MARTIN, VIAGRA RACING TAKE REVAMPED TEAM, FRESH ATTITUDE TO ROCKINGHAM
Martin and the Viagra Racing Team will travel to Rockingham, N.C. this
weekend for the Pop Secret 400 at North Carolina Speedway, where Martin
finished seventh in the spring.
THE CAR
The Viagra Racing Team will take RRC-104 to Rockingham this weekend.
RRC-104 last ran at Darlington in the Southern 500. The car was fast,
qualifying seventh, but finished 33rd after getting caught up in an
early accident. In its only other career start, the car finished 14th
earlier this year at Chicago.
MAKING A CHANGE
The Viagra Racing Team will go into this weekend with a new crew
chief. Pat Tryson will lead up the team, taking the place of Ben Leslie,
who took Tryson's place with the No. 21 team in a Roush Racing, Wood
Brothers crew chief switch. Tryson becomes Martin's third crew chief at
Roush Racing.
IN THE POINTS
Martin is currently 17th in the Winston Cup point standings.
AT THE ROCK
North Carolina Speedway is one of Martin's strongest tracks, with the
veteran driver having compiled 19 top 10 runs in 34 starts. In addition,
Martin has finished in the top five on 11 occasions (.33) and has two
wins and five poles at the 1.017-mile track. Martin finished second in
the Pop Secret 400 a year ago and seventh at Rockingham in the spring.
DID YOU KNOW?
Martin's first Winston Cup victory came at Rockingham on Oct. 22,
1989.
FAST FACTS
· Martin's five poles ties for the most at Rockingham.
· Martin raced to his first career victory at Rockingham in the
AC-Delco 500 on Oct. 22, 1989.
· Martin has 24 top-10 starts, 19 top-10 finishes and 12 top-five
finishes in 34 races at Rockingham.
· Martin has finished eighth of better, including one victory, in
seven of the last 11 races at Rockingham.
· Martin holds virtually every record in the Rockingham Busch
race, including 11 wins and six poles. Last spring he was named the
Grand Marshal of the Busch race there.
QUOTING MARK MARTIN
MARK MARTIN ON ROCKINGHAM
"It's a great track to race at, although it can be a real challenge for
any driver and team. It can be a hard place to figure out the setup, but
we've had a lot of success there on long runs. Last year we really
nailed the setup and we had a great race in the fall. We were pretty
good there this past spring as well. This will be the first race for Pat
(Tryson) as our new crew chief, so he'll be challenged right off the
bat. However, I'm confident that we can go to Rockingham this weekend
and put together a strong run. We've mixed some things up and we have a
little bit of a new look with Pat. Hopefully that can be the right
catalyst to help get us back on track."
Crew Chief Pat Tryson on racing at Rockingham:
"I am really looking forward to working with Mark and the team.
We've got two races left this season to get a head start on 2004.
Mark has always been strong at Rockingham and I hope to be able to help
him maintain that record. He ran really well at Phoenix so we need to
keep that momentum going."
LAST SEASON AT THE FALL ROCKINGHAM RACE
NOVEMBER 3, 2002 - North Carolina Speedway
Pop Secret 400 - Started 5th, Finished 2nd
The No. 6 Viagra Ford Taurus was strong all weekend, qualifying fifth
on Friday and posted the second fastest time in Saturday's final
practice. Sunday's race was no different. By lap 33 Martin was running
the fastest times on the track and by lap 41 the Viagraâ Ford took the
lead for the first time of the day. Martin, who led a race-high 144 laps
and earned 10 bonus points for the day, passed teammate Kurt Busch on
lap 366 to move into second place, and spent the last 20 laps of the
race battling eventual winner Johnny Benson for the lead. Martin would
pull within inches of passing Benson, but was unable to regain the lead
as Benson went on to win his first career Winston Cup race.
ONE OF NASCAR'S ALL-TIME ELITE, MARK MARTIN
· Martin's 33 Winston Cup wins put him fourth on the win list
among active drivers.
· Martin has currently started 507 straight Winston Cup races, the
third-longest current streak and the seventh-longest streak in Winston
Cup history.
· Martin's 41 Winston Cup poles are the fifth most in Winston Cup
history.
· Martin ranks fifth all-time in the Winston Cup point standings.
· Martin has started 563 Winston Cup races, finishing inside the
top 10 on 325 occasions, inside the top five 205 times and visiting
winner's circle 33 times.
· Martin's 45 career wins in the Busch Series are a NASCAR
record.
· Martin's 11 victories in IROC competition ties Dale Earnhardt
for the most ever.
· Martin has won four championships in the IROC series, including
a record three straight.
