Martin Runs Away From Field at Monster Mile
Martin, No. 6 Scotts’ Team lead one-two Roush finish at Dover
Mark Martin and the #6 Scotts Racing Team
Dover International Speedway/June 2, 2006“It was a great run...they were awesome on pit road…and the truck was really good on long runs.” - Mark Martin after Friday’s AAA Insurance 200
DOVER, DEL. – Mark Martin led a race-high 86 of 200 laps en route to his third Craftsman Truck Series victory in only six starts this season. Martin took the lead for the fourth and final time on lap 164 and never looked back, using the final 36 laps of the race to build up as much as a four second lead that he rode to the checkered flag.
“It was a great run,” said Martin. “I want to thank Jim Hagedorn and Scotts Miracle-Gro and this team. Man, they were awesome on pit road. We had the long-haul setup on it and we got a lot of green-flag racing, so it really worked out for us today. The thing was really good on the long runs. This thing, we didn't qualify that well, but I told them we set it up to race, and it raced well. This truck racing is the most fun I've had for years and years."
Martin was leading on lap 159 when the race’s fourth and final caution was issued. Martin came into the pits for four tires, fuel and a slight wedge adjustment and came out second, with the No. 17 truck opting to take two tires only. Martin needed only one lap to over take the No. 17 for the lead, which he would never surrender. Martin crossed the finish line over three and a half seconds ahead of Roush teammate Carl Edwards.
Martin started the race in 13th place based on the qualifying session that was held earlier in the day. He needed just one lap to move into the top 10, where he would run for the remainder of the race. By lap 43 Martin had driven his No. 6 F-150 into the top five, and he took the lead for the first time on lap 77 when he passed the No. 51 truck of fellow Nextel Cup driver Kyle Busch.
Martin would lead the next 29 laps before giving way to Busch on lap 106. Busch was black flagged on lap 136 for a missing hood pin, and Martin would retake the lead and lead all but five of the remaining 63 laps in the race.
"Well, I think we were a little bit disappointed with how we qualified, but we knew that in practice we had a truck for the long hauls,” added Martin. “Lucky for us, there was a lot of green-flag racing. The guys did a great job preparing it and especially pitting it and keeping me in the front once we got to the front. It was one of those days where everything worked out for you. Like I say, we expected based on experience, I had the track to come to us, and it came to us pretty well. We only made one adjustment and that was on the last pit stop."
With the win, Martin has now won races at Dover in all three of NASCAR’s premiere series. The win was Martin’s fourth career victory in the Craftsman Truck Series, and it marked his 86th NASCAR victory, moving him into the top-five all-time in NASCAR history. Martin will start sixth in Sunday’s Nextel Cup race at Dover.
Roush Racing is a subsidiary of Livonia, Mich., based Roush Enterprises which operates 14 motorsports teams; five in NASCAR Nextel Cup with drivers Mark Martin, Matt Kenseth, Jamie McMurray, Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards, six in the Busch Series with Martin, Kenseth, Biffle, Edwards, Todd Kluever and Danny O'Quinn, Jr., and two in the Craftsman Truck Series with Martin, David Ragan, Michel Jourdain, Jr. and Erik Darnell.
DOVER, DE - JUNE 02: Mark Martin, driver of the #6 Scotts Ford truck, crosses the finish line to win the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series AAA Insurance 200 on June 2, 2006 at the Dover International Speedway in Dover, Delaware. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)Mark Martin Post Race Notes & Quotes - AAA Insurance 200
Ford Racing: News
June 2, 2006MARK MARTIN -6-Scotts Ford F-150 (Finished 1st)
"Well, I think we were a little bit disappointed with how we qualified, but we knew that in practice we had truck for the long hauls. Lucky for us, there was a lot of green-flag racing. The guys did a great job preparing it and especially pitting it and keeping me in the front once we got to the front. It was one of those days where everything worked out for you. Like I say, we expected based on experience, I had the track to come to us, and it came to us pretty well. We only made one adjustment and that was on the last pit stop."
HOW MUCH FUN WOULD IT BE TO HAVE CARL EDWARDS IN THE NO. 50 FORD EVERY RACE AS A TEAMMATE?
"As long as we're in first place, I'm having a ball. To be honest with you, it's just a lot of fun. In my opinion, the truck series is the best racing in NASCAR right now. It's a lot of fun. It's full of great drivers, and the vehicles are a lot of fun to race. Carl would certainly keep me on my toes if he would have been anywhere near, so I tried to make sure I was in a different zip code if I could be."
YOU NOW HAVE A WIN HERE IN ALL THREE NASCAR SERIES. IS THERE A SPECIAL SIGNIFICANCE TO GETTING THE THIRD WIN?
"That's for you guys, I don't keep score. That's for you guys to keep. That sounds good, so don't forget about it. Talk about it because I'll forget. The focus is now on Sunday. To go to bed with the ways things turned out, I'm really grateful to my fans who have been incredibly supportive. To the people that have their hands on that Scotts truck, the engine folks, as well as the fabricators and pit crew and everybody else, thank you for letting me drive your stuff, but the focus is now on Sunday and everything else is history. This is behind us."
DID YOU CONSIDER STAYING OUT ON THE LAST CAUTION?
"At that caution, I think we would have made it and it would have been fine, but I'm leaving all of that stuff up to Mike Beam. I think everybody was going to come so it would comfortably put them in the window, especially in the case of a green-white-checkered finish. I think pretty much everybody planned on coming for that one."
"Kyle was really fast, especially on the shorter runs. I really couldn't do anything with him on a short run. Our strong suit was long runs. Had it gone green all the way, I told our guys that I thought I could beat him at the end of a 90-lap run, but that's yet to be seen. He was incredibly fast, but he was really fast on new tires. I couldn't quite run with him on new tires there for a little while. He's real fast in that truck."
