“The team gave me a great car,” said Martin. “We had a tough fight with Rusty (Wallace) there at the end and came up just a little short. But it was a good day for the Viagra® Team and a solid effort to lead off the Chase.”
Loudon Mark Martin pre-Chase quotes
September 13, 2005Quoting Martin on the Chase:
"We have a championship contending crew chief and team and we are ready to go see what we can do with this thing. Our first goal was to get in the chase and we've accomplished that. Now it's time to shift our focus to winning that championship and I'm excited about going out and seeing what we can do."
On the Chase Tracks: "There are six or seven for sure that we are really strong and that we are excited about going to. Actually we feel pretty good right now about everywhere except for Talladega, which is sort of a crap shoot. All the rest of the races we feel really good about."
On what it will take to win the Chase: "The thing is that you probably can't win every race. So what you have to do is perform at the very best of your ability and hope that the cards are delt that you can play and use well. That's all there really is to it. You will try to win every race, but it's not going to happen. With the competition level what it is, you just have to go out there and hope that you are mechanically sound and that you miss all the wrecks and hope that you make all the right decisions behind the steering wheel and you have to hope that the team is 'on it' throughout."
This year vs. last year: "The cards we were delt this year are much better. Last year we had so many failures that we got so far behind and we had to fight our way in at the last minute. We had to use all of our resources just to get there. This year we've been able to save a lot of our resources. We have more really awesome cars lined up for the chase than we had last year and we have more tests. We were basically pretty much out of tests last year. We have a lot more in the reserves going into this thing."
2005 Mark Martin NHIS Fast Facts - Sunday, September 18, 2005
Sylvania 300 / New Hampshire International Speedway
September 13, 2005DRIVER: Mark Martin
TEAM: No. (6) Viagra® Ford Taurus
OWNER: Jack Roush
CREW CHIEF: Pat Tryson
MARK MARTIN - 2004 EVENT
Started 8th, Finished 13thLOUDON, N.H. – Mark Martin and the Viagra® (sildenafil citrate) Race Team ran to a 13th-place finish on Sunday in the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Int’l Speedway. With both of Saturday’s practice sessions cancelled due to persistent rains, Martin and the team were never able to get a firm grasp on the correct setup for the car. However, Martin was able to bring home the solid finish and advance one spot in the Nextel Cup Race for the Championship. With nine races remaining to decide the NEXTEL Cup Champion, the team will shift its focus to next week’s race at Dover, where Martin collected his 34th career victory in the spring.
MARTIN SHIFTS ATTENTION TO CHASE FOR CHAMPIONSHIP
This week Martin and the No. 6 Viagra® Team will shift their focus to New Hampshire International Speedway and the quest for the 2005 Nextel Cup Championship.
THE CAR
Chassis Number: (48) - The team will run chassis No. 48 at Loudon this weekend. No. 48 is the same car that Kurt Busch used to run to a victory last Saturday night at Richmond. The car was posted a strong run earlier this season at Martinsville for Busch and finished fifth at Martinsville last fall.
MARK MARTIN AT LOUDON
Starts: 21 (12)
Wins: -
Top 5's: 7 (6)
Top 10's: 11 (7)
Poles: 2 (2)
Highest finish: 2nd (3 times)
First time: 7/11/93 (2nd)
Last time: 11/19/04 (13th) 7/25/04 (14th)WORTHY NOTE
Martin finished inside the top 10 in 10 of his first 12 starts at Loudon.
BREAKING DOWN THE CHASE
Martin has started a total of 254 races at the remaining 10 tracks that will make up the Chase for the Nextel Cup. He has posted 16 wins, 86 top-five and 135 top 10 finishes at those tracks. Martin has finished inside the top 10 in 53.1 percent of his starts at the 'Chase' tracks. He has an average finish of 14.02 and he has led a total of 5,295 laps, including 364 at Loudon.
MARTIN AT NEW HAMPSHIRE
New Hampshire is one of only seven tracks currently on the Nextel Cup schedule where Martin has yet to win, and one of only three where he has 10 or more starts and has not visited winners circle. Martin has finished second at Loudon on three occasions, including his first race there on July 11, 1993. In addition, he has two poles, 11 top-10 and seven top-five finishes in 20 starts at the track.
UPS AND DOWNS AT LOUDON
Martin finished inside the top 10 in 10 of his first 12 starts at Loudon, but he hasn't posted a top -10 finish there in eight of his last nine, including a streak of seven races. In fact, Martin has not finished inside the top 13 at Loudon since the season finale there in 2001.
RECORD 12th IROC CHAMPIONSHIP ALL BUT LOCKED UP
Martin's dramatic win over Kurt Busch in last Thursday's IROC race was not only Martin's record extending 13th of the series, but it all but locked up what will be his record setting fifth championship in the International Race of Champions.
