MARK MARTIN FAST FACTS * SONOMA
Sunday, June 27, 2004
INFINEON RACEWAY
(1.949 MILES, 110 LAPS)
NO. 6 VIAGRA TEAM LOOKS FOR RIGHT TURN IN SONOMA
After a frustrating week in Michigan, the No. 6 team will look to a change of scenery and racing styles, as the NASCAR circuit turns right for the first time of the season with the road course race track of Infineon Raceway, where over the years Martin has been one of the top performers.
Chassis Number: (RK-204) - The team will run RK-204 this week Sonoma. It is the same car that the team ran last year at both Sonoma (finished 17th) and Watkins Glen (finished 10th).
INFINEON
Starts: 15
Wins: 1
Top 5's: 7
Top 10's: 12
Poles: 1
Highest finish: 1st ('97)
First time: 6/11/89 (31st)
Last time: 6/22/03(19th)
Worthy Note: Martin's 12 top-10 finishes at Sonoma are the most of any driver.
IN THE POINTS
Last week's finish dropped Martin to 16th in the points, 205 points outside of 10th and 578 behind first place.
ROAD COURSE MASTER MARTIN
Martin is one of the most accomplished road course racers on the Nextel Cup circuit. Martin's four wins at road courses are the ninth most all time and his four poles are the eighth most. Martin's 28 top-10 finishes on road courses tie with Ricky Rudd for the most of any active driver.
AT SONOMA
Martin won at Sonoma in 1997 from the pole, one of only five times that feat has been accomplished. His 12 top-10 finishes at Infineon Raceway are the most of any active driver. Martin has finished in the top 10 in nine of the last 10 at Sonoma, where he has been top 10 in 80 percent of his races.
QUOTING MARK AND PAT *
ON SONOMA
"I've always liked road course racing. It's a lot like growing up racing around on the dirt roads of Arkansas, except the roads are paved and the cars sure are faster. We've been pretty good over the years on the road courses and I always enjoy racing on them. We've had a lot of success at Sonoma over the years and hopefully we will continue that trend this weekend. With all that has happened to this team in the past few weeks, we sure could use a good finish. I have no doubt that we can go there and be a contender, so hopefully our luck will turn around a little this week."
PAT TRYSON
"We tested a couple of weeks ago at Road Atlanta, but we didn't get a lot of track time in because of rain. Still, we did like what we saw in the short time that we ran. We are taking the same car that Mark ran at both road courses last year, and it's a really good road racing car. This team is just ready to get back out on the race track and get it done. We are looking to win some races right now and we aren't going to worry about the other stuff for the next few weeks. These guys have demonstrated that they are good enough to win any week and we are just going to go out and go for it."
Mark Martin Fast Facts * SONOMA
Martin won at Infineon from the pole in 1997, a feat that has only been accomplished four other times.
Martin leads all drivers with 12-top 10 finishes at Sonoma.
Martin has finished in the top 10 in nine of last 10 at Sonoma.
Martin has competed in 33 career road-course races scoring four victories and 28 top-10 finishes.
Martin has finished either first or second in 31 percent of every Nextel Cup race at Sonoma.
Martin has finished inside the top-10 in 80 percent of the NC races at Sonoma and inside the top five in 47 percent of the races.
Martin's four wins at road courses tie for the ninth most in NASCAR history and his four poles tie for the eighth most.
Martin has competed in all 15 races at Sonoma, scoring four second-place finishes, in addition to one victory.
LAST YEAR AT SONOMA...
JUNE 22, 2003 * Infineon Raceway
Dodge/Save Mart 350 * Started 17th, Finished 19th
Martin was able to pick up five places in the last 19 laps of the race to post a 19th place finish and put an end to a day that just never quite came together. The car started the race handling tight and with the car 'pushing really badly' Martin struggled from the green flag and quickly fell back to 21st position on the first lap after getting tangled up with another car. The first lap would appear to set the tone for the day. Martin had worked his way back up to 19th place on lap 58 before getting hit by the No. 42 car and taking on slight damage, which cost the No. 6 car valuable positons. After the day's sixth caution, the team came into the pits to top-off the fuel, in hopes that the race would go green for the remaining laps, as Martin would have been one of only a few cars that could have finished the race without pitting, but a caution on lap 88 would put an end to that strategy. Martin came into the pits to take on four fresh tires and fuel. Martin returned to the field in 24th place when the field went green with 19 laps to go.
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 525 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 581 Cup races, finishing inside the top 10 on 330 occasions, inside the top five 207 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 the IROC series, including a record three straight.
