MARK MARTIN FAST FACTS - SPEEDWEEKS
Martin and the Viagra Racing Team roll into Daytona for 2004
Speedweeks. This will Mark the 20th running of the famed Daytona 500
for Martin.
MARTIN SET TO START 20th DAYTONA 500
Martin, who is a resident of Daytona Beach, will make his 20th career
start in the famed Daytona 500 in 2004. Martin's first start in the 500
came on Feb. 14, 1982, when he finished 31st. Since that time, Martin
has started in 18 additional Daytona 500's, tallying seven top-10
finishes and four top fives. Martin has finished in the top 10 in the
last two 500's and he finished fifth a year ago.
RECORD BUD SHOOTOUT START
Martin will make his record 16th consecutive start in the Budweiser
Shootout on Feb. 7. Martin won the event in 1999. Once again Martin will
power the No. 6 Oscar Mayer/Team Kraft Ford in the all-star race.
BACK TO THE BUSCH SERIES
Martin will make his return to the Busch Series in Daytona, when he
powers the No. 9 Pennzoil Ford in the Hershey's Kisses 300 on Feb. 14.
Martin, who is the series all time win leader, will be looking for his
record extending 46th win in the series.
MARTIN TO MAKE 600TH CAREER NEXTEL CUP START IN '04
Martin is scheduled to make his 600th career Nextel Cup start this
season at Phoenix. Martin made his first Cup start on April 5, 1981 at
North Wilksboro. Since then he has amassed 205 top fives, 325 top 10's,
33 victories and 41 poles. Currently Martin has started 509 consecutive
Nextel Cup races.
LAST YEAR AT SPEEDWEEKS
Martin had a successful Speedweeks in 2003, finishing fifth in the
Daytona 500. In addition, Martin won the IROC race for his record-tying
11th win in the series.
DID YOU KNOW?
Martin has finished inside the top five in two of the last four Daytona
500's and inside the top 10 in three of the last four. In fact in his
last 11 Daytona 500's Martin has finished inside the top 10 seven times
and inside the top six on six occasions.
QUOTING MARK*
ON THE DAYTONA 500
"I'm really excited about the car we have for the 500. We had a great
test there in January and we are really excited about going back there
for Speedweeks. Somebody told me that this will be my 20th Daytona 500
and we are still looking for that first win there. You never can tell,
but I can't think of any better way to start the year than by winning
that race. At the least we feel that we will be competitive and I'm
really excited about getting back out there on the track.
ON THE THE RETURN TO THE BUSCH SERIES
"I'm excited about returning to the series. I'm excited about
getting the honor of doing the maiden voyage in the No. 9 Pennzoil car
for Roush and Pennzoil in the Busch Series. The car looks great, the
colors look great on the car and I think it's going to be something
that the fans are really going to enjoy. We had a great test at Daytona
in the car," added Martin. "We really have a good race team there
and a good car for the race. We had some real competitive times down
there (at Daytona) and hopefully between now and then we can improve on
some of our pieces and parts and hardware and go down there and be even
better."
"There is no doubt that with the aero-package they have in the Busch
Series that drafting is going to be pretty easy. The cars are going to
make a big hole, it will make for a big draft and it will make the
drafting easier and better. That will be a good thing and I'm really
looking forward to getting back in a Busch race. We had a lot of success
in that series before and hopefully we can pick up right where we left
off. I'm looking forward to going back to Speedweeks for a lot of
reasons and getting a chance to compete in the Busch race with the
Pennzoil Team is one of the reasons."
ON THE BUDWEISER SHOOTOUT:
"The shootout is always a fun event.We'll be driving the Oscar
Mayer/Team Kraft car again this year and it's always fun for the fans
to run different paint schemes and stuff. As for the race, you just
never know in the Shootout. Basically you go out and look to win an
event like the Shootout. Last year we gambled a bit to get up front and
in the end it didn't pay off. But the bottom line is that second place
is no better than 17th or 18th in the Shootout, so it's not uncommon
to see teams go for it all. This year we are going to go out and try and
win it again like we did in '99. Hopefully we can have those type of
results. You just never know in that race."
ON THE 2004 SEASON:
"I'm feeling such good vibes from everyone on this team. Wally Brown,
Todd Zeigler and all of the guys on the team seem to be really enjoying
working the Pat (Tryson). Our pit stop practice has been phenomenial and
I feel the electricity every time I'm around those guys. It just feels
like it felt in the past when we had really great seasons. I'm
getting all the good vibes."