Mark Martin will make his final run at the Nextel Cup title in 2005. Martin has dubbed 2005 as his "Salute to You" tour, a year in which he hopes to take the time to thank each and everyone that he feels played a role in his success, including team members, fans, NASCAR and the media.
QUOTING MARK MARTIN AND CREW CHIEF PAT TRYSON ON LOUDON
Mark Martin:
"Loudon can be a really tough race track. It can be really hard to pass there and if you don't handle well, then you are in for a long day. We ran really well there when we first started going, but haven't ran well there the last few years. We haven't been very good there in a while, but we tested there a few weeks ago and we are taking a different car, so we really hope to see a lot of improvement and get off to a good start in the Chase. "I can't say enough about the effort of this team. Up to this point we've accomplished our goal of making the Chase. Now it's time to shift our focus to the last 10 races and going after that Championship."
Pat Tryson:
"The guys are pretty excited about getting started with the Chase next week at Loudon. We were not very good there in the spring - or last year there for that matter - but we tested there a couple of weeks ago. We are taking a different car - the one Kurt Busch won with last week at Richmond - and hopefully we can have the same kind of results.
Mark has a pretty solid history at New Hampshire, so we think if we can give him the right car we'll be able to get a strong finish and get started on a good note for the last 10 races."
MARK MARTIN FAST FACTS - LOUDON
Mark Martin has started a total of 254 races at the remaining 10 tracks that will make up the Chase for the Nextel Cup. He has posted 16 wins, 86 top-five and 135 top 10 finishes at those tracks. Martin has finished inside the top 10 in 53.1 percent of his starts at the 'Chase' tracks. He has an average finish of 14.02 and he has led a total of 5,295 laps, including 364 at Loudon.
- New Hampshire is one of only seven tracks currently on the Nextel Cup schedule where Martin has yet to win, and one of only three where he has 10 or more starts and has not visited winners circle. Martin has finished second at Loudon on three occasions, including his first race there on July 11, 1993. In addition, he has two poles, 11 top-10 and seven top-five finishes in 20 starts at the track.
- Martin finished inside the top 10 in 10 of his first 12 starts at Loudon, but he hasn't posted a top 10 finish there in eight of his last nine, including a streak of seven races. In fact, Martin has not finished inside the top 13 at Loudon since the season finale there in 2001.
- Mark Martin won the first Cup pole at New Hampshire in July of 1993.
- Martin last took the lead in the Cup point standings at Loudon in Sept. of 2002.
No. 6 team gears up for 10-race run for the title set to begin next week in Loudon
Mark Martin and the #6 Viagra® Racing Team
Richmond International Raceway/September 10, 2005RICHMOND, VA.– Mark Martin and the Viagra® (sildenafil citrate) Racing Team secured their spot in the Nextel Cup top 10 and a place in the 10-race ‘playoff’ for the Nextel Cup last week at California and went into Saturday night’s race at Richmond with the pressure off for a week. However, that was not to say the night would be easy. A flat tire on the right rear of Martin’s Ford Taurus would cause Martin to lose two laps and drop to last place in 43rd position by the 56 th lap of the race. Martin would spend the rest of the night fighting for every position and he was forced to drive his way back onto the lead lap.
"The car was pretty special,” said Martin. “We did get one lucky dog, but we would have never gotten it if we didn't make a lap up on the race track against the 97 and all those guys. I'm pretty proud of the performance here tonight. I'm glad that we had this tonight. Maybe we won't have the flat tire next week. I'm real proud of the performance. I thought the car was pretty strong, especially on the long runs and we didn't make too many people mad.
“The racer in you doesn't like the idea of finishing 41st, and then it got to 30th, and then it got to 23rd. But, heck, there's nothing wrong with 23rd based on what we had, but we wanted more and we could have got more if we would have had more time.”
In a weekend that saw Martin clinch his record 12th International Race of Champions title, win his record extending 13th IROC race and capture his record-tying 28th Busch Series Pole, Martin started fourth in Saturday night’s Cup race based on Friday’s strong qualifying effort. The car started out really tight on the run and Martin fell back to seventh place by the time the team pitted under the night’s first caution on lap 33. However as Martin returned to the track it appeared there was a problem with his No. 6 Ford and he radioed the team on lap 50 to let them know he felt he had a tire going down.
With a right-rear tire going down, the team had to come down pit road under green on lap 56 to take four fresh tires. When it all shook out Martin was running in last place in 43 rd and he was two laps down. If the Viagra® Team was to have a good finish Martin would be forced to fight his way back from two laps. Driving to the front of the field Martin passed race leader Kevin Harvick on lap 180 and proceeded to pull away from Harvick and second place Kurt Busch. When the day’s fifth caution was issued on lap 195, Martin was running well in front of Harvick and thus gained back the first of the two laps he lost. He was running one lap down and in 38th position when the field went back to green-flag racing.
