MARK MARTIN FAST FACTS * TALLADEGA
ON TO TALLADEGA FOR MARTIN, VIAGRA RACING TEAM
Last week NASCAR took to the circuit's shortest track. In the ultimate contrast, NASCAR visits the circuit's largest track this week at Talladega. Martin and the Viagra Racing Team suffered a heartbreaking 34th-place finish last week at Martinsville when a faulty-fuel line ended what had been their strongest run of 2004.
Chassis Number: (RK-125) - The team will run RK 125 at Talladega. RK-125 is the same car that Martin ran in the Daytona 500. The car proved to be very quick during speedweeks and finished fourth in the Gatorade 125. RK-235 will serve as the backup. RK-235 is the car Martin ran to a fourth-place finish in the Bud Shootout.
AT TALLADEGA
Starts: 36
Wins: 2
Top 5's: 10
Top 10's: 20
Poles: 2
Highest finish: 1st (twice)
First time: 8/1/82 (12th)
Last time: 11/28/03 (23rd)
Worthy Note: Martin will start his 575th Cup race this weekend at Talladega.
IN THE POINTS
Martin is currently 18th in the point standings, 153 points outside of the top 10.
MARTIN AT TALLADEGA
Martin has earned two victories (4/30/95 and 4/10/97) at Talladega, where he has also posted 10 top five and 20 top-10 finishes. In addition Martin has earned two poles at the track, both coming in 1989. in 2002, Martin was inducted into the Talladega Walk of Fame for his on-track accomplishments at the 'worlds fastest superspeedway.'
TOUGH TRACK
Much of the result at Talladega is based on what happens around your car and Martin has fallen victim to bad luck in his last four races there. Martin has not finished inside the top 20 at Talladega since 2001, but not because he didn't have good cars. Martin has been involved in accidents in three of the last four races at Talladega. In the other race he was running fourth with one lap to go, but was hung out to dry in a late deal that dropped him back to 23rd place. Prior to 2002 Martin had finished ninth or better in five straight races at Talladega.
RESTRICTOR PLATE RACING
This will be the second of four restrictor-plate races in 2004. Despite not being a fan of restrictor-plate racing, Martin has posted 31 top-10 finishes in races using the restrictor place, the second most ever.
575 AND COUNTING
Martin will start his 575th Cup race this weekend at Talladega. Martin, who started his first Cup race on April 5, 1981, will start his 600th career Cup race later this year at Phoenix.
QUOTING MARK:
ON TALLADEGA
"Well I'm not really a huge fan of racing at Talladega since they went to the restrictor plate, because it really takes everything out of the hands of the drivers. It's a lot like driving down the interstate in a pack of cars that are three-wide and 10 deep and everyone has the cruise control set at the same speed. There is concrete barriers on both sides of you and you are just waiting for someone to mess up and you hope you are lucky enough to get by. We've had terrible luck there for the last couple of years and there really isn't much you can do about any of that. Still, we are going to go there and give it a 100-percent effort. We need a good finish and we'll do everything in our power to get it.
"Martinsville was a heartbreaker. We did everything that you need to do to run up front and win a race and then we had a parts failure. We were really disappointed, but that doesn't take anything away from Pat (Tryson) and Wally (Brown) and the guys on the Viagra Team that did such an outstanding job. We'll just have to go out and do it again next time."
Mark Martin Fast Facts - TALLADEGA
Martin will star his 575th career Cup race this weekend at Talladega.
Martin's pace in the 1997 Winston 500 at Talladega set an all-time NASCAR cup record for the fastest race ever run, as Martin won the caution-free event with an average speed of 188.354 mph. He covered the 500-mile distance in two hours, 38 minutes and 18 seconds.
Martin's two victories at Talladega ties him with several other drivers as the second most by an active driver.
Despite the recent string of bad luck, Martin has scored top-10 finishes in four of his last eight races at Talladega.
Martin's 31 top-10 finishes in restrictor-plate races are the second most ever.
LAST YEAR AT TALLADEGA...
APRIL 6, 1003 * Talladega Superspeedway
AARON'S 499 * Started 9th, Finished 26th
The Viagra Racing Team was dealt another dose of bad luck during the Aaron's 499 at Talladega, but the team was able to battle back from the adversity to post a 26th-place finish in the race. Martin, who started 10th, was running in ninth place when Ryan Newman cut a tire on lap three. Newman forced Martin into the wall and the incident started a multi-car pile-up that would see a total of 27 cars damaged in the wreck. Seventeen cars, including Martin's, were forced to go back to the garage for repairs. The No. 6 Ford sustained severe damage to the right side. The team worked feverishly to repair the damage. With so many other cars behind the wall, returning to the track as soon as possible was critical. Martin returned to the track on lap 37; 34 laps down and in 30th position. Despite the fact that Martin's car had sustained severe damage, he was still able to run times as fast as the leaders for much of the race. Martin would exercise patience and speed to gain four critical positions during the remainder of the race.
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 517 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 574 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.
