Sharpie 500 * Bristol Motor Speedway * Saturday, August 23, 2003
Mark Martin
Team: No. (6) Roush Racing Ford Taurus
Sponsors: Viagra
Owner: Jack Roush
Driver: Mark Martin
Crew Chief: Ben Leslie
Chassis: JR-95 - This will be the fifth run this season for JR-95. The
can finished seventh at Rockingham and fourth at Darlington. Mechanical
issues spoiled its other two runs at Atlanta and Charlotte despite the
fact that it was one of the fastest cars on the track in both races. The
car ran to second place finishes at both Dover and Pocono in 2002.
Martin on racing at Bristol:
"It sure is one exciting race track. It's crazy, and as I've said
before, it's like trying to fly a jet fighter around the inside of a
basketball arena. That's the best analogy that I can come up with. You
never know what is going to happen and the basic key is to stay out of
trouble, which isn't always easy. We've gotten wrecked in our last
couple of races there, but we've had some good runs there over the
years as well. We want to qualify well there or you are a half a lap
down when the thing starts. I'm hoping that we can go in there and get
off to a good start and hopefully have a strong run and start to turn
this thing around."
Crew Chief Ben Leslie on racing at Bristol:
"We need to have a strong day right off the truck on Friday. Bristol
is exciting and it is fun, but it can be really tough, especially if you
start in the back. When you don't qualify well and you have to start
in the back you have the leaders bearing down on you and there is also
more of a chance to get wrecked. We've been involved in other
people's accidents in our last two races at Bristol, so hopefully
we'll replace the bad luck with some good luck this week and post a
strong run to the front."
ROUSH RACING FAST FACTS:
Mark Martin scored four consecutive poles at Bristol (1995-96).
Martin's seven poles at Bristol is a tie for the most ever.
Martin has won five of the last 17 poles at Bristol.
Martin has posted two victories at Bristol, in 1993 from the
pole and in the 1998 fall race.
Martin has posted 20 top-10 and 15 top-five finishes in 33 races
at Bristol.
Martin's last top-10 finish at Bristol came in 2000.
Martin scored 10 straight top-10 finishes from 1995-2000.
Greg Biffle earned his first top-five finish of the season at
Bristol in the spring.
Matt Kenseth now has 18 top-10 finishes in 23 starts, a
league-leading statistic. He also has nine top-five finishes; second
only to Bobby Labonte's 10 top-five finishes.
Kenseth's 2003 Winston Cup point lead is now 329 points over
second place Dale Earnhardt, Jr. It is the widest margin of the entire
year for Kenseth.
If Kenseth wins the Sharpie 500 event, his Winston-leader bonus
payout would be a record $240,000.
Kenseth has completed all but two laps of competition in the
2003 season.
Kurt Busch won the Food City 500 at Bristol in March this year.
Busch's crew chief Jimmy Fennig is the winningest active crew
chief in the Winston Cup Series with 23 wins.
Jeff Burton has four top-five and seven top-10 finishes at
Bristol.
Jon Wood and Carl Edwards will compete in Wednesday night's
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event. Edwards has won the past two races
and the Roush teams have won four of the last six races.