Martin would spend the next several laps gaining valuable positions on the track while fighting to get into position for the “Lucky Dog” award. He passed former Roush teammate Jeff Burton on lap 227 to move in position for the free pass on lap 227, but the race leader Busch continued to lap cars on the track. Having moved all the way up to 24th place, Martin finally got the ‘lucky dog’ on lap 327 and he returned to the field in 23 rd place and on the lead lap when the race returned to green on lap 329.
Robbie Gordon, who started in front of Martin, saw his car stall and Martin lost valuable ground on the cars in front of him. He used the next several laps to ‘reel’ the field back in and he just narrowly avoided a multi-car accident on lap 355. Martin found himself in 17th place when the race went green on lap 359. By lap 369 he had moved into 13th place, where he would eventually finish the race. The car would become tight again by the end, but Martin had battled back from last place to 13th, having passed virtually every car on the track in the process. Without the mishap with the tire, Martin would have almost certainly been in the mix for the checkered flag. Busch went on to win the race, followed by Roush drivers Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle as Roush Racing put all five of its cars in the 10 car, 10-race Chase for the Championship that will begin next week at Loudon.
“I’m very proud of this team and this effort,” said Martin. “I think we passed 100 cars out there tonight and it sure wasn’t easy. We got one lucky dog, but we sure had to pass a lot of cars to get there and some really good cars at that. We knew we had to drive back to get one of the laps, before we would even be able to fight for that lucky dog. It was a good night for the No. 6 team and a great night for Roush Racing. Now we’ll shift our focus to Loudon and the Chase and going for that Championship.”
Sports Central: NASCAR Top 10 Power Rankings: Week 26
Note: the quotes in this article are fictional.
7. Mark Martin — Martin finished 13th at Richmond, behind the 1-2-3 finish of teammates Busch, Kenseth, and Biffle. Martin stands sixth in the points, which places him only 25 behind Stewart.
"Can we get any closer?" asks Martin. "I'd like to think so, but I've got a bunch of greedy teammates who want to hog the top spots. I've never been one to complain, so I won't."
Martin is winless in points races this year, which is a trait that seems to separate the Cup favorites from the rest. Any other driver in Martin's position would have only a slim chance for the Cup — since he's got Roush power, his chances improve greatly. But it would help if those ahead of him falter.
Martin Runs to Fourth Place Finish in Richmond Busch Race
Mark Martin and the #9 Red Apple Group Ford Taurus
Richmond International Raceway/September 9, 2005RICHMOND, VA. – Running a special Red Apple Group paint scheme, Mark Martin followed up his dramatic IROC Series win on Thursday night with a record tying 28 th Busch Series Pole in route to a solid fourth-place finish in Friday night’s Emerson Radio 250 at Richmond International Raceway. Already the Series’ all-time winner with 47 victories, Martin will need just one more pole to set to notch his name in one more category in the record books.
“We had a really good car tonight,” said Martin after the race. “Pat Tryson and the team did a great job and we were able to go out and get us a pole and then a solid run. We just weren’t quite good enough to win it, but we were strong and it was a very good effort by this team. I’d just like to thank J.R. Triplett and the Red Apple Group who were on the car tonight.”
Martin led the first five laps, before giving up the lead on lap six. The car started out extremely ‘tight’ and Martin fell back to as low as fifth by lap 38. The No. 9 team was solid in the pits all night and gave Martin a fast stop in the pits after the day’s first caution on lap 42 that put Martin back out in third place when racing resumed on lap 46. Martin quickly moved back into second place behind the No. 21 car of Kevin Harvick that would prove to be the class of the field on the evening.
Martin would hold second place for the next 54 laps until the night’s second caution was issued on lap 98. Another quick stop in the pits on lap 100 sent Martin back out in first place when green-flag racing resumed on lap 103. Martin dropped back to second three laps later and ran there until the team came into the pits after the day’s fifth caution on lap 148. Some cars had opted for a different pit strategy and Martin returned in 10 th place, but the first of the cars that had pitted.
Several quick cautions over the next few laps would halt Martin’s progression through the field, but the veteran had powered his way back inside the top five by lap 180. He moved into third place on lap 218, but would be unable to pass second place Paul Menard over the next several laps. On lap 232 he gave up the lead to the No. 17 car of Matt Kenseth, who would also be unable to get by Menard’s No. 11 car.
Martin would settle in for the fourth place finish with Kenseth coming in third behind Menard and eventual race winner Harvick. The run is Martin’s 98 th career top-five finish in the Busch Series and his 135 th career top 10. The finish was Martin’s fourth top-five and fifth-top 10 finish in six Busch outings this season.
Martin and the No. 9 Busch team will return to action in October at Kansas Motor Speedway. Martin will conclude his 2005 Busch schedule at the season finale in Homestead.
