MARK MARTIN FAST FACTS
The Coca-Cola 600, May 29, 2005
RACE 12 LOWE’S MOTOR SPEEDWAY
(1.5 – MILE, 400 LAPS)
FRESH OFF ALL-STAR VICTORY, MARTIN SETS SIGHTS ON 600
After a dominating performance in Saturday night's All-Star race, Mark Martin and the Viagra Racing Team will look to make an encore appearance in victory lane this weekend at the Coca-Cola 600.
Chassis Number: (RK-247) - The team will run RK-247 this weekend at the Coca-Cola 600. RK-247 tested to pleasing results earlier this month at Lowe's. It finished 20th earlier this year at Texas.
THE COKE 600
Starts: 21
Wins: 1
Top 5's: 6
Top 10's: 8
Poles: 1
Highest finish: 1st (5/27/02)
First time: 5/30/82 (27th)
Last time: 5/30/04 (36th)
Worthy Note: Martin won the 2002 Coca-Cola 600, his fourth win at Lowe's Motor Speedway and first and only Coca-Cola 600 victory.
IN THE POINTS
Martin goes into the Coke 600 in 10th place in the Nextel Cup point standings, 69 points out of fourth place and 218 behind first. He is currently only nine points behind ninth and only 20 out of eighth.
MARTIN AT LOWE'S
Martin has four wins at Lowe's including one in the Coca-Cola 600 (2002). In addition he's won twice in the All-Star race at Lowe's, including his dominating performance last Saturday night. His 15 top-five finishes are the most of any active driver at the 1.5-mile track. The four wins tie Jeff Gordon for the most of any active driver and for the third most ever. In addition he boasts six Busch wins and an IROC win at Lowe's as well.
FOLLOW THE LEADER
Martin has led a total of 1,148 laps in his 40 races at Lowe's, the most of any active driver.
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 THE 600
MARK MARTIN
"I tell you what I love Lowe's Motor Speedway. In my opionion, it's the greatest place to race in the world. I can remember the first time that I ever went there in 1981 and thinking 'wow' this is just like a small quarter-mile track somewhere, except it's huge, but you could race just like that. Everytime I go there the first thing I do after the first lap is radio the team and tell them how awesome that track is. To me, it just doesn't get much better and after Saturday night we can't wait to take a crack at the 600.
"I love racing in the 600 and this team is excited about what we have going on. We have some great tracks coming up for us, even after the 600, and we'd love to get on a little bit of a role here in the next couple of months. Pat Tryson and this Viagra Team have done a wonderful job and it's just great to be a part of this team. We had a great run in the All-Star and got the victory and we'll be gunning for the same thing this weekend in the Coca-Cola 600. I know we have the team to do it."
PAT TRYSON
"I don't think it's a secret that Mark really loves racing at Charlotte and anytime you can go to a track that the driver loves, it's great. Now it also means that you have a certain amount of pressure, because your stuff better be right. We tested here a couple of weeks ago and really liked what we had, so I'm excited about this weekend and the team can't wait to get that car back out on the track at Lowe's."
Mark Martin Fast Facts – THE 600
Martin has four wins at Lowe's Motor Speedway, including one in the Coca-Cola 600.
Martin's four wins at Lowe's tie for the most of any active driver.
Martin won the All-Star Challenge at Lowe's last Saturday in a dominating victory.
Martin has 19 top 10 and 15 top-five finishes at Lowe's Motor Speedway.
Martin has led 1,148 laps at Lowe's, the most of any active driver.
Martin has won six Busch races at Lowe's and the Winston All-Star event in 1998 and 2005.
*Martin has not finished in the top-10 at Lowe's in the last five races.
LAST YEAR AT THE 600.
MAY 30, 2004 – Lowe’s Motor Speedway
COCA-COLA 600 – Started 18th, Finished 36th
Martin was one of the favorites going into the Coke 600 and for the first 200 laps of the race he did everything he could to justify the hype. Martin was running in third and honing in on second place when his second ignition box malfunctioned on lap 200, forcing the team to bring the car down pit road and lose valuable time changing out the ignition box system. In the end, Martin lost several laps and was out of contention for the win. In what would prove to be a roller coaster ride of a race for the No. 6 team, Martin started the race 18th and wasted no time making his way through the field. Running some of the fastest times on the track, Martin broke into the top 10 on just the 23rd lap. By lap 40 Martin was running in sixth position and beading down on fifth place when he radioed to his crew that he had a tire going down. The team came in the pits for an unscheduled green-flag stop on lap 43. Still, Martin was fast enough to overcome the bad luck, pitting twice out of cycle. Despite being on tires that were 20 laps older than the remainder of the field, Martin moved all the way up to third place and a caution on 159 would be the break the team needed, as it would put Martin back on the same pit sequence as the remainder of the field. Martin was one of the fastest cars in the race and was moving in on second place when he radioed that the car was ‘dead.’ He had radioed on lap 122 that he had switched to the second ignition box. On lap 200 the second box went out and the team was forced down pit road for the lengthy stop to replace the bad boxes, an extremely rare occurrence...
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 556 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 613 Cup races, finishing inside the top 10 on 345 occasions, inside the top five 218 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.
