MARK MARTIN FAST FACTS
KANSAS SPEEDWAY
RACE: 30, 4 OF 10 IN CHASE
Banquet 400, Oct. 9, 2005
(1.5 - MILE) - 267 LAPS
MARTIN, NO. 6 VIAGRA TEAM LOOK TO REGROUP IN KANSAS
Chassis Number: (RK-315) - Mark Martin and the Viagra team will run RK-315 this weekend at Kansas. RK-315 finished fourth at Dover two weeks ago in its first and only other run.
AT KANSAS
Starts: 4
Wins: -
Top 5's: -
Top 10's: 1
Poles: -
Highest finish: 6th 9/30/01
First time: 6/30/01 (6th)
Last time: 10/10/04 (20th)
Worthy Note: Kansas is the only Chase track where Martin has never posted a top-five finish.
IN THE POINTS
After getting caught up in the 'big one' at Talladega early, Martin fell to ninth in the points. He is currently 138 points out of first place. However, he is only 62 points out of third and just 40 behind fifth.
BREAKING DOWN THE CHASE
Martin has started a total of 156 races at the remaining seven tracks that will make up the Chase for the Nextel Cup. He has posted 10 wins, 51 top-five and 80 top-10 finishes at those tracks. Martin has finished inside the top 10 in 51 percent of his starts at the remaining 'Chase' tracks. He has an average finish of 14.4 and he has led a total of 2,964 laps. He has led just two laps at Kansas, the lowest of any 'Chase' track.
MARTIN AT KANSAS
This will mark the fifth time that Martin and the Nextel Cup circuit has visited Kansas Speedway. Martin finished sixth in the inaugural event in 2001. Martin has a 17.7 finish at Kansas, mostly aided by engine problems in 2002 and an accident in 2003.
RECORD 12th IROC CHAMPIONSHIP ALL BUT LOCKED UP
Martin's dramatic win over Kurt Busch in last Thursday's IROC race was not only Martin's record extending 13th of the series, but it all but locked up what will be his record setting fifth championship in the International Race of Champions.
MARKMARTINSALUTE.COM
Mark Martin has dubbed 2005 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 KANSAS
MARK MARTIN
"We are looking forward to getting back out on the track and getting to race some. We didn't get a lot of laps last week at Talladega - I don't think I even broke a sweat. I'm definitely looking forward to getting back out on a 1.5 and seeing what we can do. Those types of tracks have been our bread and butter and we are hoping that we can get a strong finish this weekend and see what happens from there.
"Last week was a tough one. You go in to those things knowing that that kind of thing can happen at Talladega and you just hope that you don't get in it. We haven't done a very good job of not getting in it and we were once again in the wrong place at the wrong time on Sunday. We took a big hit in the points, but we'll just have to keep fighting our way back. This team doesn't give up and we'll just keep fighting back and see what happens."
PAT TRYSON
"We are really looking forward to running Kansas this weekend. We are taking the same car that we had a really good run with at Dover two weeks ago and the team is ready to get back to some series racing. We had some really bad luck at Talladega last week, so were are hoping that is behind us and we can get back to the business of winning that championship."
MARK MARTIN FAST FACTS – KANSAS
Martin finished sixth at the inaugural Kansas Cup race in 2001.
Martin has a 17.8 average finish in four races at Kansas.
Martin has won 10 races, and posted 51 top five and 80 top 10 finishes at the remaining seven Chase tracks.
Kansas is the only Chase track where Martin has yet to score a top five finish.
LAST YEAR AT KANSAS...
OCTOBER 10, 2004 – Kansas Speedway
BANQUET 400 – Started 18th, Finished 20th
Kansas marked a tough day for Martin and the Viagra team, who were optimistic going into the race and had one of the fastest cars throughout the event. Martin drove the Viagra Taurus to the front of the field, but he suffered two cut right side tires after running over debris midway through the race. The incident put Martin down a lap and although he was able to battle back onto the lead lap, he was never able to make up for the lost track position. The team worked at it all day, but in the end would have to settle for 20th position.
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 574 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 631 Cup races, finishing inside the top 10 on 354 occasions, inside the top five 222 times and visiting winner’s circle 34 times.
Martin’s 47 career wins in the Busch Series are a NASCAR record.
Martin’s 13 victories in IROC competition are the most ever. Martin has won four championships in the IROC series, including a record three straight.