Ford Racing: News: Roush Drivers Notes and Quotes - Nextel Cup
MARK MARTIN - NO. 6 VIAGRA TAURUS (FINISHED 13TH)
"The car was pretty special. We did get one lucky dog, but we would have never gotten it if we didn't make a lap up on the race track against the 97 and all those guys. I'm pretty proud of the performance here tonight. I'm glad that we had this tonight. Maybe we won't have the flat tire next week. I'm real proud of the performance. I thought the car was pretty strong, especially on the long runs and we didn't make too many people mad."
NO PRESSURE EVEN WHEN THE TIRE WENT FLAT.
"Yeah, the racer in you doesn't like the idea of finishing 41st, and then it got to 30th, and then it got to 23rd. But, heck, there's nothing wrong with 23rd based on what we had, but we wanted more and we could have got more if we would have had more time.'
Ford Racing: News: Ford Post Qualifying Notes and Quotes - Nextel Cup:
MARK MARTIN - NO. 6 VIAGRA TAURUS (QUALIFIED FOURTH)
"Pat [Tryson, crew chief] and the Viagra team made some changes on the car. It was pretty good in practice, but not good enough. It's nice to be locked into the chase. It's been an easy weekend. We kind of threw some stuff at it and the car is not adjusted quite right, so when we get in the race and get some pit stops we'll make it better. It might have been a lucky lap, I can't tell you. I'm not sure, but, actually, I kind of bobbled off of [Turn] 2, but the track keeps getting faster. I think our car will be pretty good, but it's gonna need an adjustment or two in the race."
CAN YOU COMPARE THIS YEAR WITH LAST YEAR TO MAKE THE CHASE?
"There is no comparison. Everything is good. Everything is so good right now. All I wanted to do this year was do right by the fans and by all the people who helped me make this all happen and make this chase and these guys have done it for me."
HOW BRUTAL WAS IT LAST YEAR?
"We just broke so much. We were so far behind that it was unbelievable and I was scared for my life. I mean, I was really afraid that we might not have a sponsor this year or whatever. There was a lot more pressure on us than you could ever imagine to make that chase. Then we made it and then we made it into the top five. It was a great year and I have no idea if we can make it again this year. I know we've made it, but I don't have any idea if we can make a better effort or get a better result. The effort is gonna be there because we've got a whole bunch of tests we've saved up. Last year we were tested out when we got here. We've got a whole pile of tests, so we'll see what we can do with it. I don't know. That doesn't always make you finish better, but the effort is sure gonna be strong this year."
Martin to return in 2006
By Mike Harris
AP Motorsports Writer
September 9, 2005RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- The only thing that brought a frown to Mark Martin's face after his victory in the International Race of Champions event was a question about his future.
Martin has said this would be his final season in Jack Roush's No. 6 Cup car, and a reporter asked him if he still might consider racing in IROC again next year if invited to take part in the four-race all-star series as the defending champion.
The 46-year-old Martin acknowledged that was a possibility, then added, ``It really looks like I'm going to be in the 6 car next year. It's looking more and more like that all the time.''
Martin beat Kurt Busch, his teammate at Roush Racing and the reigning Nextel Cup champion, by 2 feet on Thursday night. Shortly after, he was informed all he needs to do to wrap up his fifth IROC championship -- breaking a tie for the record with the late Dale Earnhardt -- is start the final race at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Oct. 29.
Martin said he had planned to spend next season driving a handful of Busch Series races, as well as racing for his own new team in NASCAR's Craftsman Truck Series. But things got complicated recently when team owner Jack Roush signed Jamie McMurray away from Chip Ganassi Racing.
McMurray signed for 2007, with the hope that he or Roush could convince Ganassi not to pick up his option for 2006. Ganassi has refused to let McMurray go next season, though, apparently leaving Roush a driver short.
Instead of trying to find an interim driver, Roush has begged Martin, who came to the Cup series with Roush in 1988, to help him out and stay on for one more year.
Apparently, Martin has indeed decided to continue in the No. 6 through 2006.
``I've had to change my plans,'' Martin said, shrugging and making a face. ``My first truck is already done and I was looking forward to that. I was going to do a limited Busch schedule and a full truck schedule in 2006.
``Now, I'm trying to back out of the deal, if I can. I can't do 10 Busch races, 25 truck races and 36 Cup races. I thought I was going to slow down, not race more.''
Martin, a four-time runner-up in the Cup series, has had a strong 2005 season, with six top-five finishes and 12 top-10s in 25 starts. He has already clinched a spot in the 10-race Chase for the Nextel Cup championship.
He added a record 13th IROC victory to that Thursday night at Richmond International Raceway.