NASCAR Craftsman Truck driver Mark Martin waves to the crowd after winning the AAA Insurance 200 race Friday, June 2, 2006, at the Dover Speedway in Dover, DE.(AP Photo/Chris Gardner)Martin wins truck race at Dover
By Dan Gelston
AP Sports Writer
June 2, 2006DOVER, Del. (AP) -- No wonder Mark Martin wants to run the full Craftsman Truck Series schedule so badly. He's having a blast racking up the wins.
Martin drove his No. 6 Ford to an easy victory Friday at Dover International Speedway, beating fellow Nextel Cup star Carl Edwards by 3.052 seconds. It was Martin's third win in six races this season and gave team owner Jack Roush the top two spots.
``We set it up to race well and it raced well,'' Martin said. ``The truck racing is the most fun I've had in years and years.''
It's a big reason why Martin plans to step down from full-time Cup racing at the end of this season and run a full truck schedule in 2007 and 2008. He would have been racing trucks full-time this season, but was coaxed back into returning by Roush when a suitable replacement for him could not be found.
``I definitely feel my age,'' Martin said.
The win capped a long day for Martin, who took the lead for good when Kyle Busch was black-flagged for a loose hood pin late in the race.
Busch led more than half of the first 100 laps before one of the pins holding the hood came off and dropped him to 10th. Series points leader Todd Bodine, who finished third, said Martin shouldn't expect such an easy time next season.
``He's not going to win it all,'' Bodine said. ``We're still good.''
Bodine extended his lead in the points standings to 76 over Ted Musgrave.
Edwards competed in a truck race for the first time since 2004.
``It's a blast,'' he said. ``That was just about as much fun as you can have. I just hope they'll let me run another one. I'd like to win one of these.''
When was the last time Edwards had so much fun?
``Maybe since prom night?'' he joked.
Martin became the first driver to win a race at the Monster Mile in all three national series. He has four wins at the track in the Busch Series and one in Nextel Cup.
``I don't keep score,'' Martin said. ``It sounds really good, so don't forget about it.''
Martin keeps truckin' at Dover
By Mike Finney
The News Journal
June 3, 2006DOVER -- If Mark Martin were to plan a romantic getaway with his wife, Arlene, the NASCAR driver might just take her to Dover International Speedway.
He simply loves the place.
Martin's longtime love affair with the high-banked, one-mile oval continued Friday, when he came home victorious in the AAA Insurance 200 Craftsman Truck Series race.
Martin, 47, took advantage of Kyle Busch's misfortune. Busch was leading when he was black-flagged by NASCAR and forced to pit on lap 137 after it was discovered a hood pin on the left front of his truck -- which holds the hood down securely -- had come undone.
Martin inherited the lead and stayed up front for all but five of the final 59 laps.
"I always enjoy racing at Dover, and the Craftsman Truck Series, in my opinion, is the best racing there is in NASCAR right now," Martin said. "My crew was awesome on pit road. We got a lot of green-flag racing, and it really worked out for us.
"We were really good on the long runs. This truck racing is the most fun I've had in years and years."
Martin was able to pull away from the competition during the closing stages of the race, finishing 3.052 seconds ahead of runner-up Carl Edwards, his teammate at Roush Racing.
Pole-sitter David Reutimann briefly took the lead after a two-tire pit stop during a caution period on lap 161. But Martin -- who, like all of the leaders, changed four tires -- charged past him following the restart on lap 164 heading into turn three. He led the final 36 laps.
"That was a blast. That was just about as much fun as you can have," Edwards said of his first Truck Series race since 2004. "Congratulations to Mark Martin. It was great that I was able to run one-two with him for Roush Racing."
The race began about 1 1/2 hours later than scheduled after rain hit the track at 4:20 p.m.
The race was cleanly driven and completed in a record one hour, 39 minutes, 50 seconds for an average speed of 120.200 mph. That allowed the Truck Series to get in all of the laps before darkness.
There were just three accidents, all single-truck incidents involving Scott Lagasse Jr., Kraig Kinser and Kelly Sutton. All of the drivers were treated and released at the track's care center.
Todd Bodine, the Truck Series points leader, finished third, followed by Mike Bliss and Reutimann.
"We're more than satisfied with that," said Bodine, who stretched his points lead to 76 points over Ted Musgrave. "We were really bad in practice [Thursday]. We were just terrible loose, but we fixed the problem.
"To come out of here with a third is how you win championships. You take a truck that's not running that well and you get good finishes out of it."
The Truck Series race was the first of two races Martin will compete in at Dover this weekend. He also qualified sixth for Sunday's Neighborhood Excellence 400 Presented by Bank of America Nextel Cup race on Friday afternoon.
It was Martin's third victory in six starts in the Truck Series this season, an astounding .500 winning percentage.
His numbers at Dover are equally impressive. It was his sixth overall victory at Dover, including four Cup wins and a Busch Series win, since 1987. He became the first driver to win in all three of NASCAR's major series at Dover.
"Mark Martin is just awesome," said Mike Beam, Martin's crew chief. "It's just a great day. We're just blessed to have Mark Martin on this team."
Busch passed Reutimann for the lead on lap 15. Busch held the lead until he was passed by Martin entering the first turn on lap 78.
Busch then regained the top spot when he passed Martin in the third turn following the third caution period of the race on lap 105. Then he was black-flagged for his loose hood pin.
From there, Martin, who started 13th, was on his way.
Johnny Benson, Ron Hornaday Jr., Rick Crawford, Jack Sprague and Busch rounded out the top 10.
