Race 2 Win: Banquet 400 presented by ConAgra Foods

Nextel Cup Series

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Banquet 400 presented by ConAgra Foods - Mark Martin Notes

MARK MARTIN FAST FACTS * Banquet 400, Oct. 10, 2004
KANSAS Speedway (1.5 mile) 267 Laps
RACE 30 * 4 OF 10 IN THE CHASE

MARTIN ROLLS INTO KANSAS IN THE CHASE

Martin survived Talladega with a 15th-place finish and moved up one spot to fourth in the Nextel Cup point standings. The team travels to Kansas this weekend, where Martin hopes to get back to his style of racing. They will run their favorite car there, RK-231, which has posted the bulk of Martin's impressive runs down the stretch in 2004, including a second-place finish at Dover two weeks ago.

Chassis Number: (RK-231) - The team will run RK-231at Kansas. RK-231 is considered the fasest car in the stable. It ran to a second-place finish two weeks ago at Dover and boasts top-five runs at California, Michigan and Las Vegas, as well as strong runs at Pocono, Indy and Chicago.

KANSAS
Starts: 3
Wins: -
Top 5's: -
Top 10's: 1
Poles: -
Highest finish: 6th (9/01)
First time: 9/1/01 (6th)
Last time: 10/5/03 (20th)

Worthy Note: Martin has eight top-15 finishes in the last eight races.

Martin survived Talladega with a 15th-place finish and moved up one spot to fourth in the Nextel Cup point standings. The team travels to Kansas this weekend, where Martin hopes to get back to his style of racing. They will run their favorite car there, RK-231, which has posted the bulk of Martin's impressive runs down the stretch, including a second-place finish at Dover two weeks ago.

THE CHASE FOR THE NEXTEL CUP - MOVIN' ON UP, MARTIN UP TO FOURTH PLACE
Martin's 15th-place run at Talladega moved him into fourth place in the point standings. Martin has moved from 15th to fourth in the last eight races, after starting the year in 43rd place after Daytona. He is currently 50 points out of third place and 98 points behind first place.

BREAKING DOWN THE CHASE
Martin has won on seven of the 10 tracks that will decide the winner of the Nextel Cup. In fact Martin has multiple wins at four of the seven tracks remaining, but no wins at Kansas. Martin has combined for 10 wins, 59 top-fives, 94 top-10's and eight poles in 174 starts at the remaining seven tracks. Martin has finished in the top 10 in 55 percent of his starts at those tracks.

MARTIN AT KANSAS
This will be Martin and NASCAR Cup Series' third race at Kansas Speedway, where Martin finished sixth in the inaugural event in 2001. Martin has a 17th-place average finish at Kansas, but the stat is misleading with engine problems and an accident altering the finishes there in 2002 and 2003.

STRONG DOWN THE STRETCH
The Viagra Team has been strong when it counts, having finished in the top-15 in the last eight races. Furthermore, Martin has posted top-five runs in six of the last 10 and five of the last eight races. In fact, Martin has scored nine of his 13 top-10 and all but one of his eight top-five finishes in 2004 after June 6.

QUOTING MARK AND PAT *ON KANSAS
"We are really looking forward to going to Kansas, especially after 500 miles at Talladega. Kansas is more of what I would consider 'real' racing and a chance to get back to what we do week in and week out. We are taking my favorite car and it's the type of track that really suits my driving style. We've been strong on those tracks down the stretch and we are looking for another strong run this weekend in Kansas and hopefully we can start moving towards making a run for the championship.

"I love racing in Kansas and that area. I've been racing there for years and I have a large fan base there from back when I was racing in that area long before I ever got into NASCAR. It's a great area, with a great track and I'm excited about going there this weekend. Hopefully we'll give them something to really cheer about."

PAT TRYSON
"I for one am ready to get to Kansas. Restrictor-plate racing really isn't our strong point, but we feel that we have some really strong races coming up starting this week at Kansas which is the type of track that really suits Mark's driving style. We'll be taking our favorite car and we are looking for some pretty good results. As always we know we have the driver to do it, we just have to make sure we give him a car good enough to win."

Mark Martin Fast Facts * KANSAS

Martin finished sixth at the inaugural Kansas Cup race in 2001.

Martin has a 17th place average finish in three races at Kansas, despite engine problems in 2002 and a late accident in 2003.

Martin has finished inside the top 15 in the last eight races.

Martin has climbed from 15th to fourth in the points in the last eight races.

Martin has top-five finishes in five of the last eight and six of the last 10 races.

LAST YEAR AT KANSAS...
OCTOBER 5, 2003 * Kansas Speedway
Banquet 400 * Started 38th, Finished 20th

The No. 6 Team ran to a 20th-place finish at Kansas, battling for most of the weekend to find the correct blend of handling and speed. In the end, Martin's main obstacles ended up being lapped traffic and track position, as the No. 6 team would be forced to fight for position throughout the race. With the car handling "loose in" the corners, Martin struggled from the start of the race and fell a lap down to the leader on lap 46. Martin had moved up to 26th on lap 68 when the day's first caution was issued. The No. 6 team stayed out, while the leaders pitted, returning Martin to the tail end of the lead lap when the race went green on lap 76. After a quick start, he was able to put some distance between himself and the leader, and when caution was again issued on lap 81, Martin was back on the tail end of the lead lap. After a 14.50 second stop to take on tires and fuel, Martin was in 22nd place. The veteran driver had fought his way back onto the lead lap. Martin moved back through the field and was running in 13th place by lap 219, when he spun out trying to get around the lapped No. 01 car, causing the day's eighth caution. Fortunately, he was able to save the car, and after coming into the pits for four tires and fuel, Martin returned to the race in 23rd position with 28 laps to go. He would go on to gain three more positions before the checkered flag.

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 538 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 595 Cup races, finishing inside the top 10 on 338 occasions, inside the top five 213 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.

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