Busch appeared on the way to an easy victory in the 90-lap race. He took the lead on the third lap on the three-quarter-mile oval and stayed out front nearly to the end.
But it was Martin who wound up beating Busch in a two-lap shootout after the last of six caution flags in the race. Martin won by just 0.021-seconds in the race for identically prepared IROC Pontiacs.
``I knew on the last restart, I had to get going,'' Martin said. ``I got a great jump. I knew I was ahead a little bit coming off (turn) four, then he got to rubbing me a little bit and I could feel the wind got him and he started to get the momentum. The finish line got there just in time.''
Martin Looks for the Triple Threat at Richmond
Locked into chase, Martin sets sights on IROC, BUSCH and CUP racesCONCORD , N.C. – Unlike a year ago Mark Martin will not enter this weekend’s race at Richmond with the weight of the world on his shoulders. He will not be fighting for a place in the Nextel Cup Chase; he secured that last week with an 11 th place finish at Fontana . However, that’s not to say he will not be plenty busy as the weekend racing heats up at Richmond International, as Martin will take place in not only Saturday night’s Chevy Rock and Roll 400, but Thursday night International Race of Champions race and Saturday night’s Busch Series race as well.
“Our goal was to clinch our spot in the Chase and we’ve done that,” said Martin. “We can kind of go for it all at Richmond and then it’s on to the next goal – the Nextel Cup Championship.
“We’ll have a busy week at Richmond , that’s for sure. We have a lot of races going on with the IROC, Busch and Cup races, but that just gives us three opportunities to go out and get a trophy. We’ll be looking to run up front in all three events and hopefully we can get a couple of more trophies this weekend.”
Martin will look to extend his IROC record 12 victories to 13 when the green flag drops Thursday on the third IROC event of the season. Martin won at Daytona in February in the No. 6 IROC car and finished second to Sebastien Bourdais in the second race of the season at Texas . Looking for a record fifth championship in the series, Martin currently holds a 10 point advantage in the standings over Bourdais with two races remaining.
Martin will look for his third Busch Series win of the season on Friday night and his sixth career Busch win at Richmond . Driving the Red Apple No. 9 car, Martin hopes to improve on his seventh place Busch finish there in the spring. Martin will also be looking to extend his series-record winning total of 47 Busch Series wins.
On Saturday night Martin will be afforded the luxury of going for broke, as points will not be an issue when the green flag drops on the Chevy Rock and Roll 400. Last season Martin survived a multi-car accident and used a fifth-place finish to cap off a mad rally that saw his Chase hopes go down to the wire in dramatic fashion. This year Martin will need to worry only about getting up front, with his place in the Chase firmly secured.
After Richmond , Martin and the No. 6 Viagra® Team will shift ifs attention to winning a championship and they prepare for the 10 race stretch that will decide the 2005 Nextel Cup Champion.
Roush Racing is a subsidiary of Livonia , Mich. , based Roush Industries that operates ten motorsports teams; five in NASCAR Nextel Cup with drivers Mark Martin, Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch, Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards; three in the Busch Series with Martin, Kenseth and Edwards, and two in the Craftsman Truck Series with drivers Ricky Craven and Todd Kluever.
Pfizer Commits $2 Million and Healthcare Products for Relief and Recovery Efforts to Help the Victims of Hurrican Katrina
NEW YORK , August 31 - The colleagues of Pfizer express our sympathy and support for the people of Louisiana , Mississippi , and Alabama and other states whose lives and communities have been devastated by Hurricane Katrina.
Since the first hours of disaster, we have been in contact with local, state and federal officials to assess how our company can best respond to the immediate humanitarian and healthcare needs and long-term rebuilding.
Based upon current assessments of the needs of the affected communities, Pfizer today announces several initiatives, including: $1 million for rebuilding hospital and healthcare centers
$1 million for relief organizations:
The American Red Cross, Salvation Army and the United Way of America
The donation of medicines, consumer and animal health products
An inventory of Pfizer services and employees’ skills that can be deployed as part of the relief and recovery efforts
“We are mobilizing the people, products and financial resources of our company to effectively assist in helping this devastated region recover,” said Hank McKinnell, chairman and chief executive officer of Pfizer. “Today’s action is in keeping with our long-standing tradition to respond to disasters that pose major threats to public health.”
Pfizer is also participating in the Business Roundtable’s Partnership for Disaster Relief that works to coordinate relief among member companies.
The Pfizer Foundation Matching Gifts Program will match US employees’ and retiree contributions. The Foundation has established an expedited process to facilitate employee contributions to the American Red Cross, Salvation Army and the United Way of America Hurricane Katrina Response Fund.
“We applaud the leadership of the Governors of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, relief organizations and volunteers as they respond to this tragedy,” said Dr. McKinnell. “We will do everything we can to be a supportive partner in this massive relief effort.”
