MARK MARTIN FAST FACTS * BRICKYARD 400
INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
(2.5 MILES, 160 LAPS)
MARTIN, NO. 6 VIAGRA TEAM READY FOR SHOT AT BRICKYARD
Fresh off a strong second-place run at Pocono, Martin and the Viagra Racing Team take to the famed 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Brickyard 400, with their sights set on victory lane.
Chassis Number: (RK-231) - The team will run RK-231 at Indy. It's the same car that rocketed through the field last month in Chicago before losing an engine with three laps to go running in third place. The car also ran fifth earlier this year at Las Vegas. It was running seventh at the June Pocono race as well, before losing an engine just past the half-way point.
Worthy Note: Martin has finished in the top 10 in seven of 10 races at Indy.
IN THE POINTS - BACK ON THE MOVE
Martin's strong run at Pocono moved him up two places to 13th in the Nextel Cup point standings. Martin picked up 103 points on 10th place last week, putting him in striking distance at only 89 points out of 10th place.
MARTIN AT THE BRICKYARD
Martin finished inside the top 10 in seven of the 10 runnings of the Brickyard 400, including a ninth-place run last season. Martin's success at the Brickyard has been either hot or cold. He finished 35th after getting caught up in an accident in the inaugural running, before reeling off five straight top-six runs from '95-99. The streak ended the next year after an accident on only the 15th lap relegated Martin to a 43rd place finish. Martin finished 22nd the following year after getting caught up in yet another accident. He led the 2002 Brickyard 400 with only 46 laps to go, before dropping a cylinder late in the race and having to settle for a 28th place finish. Martin has qualified 10th or better in five of the 10 races at Indianapolis as well.
MAKING UP GROUND
Martin and the Viagra Racing Team have compiled the seventh best performance over the past six races, despite having major failures at Chicago and Michigan. Martin has one top five and three top 10's in the past six races, that have helped him move from 205 points outside of the top 10 to 89.
QUOTING MARK AND PAT *ON INDY
"We need to go and win the Brickyard. Now I don't usually say things like that, but with all the heartbreak that we've had this year and with everything we've gone through, winning the Brickyard is all that matters to me and my race team right now. If we do that, then we can talk about this points thing, but with all we've been through this year winning the Brickyard is the type of thing that could make our season. It's hard to single out one race and go after it, but you know after we had a really big heartbreak at Charlotte, the guys said 'hey, lets just go win Dover, and we did it. So after what happened at Chicago, we just kind of looked to the Brickyard and we are going to go for it this weekend. Chicago was a huge heartbreak, but we are over it and all geared up to go get them at Indy.
"Really with all that has happened to be only 89 points out of 10th with a shot is a miricle. We've had so many major failures that have really killed us, but its a testimate to Pat (Tryson) and Wally (Brown) and the guys that work on the No. 6 car that we are in the position that we are in. We've been to the garage a bunch of times this year and it's been hard. Chicago was a huge heartbreak, but we are over it and all geared up to go get them at Indy."
PAT TRYSON
"I'm excited about this weekend. This is our number one car. It ran really well at Chicago and we were very happy with it at the Indy test a few weeks ago. The team is really pumped up after the run we had last week at Pocono and we really want to continue that with a strong run at Indy this weekend. We've been through a lot this year and nothing would make me happier than a win at the Brickyard 400. We have the car that can do it, the team that can do it and we definately have the driver that can do it, so I personally can't wait to get on the track this weekend."
Mark Martin Fast Facts * Brickyard 400
Martin has finished inside the top 10 in seven of the 10 races at Indy and inside the top six in five of the 10.
Martin has finished top five in four of the 10 races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Martin has won three IROC races at Indy ('98, 99 and 2000).
Martin has scored top 10 finishes in three of his last five races.
LAST YEAR AT THE BRICKYARD 400...
AUGUST 3, 2003 * Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Brickyard 400
Started 25th, Finished 9th
Martin steadily worked his way through the field , battling to a ninth-place finish in the 10th annual running of the famed event. Martin broke into the top 10 for the final time on lap 129 and remained there for the final 31 laps of the race. The team qualified 25th on Friday, but Martin's car was among the field's fastest during both of Saturday's practice sessions. The car remained among the fastest when the green flag dropped on the race and Martin had worked his way into the top 20 by lap nine. A poor qualifying draw on Saturday hurt the team's effort, but Martin was running some of the fastest times on the track by happy hour on Saturday. The effort carried over into the race on Sunday, as Martin was the fastest car on the track at one point during the race.
ONE OF NASCAR'S ALL-TIME ELITE, MARK MARTIN
Martin's 34 Nextel Cup wins put him fourth on the win list among active drivers and 17th on the all-time list.
Martin has currently started 530 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 586 Cup races, finishing inside the top 10 on 333 occasions, inside the top five 208 times and visiting winner's circle 34 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 th
