Race 2 Win: Samsung/Radio Shack 500

Nextel Cup Series

News and Results | Point Standings | 2004 Schedule | 2004 Teams | 2003 Schedule and Results

Samsung/Radio Shack 500 - Mark Martin Notes

MARK MARTIN FAST FACTS * Texas
ON TO TEXAS FOR MARTIN, VIAGRA RACING TEAM

The Viagra Racing Team experienced a bit of an off weekend last week in Bristol, but still managed a 23rd-place finish, keeping Martin within striking distance of the circuit's top 10. This week the team takes to Texas, where Martin will be gunning for his fourth straight top-10 finish.

Chassis Number: (RK-241) - The team will run RK-241 at Texas. RK-241 ran earlier this year in Atlanta, finishing 14th. RK-231 will serve as the backup.

Worthy Note: Martin has posted three straight top-10 finishes at Texas, including two straight top fives.

IN THE POINTS
Despite dropping from 12th to 15th in the Nextel Cup points standings after Bristol, Martin moved to within just 50 points from 10th position in standings.

BY THE NUMBERS AT TEXAS
Martin has been strong at Texas where he won in 1998 in only the track's second Cup race. All-in-all, Martin has totaled four top-10 and three top-five finishes at Texas Motor Speedway, including three straight top-10 runs and a fifth-place finish there a year ago.

WINNING AT TEXAS
Martin won the track's second Nextel Cup event in 1998. In addition Martin won a record three Busch races at Texas ('97,'99 and 2000), including a record setting 1 hr, 55 min, 08 sec win in March of '97.

OFF TO A GOOD START
Martin has started the Texas race inside the top 10 in six of seven Cup races at Texas.

QUOTING MARK*

ON TEXAS
"We didn't qualify well there last year, but we had a fantastic race. We managed to get a top five and we had a great race car on race day. We hope to have a great race car again this week. We are taking our Atlanta car with some updates on it that we think we'll make it even more competitive. Based on how we've performed on 1.5-mile tracks so far this year, our expectations are to be a top- five car.

"Texas is really fast, but that's not a problem unless you have a problem. It's one of my favorite tracks and we are excited about going there this weekend. We got a little off last week at Bristol and didn't get the finish we would have liked, so hopefully we'll get back on track this weekend with the strong finish we are looking for in Texas.

CREW CHIEF PAT TRYSON:
"Texas can be a challenge because you have to find speed. It's a fast track and that can be a lot of fun if you are one of the fastest. We are taking the same car that we ran in Atlanta. It had a pretty good run there, although the result may not have been a true indicator of how fast we ran there. Mark likes racing at Texas and he's been very good there over the years. We need to have a better showing during qualifying in order to get better track position, so we are hoping to be fast right from the start.

Mark Martin Fast Facts

Martin has two victories at Bristol (8/98 and 8/93 from the pole).

Martin's seven poles at Bristol tie for the most ever. He just narrowly missed the pole there last spring.

Martin won four consecutive poles at Bristol in 1995-96.

Martin has posted 20 top -10 and 15 top-five finishes in 34 races at Bristol.

From 1995-2000 Martin scored 10 straight top-10 finishes at Bristol, but a rash of accidents have prevented him from finishing inside the top 10 since.

Crew chief Pat Tryson led the Wood Brothers to a victory at Bristol in 2001. Tryson's pit strategy was vital in the No. 21 car's victory there.

LAST YEAR AT TEXAS...
MARCH 30 * Texas Motor Speedway - SAMSUNG/RADIO SHACK 500
Started 32nd, Finished 5th

The Viagra Team struggled for much of the weekend leading up to the race. Martin and crew chief Ben Leslie worked way past garage hours and into the late evening on Saturday night, in search of a remedy to provide needed speed for the No. 6 Viagra Ford. The fruit of their labor provided Martin with one of - if not the- fastest cars in Sunday's race. A car that, combined with Martin's mastery of the 1.5-mile quad oval, propelled the team to their third top-five finish of 2003 and their fourth top-10 finish in only seven races. It would not come easy. Martin worked his way up the field and into sixth place, when he came into the pits for a planned green-flag stop to take on fuel and tires on lap 221. As the remainder of the field cycled through their stops, the day's seventh caution was called on lap 226. Everyone in the field had not pitted and Martin had to restart the race on the tail end of the lead lap once the field went green on lap 232. Martin was able to stay on the lead lap, fending off leader and eventual race-winner Ryan Newman for three laps until the day's seventh caution was called on lap 235. The caution aided Martin in his quest to stay on the lead lap, but Martin's car sustained light damage to the front end. The team came into the pits for a series of stops to take on fuel, add fresh tires and tape up the damaged front end. Martin would have to slice and dice his way back towards the front, despite the fact his car had been damaged. True to form, Martin and the No. 6 team did not fold. Instead, Martin mounted yet another charge towards the front. By lap 282 Martin had cracked back inside the top 10, but he was not finished yet. By lap 300 he was running in seventh place. Four laps later he moved into sixth place with just 30 laps to go. On lap 326 Martin passed Jimmie Johnson to claim fifth place, where he would eventually finish the race for his third top-five finish in only seven races in 2003.

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 515 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 570 Nextel Cup races, finishing inside the top 10 on 327 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.

News and Results | Point Standings | 2004 Schedule | 2004 Teams | 2003 Schedule and Results