Fontana II: Ford teams race quotes:
PAT TRYSON, Crew Chief - No. 6 Viagra Taurus (Mark Martin finished 11th)
"We had a good car all night, but the decision was to take two or four and we took four, and it just didn't work out. We lost a bunch of spots, but that's the way it goes. It was my decision and I guess it was the wrong one. We should have done two. It seemed like track position was more important, but we didn't need that last caution there either. We would have probably gotten back to pretty close to where we were."
Martin Clinches Spot in the 2005 Nextel Chase for the Cup
Martin comes up just shy of top-10 finish at California, but becomes the fifth driver to secure a spot in top 10
Mark Martin and the #6 Viagra® Racing Team
California Speedway/September 4, 2005FONTANA, CALIF.– Mark Martin and the Viagra® (sildenafil citrate) Racing Team secured a spot in the Nextel Cup top 10 and a place in the 10-race ‘playoff’ for the Nextel Cup that will begin in two weeks at New Hampshire. Martin is currently fifth in the Nextel Cup point standings and he will remain in the top 10 regardless of where he finishes in next weekend’s race at Richmond.
“Our goal was to make the chase and we are in, so you have to feel really good about that,” said Martin. “We ran better than we finished all night, but that’s the way it goes sometimes. Still, we accomplished our main goal and it doesn’t have to come down to the wire like it did last year. We’ll go in there next week and see what we can do and then we’ll turn our attention to those final 10 races and going after that championship.”
Martin ran inside the field’s top 10 for all but the final seven laps of the race when he chose to come down pit road after the day’s 10 th caution. Martin came in for four tires and came back out in 14th when the field went green with just seven laps to go in the race. On the fresh tires Martin would be able to battle his way back to 11th and thus lock up his place in the second annual 10-race chase for the Cup.
Martin started the race second and took the lead on the second lap before giving way to Kurt Busch on lap six. With the car loose, Martin fell back to eighth place by lap seven, but he quickly rebounded and moved the car into fifth place by lap 23 when the day’s second caution was issued. The team used a 13.75-second stop to hold down the fifth spot as green-flag racing resumed. With the car loose again, Martin fell back to as far as 10 th where he was running when the day’s third caution was issued on lap 47. The team came down pit road for four tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment and turned in a 13.6-second stop that advanced Martin four spots to fifth when green-flag racing resumed.
By lap 83 Martin had moved to fifth and was turning the fastest times on the race track. More quick work in the pits moved Martin up to second place after the team’s third stop under caution on lap 93. Martin would remain in the field’s top five for the next 125 laps of the race.
Martin was running in fifth when the day’s ninth caution was called on lap 211. Despite a loose handling car Martin opted to stay out for track position. By lap 220 he had dropped to seventh where he was running when the 10 th caution was called with only 10 laps to go. The team had no choice but to come into the pits and take tires. The team took four tires while some took two and Martin returned to the field outside the top 10 for the first time all day in 14th place.
"We had a good car all night, but the decision was to take two or four and we took four, and it just didn't work out,” said crew chief Pat Tryson. “We lost a bunch of spots, but that's the way it goes. It was my decision and I guess it was the wrong one. We should have done two. It seemed like track position was more important, but we didn't need that last caution there either. We would have probably gotten back to pretty close to where we were."
Martin was able to fight his No. 6 Viagra® Ford up to 11th place by the time the day’s 11th and final caution was issued on lap 247. He was able to hold on to the position as the field finished under a green-white-checkered finish.
Martin and the team will return to action next Saturday night at Richmond for the final race before the 26 race cutoff. Martin’s bid for the Nextel Cup championship will start a week later at New Hampshire Speedway; the first of 10 races that will decide the 2005 Champion.
Sports Central: NASCAR Top 10 Power Rankings: Week 25:
Note: the quotes in this article are fictional.
5. Mark Martin — After qualifying on the front row, Martin raced to an 11th-place finish, which was enough to secure his place in the Chase. All five Roush drivers led laps, with Martin leading the fewest, four.
"Brilliant strategy there by the Mad Hatter, Jack Roush," says Martin. "It was his plan to have all of us lead a lap to pick up that valuable five bonus points. Those points may come in handy for Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth. Those suckers haven't cinched a spot yet. You may see some team orders come Saturday."
Martin will be one of a possible five Roush drivers in the Chase. Like Rusty Wallace, Martin is looking for a win to highlight his year.
