MARK MARTIN FAST FACTS
MBNA 400, June 5, 2005 - RACE 13
DOVER INT’L SPEEDWAY - (1 – MILE, 400 LAPS)
MARTIN LOOKS TO DEFEND MBNA 400 TITLE AT DOVER
Mark Martin and the team will look to rebound from a tough race at Charlotte, that saw Martin's chances end with a late accident. The team heads into Dover as the defending MBNA 400 winner and having finished first and second in its last two starts at the 1-mile Monster Mile.
Chassis Number: (RK-231) - The team will run RK-231 this weekend at Dover. RK-231 finished fourth in its last run at Darlington and seventh earlier this year at Fontana.
AT DOVER
Starts: 37
Wins: 4 (1)
Top 5's: 17 (10)
Top 10's: 22 (12)
Poles: 4 (1)
Highest finish: 1st (4 times)
First time: 5/16/82 (5th)
Last time: 9/26/04 (2nd)
6/6/04 (1st)
Worthy Note: Martin finished top two in both races at Dover last season including a win in the MBNA 400 in June.
IN THE POINTS
The finish at Lowe's dropped Martin to 12th in the points and outside of the top 10 for only the second time this season. Martin is only 18 points behind 10th place and just 95 points out of sixth. He trails first place by 324 points.
MARTIN AT DOVER
This will be Martin's 37th start at Dover, where he has won four times. Three of Martin's wins at Dover have come in the fall, with the lone exception being last June's win in the MBNA 400. The four wins tie for the most ever at the track. Considered one of his favorite tracks on the circuit, Martin has 22 top-10 and 18 top-five finishes at the Monster Mile. The 18 top-fives are the most of any driver. In addition, Martin earned his first ever career Busch Series win at Dover in 1987.
FAST FROM START TO FINISH
Martin was fast at Dover from the start, running fifth in the Mason-Dixon 500 in his first ever start at the one-mile track on 5/16/82. Martin started the event seventh, the first of his 24 top-10 starts at the track. Martin has four poles at Dover and started in the top 10 in 23 of his first 29 races there.
MARKMARTINSALUTE.COM
Mark Martin will make his final run at the Nextel Cup title in 2005. Martin 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 DOVER
"Dover has always been one of my favorite tracks. We've had great success there over the years, including last year when we were able to get a win in the spring and then go back and run second in the fall. The very first time I went to Dover, I loved it from the start. It is definitely in my list of top tracks and there probably is no cooler track to go and race on. We are looking forward to going back down there this weekend and hopefully we can pick up another trophy.
"Last weekend was tough. We had a good car and were running up front and just got off a bit. We finally got past that and worked our way back up front and then the caution comes out after we pit and puts us in the back again. After that we finally got caught up in one of the wrecks and that was it. Still, the team did a great job and we'll just have to put that behind us and go try to win Dover."
PAT TRYSON
"Dover is obviously a special place for this team after winning there in last year's race. We ran really well in both races there a year ago and it is one of Mark's favorite race tracks, so we are going there looking for another strong run and hopefully we can get us another win there."
Mark Martin Fast Facts – DOVER
Martin has four wins at Dover, including last year's MBNA 400.
Martin holds the track record at Dover, winning on 9/21/97 in 3:00:50 (132.717 mph avg).
Martin's 18 top-five finishes are the most of any active driver at Dover.
Martin has 22 top-10 finishes at Dover.
Martin finished fifth in his first Cup race at Dover on 5/16/82.
Martin has finished in the top 10 in almost 60 percent of his races at Dover.
Martin finished one-two in both Dover races last season.
Martin earned the first of his record 47 Busch Series wins, at Dover in 1987.
LAST YEAR AT DOVER...
JUNE 6, 2005 – Dover International Speedway
MBNA 400 – Started 7th, Finished 1st
With 10 laps to go, Martin turned some of his fastest laps of the race to pull away from second place Tony Stewart and move on to his 34th Cup victory. Martin was strong all weekend, posting some of the fastest times both practice sessions and qualifying seventh on Friday. The race would turn out to be one of the wildest in recent memory, featuring seven cautions, including the ‘big one’ late that claimed 19 cars in its carnage. In the end, the day would see nearly three hours of yellow and red flag action, but one of the only constants of the day was Martin and the No. 6 Viagra Ford. Martin ran consistently inside the top 10, and the crew made no major changes to the car the entire day. Martin and Tryson masterfully worked to place themselves in position for the late run at the victory. Martin was running second behind leader Kasey Kahne with 18 laps to go when Kahne lost control of his No. 9 car, spinning and hitting the wall after getting loose in what some speculated was oil dropped on the track by the No. 41 car. Martin was able to steer by Kahne’s out of control car, taking the lead for the first time of the day, while becoming the ninth and final leader of the race. Martin and Tyson opted to stay out on the older tires and keep the lead. The decision paid off as Martin never looked back and moved on to the win.
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 557 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 614 Cup races, finishing inside the top 10 on 344 occasions, inside the top five 217 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.
