MARK MARTIN FAST FACTS * EA SPORTS 500
TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY (2.66- MILE) 188 LAPS
RACE 29 * 3 OF 10 IN THE CHASE
MARTIN LOOKS TO STAY IN THE GAME AT TALLADEGA
Fresh off a strong second-place run at Dover, Mark Martin and the Viagra Racing Team will look to build on their success and continue their upward movement in the Chase with a strong run at Talladega this weekend.
Chassis Number: (RK-125) - The team will run RK-125 this weekend at Talladega. RK-125 is the same car Martin used to finish sixth with at Talladega in the spring. The car finished fourth in the Twin-125's at Daytona and looked to be strong in the Daytona 500, before early mechanical problems.
TALLADEGA
Starts: 37 (18)
Wins: 2 (0)
Top 5's: 10 (4)
Top 10's: 21 (11)
Poles: 2 (1)
Highest finish: 1st (twice)
First time: 8/1/82 (12th)
Last time: 4/25/04 (6th)
Worthy Note: Martin's 33 top-10 finishes at restrictor plate races are the most ever.
THE RACE FOR THE NEXTEL CUP - MARTIN IN TIE FOR FOURTH WITH EIGHT TO GO
Martin's second-place run continued his upward movement in the Chase. Martin is currenlty in a tie for fourth place, 57 points outside of first. Martin is tied with Jimmie Johnson, but behind in the tie-breaker due to number of wins this season.
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 eight tracks remaining, including two wins at Talladega. Martin has combined for 12 wins, 70 top-fives, 115 top-10's and 10 poles in 211 starts at the remaining eight tracks. Martin has finished in the top 10 in 55 percent of his starts at those tracks.
MARTIN AT TALLADEGA
Martin has earned two victories (4/30/95 and 4/10/97) at Talladega, where he has also posted 11 top-five and 21 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.'
UN-RESTRICTED
This will be the final of four restrictor-plate races in 2004. Despite not being a fan of restrictor-plate racing, Martin has posted top 10's in 49 percent of the 67 restrictor plate races. His 33 top-10's are the most ever.
ON A ROLL
The Viagra Team has been strong as of late, having finished top five in six of the last nine and five of the last seven races. In fact, Martin has posted nine of his 13 top-10 and all but one of his eight top-five finishes after June 6. Furthermore, no driver has scored more points in the last six races than Martin, who's climed from 15th to fifth in the last seven races.
QUOTING MARK AND PAT *ON TALLADEGA
"Talladega could be the wildcard in the Chase. You really can't control what goes on there, and our goal is to not wreck, avoid the 'big one' and try to get a high finish. We know that we don't have a good enough car to drive to the front and stay there, so we'll be in that pack moving around all day - front to back, back to front. We finished fifth and sixth in the two restrictor -plate races that we've finished and I hope we can do that good again. Hopefully we can just get through this week and move on to Kansas where we should be strong.
"Pat and the team continue to do a great job. We've continued to have very fast race cars, and the team enjoyed one of its best days in the pits last Sunday at Dover. We've come a long way since Daytona and we are just going to have to keep fighting and see what happens down the road. It's been a great ride the last couple of months and we aren't ready for that to end just yet."
PAT TRYSON
"Talladega is a tough race in that so much can happen and there is very little that you can do to contol it. Mark is a great drafter and he always does a good job of getting to the front . Hopefully we can give him a good enough car to do that this Sunday and with a little luck maybe we can get out of there with a good finish. We are taking the same car that we finsihed sixth with in April, so hopefully we can bring another top 10."
Mark Martin Fast Facts * 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.
Martin has scored top-10 finishes in six of his last 10 races at Talladega.
Martin's 33 top-10 finishes in restrictor-plate races are the second most ever. He's stared all 67 races.
Martin has six top-five finishes in the last nine races and four top-threes.
LAST YEAR AT TALLADEGA...
SEPTEMBER 28, 2003 * Talladega Superspeedway
EA Sports 500 * Started 15th, Finished 23rd
With 15 laps to go things were looking good for Martin, who had one of the strongest cars in the field. He was running in second place and fighting for the lead with teammate Kurt Busch as the final laps were winding down. Martin was running in seventh place when the no. 38 car went airborne causing the day's final caution with just six laps to go in the race. The field was red flagged and Martin restarted in seventh place when the race resumed with only four laps remaining. Teaming up with the No. 12 and No. 2 car Martin moved up to fifth place with just under two laps to go. However, despite a previous agreement, the No. 2 car opted to go below Martin with just over two laps remaining. Martin was stranded in the middle of the track with no drafting partners. To make matters worse another car made contact with the front fender of the Viagra. Taurus and Martin dropped back to 23rd place as the field took the checkered flag - A tough finish for a car that ran all but four of the race's 188 laps inside the top 20, and had been in fifth place with just two laps remaining.
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 537 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 594 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.
