MARK MARTIN FAST FACTS
USG Sheetrock 400, July 10, 2005
RACE 18 - CHICAGOLAND SPEEDWAY
(1.5 - MILE, 267 LAPS)
MARTIN TAKES 'SALUTE' TOUR TO WINDY CITY
After getting caught up in an early accident and having to settle for a disappointing 39th-place finish at Daytona, Mark Martin and the No. 6 Viagra Racing Team will head to Chicagoland Speedway, where Martin will look for his first win in his fifth start at the 1.5-mile track.
Chassis Number: (RK-221) - The team will run RK-221 this weekend at Chicagoland. This will be the fourth run for RK-221 this season. The car won the All-Star race in May, finished seventh at Pocono three weeks ago and ran to a fourth place finish in Atlanta.
AT CHICAGOLAND
Starts: 4
Wins: -
Top 5's: 0
Top 10's: 2
Poles: 0
Highest finish: 6th (7/15/01)
First time: 7/15/01 (6th)
Last time: 7/11/04 (24th)
Worthy Note: Martin has finished top 10 in two of the four races at Chicagoland.
IN THE POINTS
The accident caused Martin to drop to eighth in the Nextel Cup point standings. He is currently 25 points out of seventh, 105 out of fifth and 310 points out of first.
SHORT HISTORY AT CHICAGOLAND
This will be the Nextel Cup Series' fifth visit to Chicagoland Speedway, where Martin has finished inside the top 10 in two of his four visits. He finished sixth in the inaugural race there in 2001 and ninth the following year. Last season Martin had one of the fastest cars in the race and was running third when he lost his engine with only two laps remaining and was forced to settle for a 24th-place finish.
MARKMARTINSALUTE.COM
Mark Martin is making his final run at the Nextel Cup title in 2005, and has dubbed 2005 as his "Salute to You" tour, a year in which he hopes to take the time to thank each and everyone that he feels played a role in his success, including team members, fans, NASCAR and the media.
QUOTING MARK AND PAT …ON CHICAGOLAND
"Chicagoland is a good track for us and we are ready to get up there on a good 1.5-mile and put Daytona and the restrictor plates behind us. The track in Chicago gets better each year and as the different grooves start to develop the racing will only continue to get better. Hopefully this weekend we'll see a lot of passing and some good solid racing. We ran really well there last year and would have probably finished in the top two or three had we not lost the engine with a couple of laps to go. Hopefully we can go there this weekend and close the deal.
"Last weekend was tough, but I guess that's just the way Daytona has been for us over the years. The important thing is that Pat (Tryson) and the guys on the team did a great job. First they gave me a Viagra Ford capable of winning the race and then they did an outstanding job fixing a badly damaged car and we were able to get three or four more places because of that effort. They never gave up and I think we picked up our last position on the last lap. That's the kind of team we have here."
PAT TRYSON
"We had a really good run there last year. Although we didn't get the finish to prove it, we were one of the best cars and really had a good enough run to win the race. We'll go back this year and look to expand on that. Chicagoland is a track that seems to suit Mark's style more and more each year and we'll look for that to get even better this year."
MARK MARTIN FAST FACTS - CHICAGOLAND
This will be Martin's fifth start at Chicagoland Speedway.
Martin has finished sixth in the inaugural race at Chicagoland in 2001 and ninth in 2002.
Martin will run in the Busch Series this weekend at Chicagoland as well, where he'll be looking for his third win of the season.
LAST YEAR AT CHICAGOLAND...
JULY 11, 2004 - Chicagoland Speedway
TROPICANA 400 - Started 18th, Finished 24th
With only three laps remaining in the Tropicana 400, Martin was poised for one of his best finishes of the season. Martin, who had one of the fastest cars all weekend, was running the fastest times on the race track. He had worked his way up to third place and was in the process of moving into second when engine failure ended his bid for victory with just three laps remaining. The incident brought a disappointing end to what had been one of the strongest runs in recent memory for Martin and the No. 6 team. Martin had been forced to work his way through the field on two occasions, but on this day the field could offer little resistance to the No. 6 Viagra Ford. Martin sliced his way up the field, passing one car at a time, putting himself in position to win the race late. Martin's car seemed to only get stronger as the day went on. With only eight laps to go, Martin had moved into third place and was running his fastest times of the race.
ALL-TIME ELITE, 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 562 straight Nextel Cup races, the third-longest current streak and the sixth-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 618 Cup races, finishing inside the top 10 on 348 occasions, inside the top five 220 times and visiting winner's circle 34 times.
Martin's 47 career wins in the Busch Series are a NASCAR record.
Martin's 12 victories in IROC competition are the most ever. Martin has won four championships in the IROC series, including a record three straight.
