MARK MARTIN FAST FACTS * DOVER
Sunday, June 6, 2004
DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY (1 - MILE) * 400 LAPS
MARTIN, NO. 6 TEAM LOOK TO SLAY MONSTER MILE
Mark Martin and the Viagra Racing Team were fast during last week's Coca-Cola 600, but saw their hopes of winning the famed event shattered when both ignition boxes failed by lap 200. The team will look to rebound this week at Dover, a track that Martin lists as one of his clear favorites and the stats show it. In 35 races Martin has posted 30 top-10 and 15 top-five finishes (the most of any active driver).
Chassis Number: (RK-241) - The team will run RK-241 again this week at Dover. RK-241 is the same car that ran last weekend in the Coca-Cola 600 and was among the race leaders before mechanical problems. This will be the fourth run this season for the car (600 - 36th Atlanta - 14th, Texas - 17th, and California - 11th).
Worthy Note: Martin's 15 top-five finishes at Dover are the most of any active driver.
IN THE POINTS
Martin is 15th in the Nextel Cup point standings after the 36th-place finish in the 600. Martin is currently 162 points outside of 10th place and 462 behind the leader.
FAST FROM THE START
Martin was comfortable at Dover from the start, running to a fifth-place finish in the Mason-Dixon 500 in his first ever start at the 1.0-mile track on 5/16/82. Martin started the event seventh, the first of 22 top-10 starts for Martin at the track. In fact, Martin has four poles from at Dover and started in the top 10 in 22 of his first 29 races there.
MARTIN AT DOVER
This will be Martin's 36th start at Dover, where he has won three times, but never in the spring race. Considered one his favorite tracks on the circuit, Martin has 20 top-10 and 15 top-five finsihes at the Monster Mile. The 15 top fives are the most of any active driver.
TRACK RACE RECORD
Martin holds the track race record at Dover, winning on 9/21/97 in just 50 seconds over three hours, while averaging a speed of 132.719 mph on the day.
Quoting Mark...
ON DOVER
"Dover's probably my favorite racetrack. We have tremendous history there and I feel really good about our racecars that the guys are building for us. We had a great car on Sunday and we are taking it back to Dover. The guys are working really hard to turn the car around, so we can take it to Dover and finish what we started at the 600. We had a great car there and were running up front and got hit once again by stuff that is out of our control.
"All we can do is go back at it and make sure that we give 100 percent to what we are in control of. That means going to Dover this weekend being just as fast. We have to keep fighting and we will. This is a great race team that is made up of a great group of guys with a super work ethic. Some of the things that have happened are disappointing, but these guys are not about to give up. We'll come back at Dover and go for it again."
PAT TRYSON
"After what happened at the 600, we just can't wait to get back out there and show everyone just how good this team can be. Mark has done an excellent job driving the cars and we have gotten stronger each week. We are going to take the same car back to Dover and it was really fast last week. Hopefully we'll be able to see the results this week and that's what we are working towards."
Mark Martin Fast Facts * THE 600
Martin has three wins at Dover, with all three coming in the fall race.
Martin holds the track race-record at Dover winning on 9/21/97 in 3:00:50 (132.717 mph avg).
Martin's 15 top-five finishes are the most of any active driver at Dover.
Martin has 20 top-10 finishes at Dover, including 11 in the spring race.
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.
LAST YEAR AT DOVER...
JUNE 1, 2003 * Dover International Speedway
MBNA ARMED
FORCES FAMILY 400
Started 32nd, Finished 18th
Martin and the team fought to an 18th-place finish in the MBNA Armed Forces Family 400 at Dover International Speedway. Martin and the No. 6 crew battled all day to make the car better, but were never able to find the exact elements to make the car as fast as they had hoped. In the end, Martin, who was caught up in an accident on lap 210, would be forced to settle for the 18th-place finish. The highlight of the day for the No. 6 crew, was the team's nifty work in the pits, that included several quick stops that helped Martin gain valuable track position.
ONE OF NASCAR'S ALL-TIME ELITE, MARK MARTIN
Martin's 33 Nextel Cup wins put him fourth on the win list among active drivers.
Martin has currently started 522 straight Nextel Cup races, the third-longest current streak and the seventh-longest streak in Cup history.
Martin's 41 Nextel Cup poles are the fifth most in Cup history.
Martin ranks fifth all-time in the Nextel Cup point standings.
Martin has started 578 Cup races, finishing inside the top 10 on 329 occasions, inside the top five 206 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. In addition Martin has won four championships in the IROC series, including a record three straight.