2005 Mark Martin Fontana Fast Facts - Sunday, September 4, 2005
Sony HD 500 / California Speedway
#6 Viagra® (sildenafil citrate) Ford Taurus
August 30, 2005DRIVER: Mark Martin
TEAM: No. (6) Viagra® Ford Taurus
OWNER: Jack Roush
CREW CHIEF: Pat Tryson
2004 EVENT WINNER: Elliott Sadler
MARK MARTIN - 2004 EVENT
Started 11th, Finished 3rd:
With the pressure on, Martin and the team responded with yet another stellar performance. Sitting just 35 points outside of 10th place with only two races remaining in the race to make the top-10 cutoff, Martin and his team would once again have to muster up a top-notch performance in order to keep their Nextel Cup Championship hopes alive. And once again the team was ready for the challenge. Martin and the No. 6 team responded with a commanding performance. Exhibiting a dominant car that led 65 laps, the most of the race, they contended for the win all evening and ran to their third top-three performance in the past four races and their fourth top-three in the last six. In the end the strong performance moved Martin into the Nextel Cup top-10 for the first time of the season. It took a late caution to put an end to Martin’s bid to win a race that saw him climb into the lead on three separate occasions, en route to leading 65 laps and earning 10 additional bonus points for leading a lap and the most laps during the race.
MARTIN LOOKS TO LOCK DOWN PLACE IN CHASE AT FONTANA
With just two races remaining before NASCAR's cut-off point, Martin will look for a strong run at California Speedway to help lock down a place in the second ever Chase for the Nextel Cup.
THE CAR
Chassis Number: (RK-314) - The team will run RK-314 this weekend at Fontana. This will be the car's third career run. It finished seventh in its debut at Indy and 17th two weeks ago at Michigan.
AT CALIFORNIA
Starts: 10 (1)
Wins: 1 (-)
Top 5's: 3 (1)
Top 10's: 5 (1)
Poles: - Highest finish: 1st (5/3/98)
First time: 6/22/97 (10)
Last time: 9/5/04 (3rd) 2/27/05 (7th)WORTHY NOTE
If Martin can lose no more than 35 points to 11th place this weekend at Fontana, he will clinch a place in the Chase.
IN THE POINTS
With only two races remaining Martin is currently in fifth place; 226 points ahead of 11th place Matt Kenseth. He’s 165 points ahead of eighth-place Carl Edwards. Martin joins Roush teammates Greg Biffle (3rd), Kurt Busch (7th), Carl Edwards (8th) and Matt Kenseth (11th) in the top-11 of the Nextel Cup standings. After 24 races, he trails first place by 396 points and he is 125 points behind third place Rusty Wallace.
MARTIN AT FONTANA
Martin has posted four top-10 and three top-five finishes in 10 starts at California. In addition, Martin has started inside the top 10 in four of the 10 races. Martin finished third last fall at Fontana and seventh this year in the spring.
Martin actually finished 10th in the inaugural race at Fontana, despite running out of gas on the race's final lap, while in the lead. Martin came back the next year to win the second ever Cup race at Fontana in 1998. Martin has led a total of 263 laps at Fontana, including 65 in a third place finish last fall and four in a seventh-place finish this spring.
MARK MARTIN FAST FACTS – FONTANA
- Martin has posted five top-10 and three top-five finishes in 10 races at California Speedway.
- Martin has led a total of 263 laps at California Speedway, including 65 laps last fall.
- Martin finished 10th in the inaugural California race, despite running out of gas late and posting DNF. Martin rebounded the following year to win the race.
- Martin won the Busch race at Fontana back in the spring in his first and only Busch start there.
- With just two races remaining before the Chase cutoff, Martin remains in fifth; 226 points out of 11th.
ON THE REVERSE
Martin and the team will run the 'reverse' white paint scheme this weekend in California, as well as the next week at Richmond.
Mark Martin will make his final run at the Nextel Cup title in 2005. Martin has dubbed 2005 as his "Salute to You" tour, a year in which he hopes to take the time to thank each and everyone that he feels played a role in his success, including team members, fans, NASCAR and the media.
QUOTING MARK MARTIN AND CREW CHIEF PAT TRYSON ON FONTANA
Mark Martin:
"Fontana is my kind of track and that seems to be the type of place where this team excels. We were seventh there in the spring and we'll be looking to build on that this week. We had a really strong run last year in this race and we are excited about going back out there and hopefully we can give our fans out west something to cheer about.
"We've had a tough couple of weeks in the sense that we haven't had the finishes that our cars were capable of bringing home. On the other hand, we've done exactly what we need to do and we are sitting at fifth in the points with just two races remaining before the Chase starts, and that's a whole lot better off than we were a year ago today. This is a really good race team and I'm excited about heading down the stretch run with them."
Pat Tryson:
"We are excited about getting back out on the track at Fontana. It's one of Mark's better tracks and we've ran really well there the last two times we've been out there. Hopefully we can get a strong finish and lock up our place in the top 10 and then shift our attention to those final 10 races."
Ford teams qualifying quotes:
MARK MARTIN - No. 6 Viagra Taurus (Qualified 2nd)
"That was an awesome lap. I don't know where that's gonna put us, but it's surely gonna be in the top 15 I would hope. It was really fast. The car was a little bit choppy, but, for the most part, it was just really good."
DURABILITY AND SPEED ARE KEYS HERE, RIGHT?
"That's the same as everywhere. You just have to balance it all. Some races are 300 miles and some of them are 500 miles, but you still have to balance it all. You have to say it's 500 miles plus 100 miles of practice here, so we've got 600 or 650 miles to go on our engine and we have to have it tuned for that. You've got to handle good. That's what wins races. What's under the hood this weekend, that's what we've got, and it's awesome, but you can't make that better or worse over the weekend. You can make the handling better or worse. That's what really makes or breaks you."
Fontana II: Martin qualifying interview
September 4, 2005MARK MARTIN - No. 6 Viagra Taurus (Qualified 2nd)
"I love my car. It was really good yesterday. We did all of our race setup last night. This is a place where we've been really strong at the last several times we've been here, so we came in here with a lot of optimism. It's going well. We are a race team, not a qualifying team. That's definitely not been our specialty here for the last four years or so, but we typically race better than we qualify. That will be a tall order based on today."
ALL OF THE ROUSH CARS WERE FAST THROUGH PRACTICE AND QUALIFYING.
"I guess if you're referring to the whole organization, all of the drivers and all of the crew chiefs on all the teams are just really doing a fabulous job. It's kind of amazing when you sit down and look at all five cars because they're all setup with what I would say are quite different setups. To be honest with you, I think Matt Kenseth may be the guy to beat here and he's the one that missed the top five. We could have had five in a row in qualifying, but Matt's team is a little bit like we are. He doesn't specialize in qualifying. All five cars should have a shot in the race, and it is a true testament to driver and crew chief and team because each one of us have decided that we like a little something different here this weekend for setup stuff, so it's not really a common setup that we're sharing. It's just that the teams are getting it done."
WHAT ARE YOU DOING AS FAR AS FITNESS AND NUTRITION FOR THE CHASE?
"I haven't changed my regular fitness regimen at all. It's been a little bit tough with testing every week. For the rest of the year we're going to be testing almost every week, along with the races on the weekend and that makes it a little bit difficult. As of right now, I've sort of been battling getting enough rest. That's the one thing I don't want myself or my team to get into is to get worn out. Obviously, it might be easier for that to happen to me than it might to my young buddy here Kurt Busch, but so far we're doing OK with it. One of the things that's really helped me is to not be under quite as much stress as I was last year. Last year coming in here we were 12th in the points and battling to make the chase. With the way things are going this year, we should be comfortably in - barring two major, major problems. I feel pretty good about it. I haven't changed the routine up much. We have saved a lot of tests. We are gonna be testing a lot. I am gonna be selective with what I do extra - above and beyond the racing and the testing and the personal appearances and all for the whole program, so that we can stay focused and fresh."
DO RACE CAR DRIVERS GET PAID ENOUGH COMPARED TO OTHER ATHLETES?
"I'd like to answer that one first. That question is probably not one for me to answer in a lot of ways. We do very, very well, but you can do the research and look at other professional athletes and compare that. I'm not sure that we do as well as some other professional athletes, but the thing that is different about our sport than anything else is it is so expensive to put our races on versus a ballgame for example. There's a lot of revenue generated in racing, but it also eats up a lot of revenue as well. I'll let Kurt answer the rest of it. I think we do really, really well. At the same time, sometimes it kind of stings to see someone get a $75 million, five-year contract in some other kind of sports. It just flabbergasts me."
DO YOU KEEP AN EYE ON THE HENDRICK TEAMS TO SEE HOW THEY'RE DOING AND USE THEM AS A BAROMETER?
"I think what we're doing is the same thing every weekend. We go to the race track and try to use every resource that we have to strengthen our program and help us make decisions on what we want to do with our team and with our cars - our hardware and what have you. That's pretty much it. We do that the same now as we did the first race or second race of the season. We actually all keep an eye on the competition. We don't keep our head in the sand. Right now, we are really at the top of our game, but I'd say maybe two or three years ago - three years ago for sure - I could say that we were definitely not at the top of our game so we were watching everything that we did as well as everything else that everyone else did in order to pull together, and we've managed to get where we are as a team."
HOW BIG OF A GOAL IS IT TO GET ALL FIVE ROUSH CARS IN THE CHASE?
"Well, that's gonna be incredible and I think it's gonna happen. It's absolutely phenomenal what the 17 bunch has been able to do over the past eight races. They've really turned their season around. We all assist one another and we have not done anymore now than we did a year ago right now at the same time. We all work together to make our deal stronger. Matt's a great guy. He had an off spell and his team has really rallied and put it all together and I believe that they're gonna make it in and that's gonna be pretty phenomenal to have half of the chase guys. That's gonna be interesting."
