MARK MARTIN FAST FACTS – RACE: 23
MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
(2.0 - MILE) - 200 LAPS
GFS Marketplace 400, August 21, 2005
MARTIN HOPES TO CONQUER MICHIGAN
Mark Martin moves into Michigan coming off his third straight top-10 finish, after running seventh at Watkins Glen. Martin boasts top-10 runs in four of the last five, as he heads into MIS where he has posted top-10 runs in five of the last seven, including back-to-back top fives and a third place run this season in the spring.
Chassis Number: (RK-314) - The team will run RK-314 this weekend at Michigan. RK-314 finished seventh at Indy two weeks ago in its first and only run.
AT MICHIGAN
Starts: 39 (19)
Wins: 4 (3)
Top 5's: 15 (9)
Top 10's: 26 (13)
Poles: 1 (-)
Highest finish: 1st (4 times)
First time: 6/20/82 (33rd)
Last time: 6/19/05 (3rd)
8/22/04 (2nd)
Worthy Note: Martin's 26 top-10 finishes at at Michigan are the most of any active driver.
IN THE POINTS
Martin's third straight top 10 finish was enough to move him back inside the Nextel Cup top five. With only four races remaining before the cutoff point, Martin is 189 points ahead of 10th place and 134 in front of eighth. He leads sixth by 90 points and is currently 331 points out of first.
MARTIN AT MICHIGAN
This will be Martin's 40th run at MIS, where he boasts four wins, 15 top fives, 26 top 10's and a pole. Martin has finished inside the top 10 in six of his last eight at Michigan, including two straight top fives with a third place this spring and a second last fall.
WINNING AT MICHIGAN
Martin boasts four wins at Michigan International Speedway, where he first won on August 19, 1990. Martin has won three more times at MIS, with the last trip to victory lane coming on June 14, 1998.
STEADY DOWN THE STRETCH
With the 'regular' season drawing to an end, Martin has been as steady as anyone down the stretch, boasting top 10 finishes in four of the last five and top-15 runs in nine of his past 10.
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 MICHIGAN
MARK MARTIN
"Michigan is a great race track. It's easy to pass and if you have your car set up right you can really have a great time there. We've run really well there the last few times we've been there. We finished third there in the spring and second last year, so hopefully we can improve on that just a little and maybe make our way into victory lane.
"Pat (Tryson) and the team have just done an incredible job so far this season. Pat has been calling great races and the work in the pits has been outstanding. We just have a few more races to concentrate on making this chase and our chances look better each week. After that we'll be ready to shift our focus and turn it up a notch as we go after this championship."
PAT TRYSON
"Michigan has been one of our strongest tracks of late. We've had some really strong runs the last couple of times. Last fall we had the car to beat and finished second. We went back in the spring and ran third. We are taking a different car this race, the Indy car, and we are pretty excited to see what it can do on a track like Michigan."
MARK MARTIN FAST FACTS – MICHIGAN
Martin's 25 top-10 finishes at Michigan are the most of any active driver.
Martin has four wins at Michigan in the Cup car, the third most of any active driver.
Martin has led 22 races at Michgan for a total of 851 laps, including 46 laps led there last fall.
Martin has finished in the top 10 in six of his last eight at Michigan, including a second place finish last fall and a third place finish this spring.
Martin boasts two Busch wins at Michigan.
Martin has finished top three in his last two Cup starts at MIS.
Martin has finished inside the top 10 in four of the last five and inside the top 15 in nine of the last 10..
LAST YEAR AT MICHIGAN..
AUGUST 22, 2004 – MIS
GFS MARKETPLACE 400 –
Started 13th, Finished 2nd
Martin clearly had the fastest car at the GFS Marketplace 400, leading 46 laps and battling back from a penalty in the pits to score a solid second-place finish. Martin’s No. 6 Ford sported a Pfizer/Batman paint scheme for Sunday’s race and Martin exhibited super power driving skills in route to his second straight top-three finish. The finish was the team’s third top-five finish in the past four races. Martin took the lead for the fifth time, passing teammate Greg Biffle on lap 112, and it looked like he may never relinquish it. The team came down pit road under caution on lap 131 still in the lead. After a quick stop it looked as if the No. 6 team had held the lead, but in a controversial call the NASCAR official deemed that the team had failed to place on all of the lug nuts on the left-rear tire and Martin was ordered to come back down pit road. Despite the adamant protest of crew chief Pat Tryson and his crew, Martin returned to the field in 28th place when the field went green on lap 134 with 66 laps remaining. Martin went to work, picking up seven positions on the next three laps. By lap 144 Martin had moved all the way up to 14th place. By lap 155 he was running inside the top 10 in ninth position. The veteran used the next 10 laps to move up to sixth place, before breaking back into the top 10 on lap 169. Martin was closing in on the field, but the leader – Biffle – had a solid eight-second lead on the No. 6. Needing to pit one more time, the team opted to cut into Biffle’s lead with a two-tire stop under green on lap 175. The move worked as Martin came out in second place just behind Biffle. However, the challenge to overcome Biffle’s No. 16 Ford, who had taken four fresh tires, proved to be too much. Martin was able to move away from the remainder of the field and drive to the strong-second place finish.
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 567 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 623 Cup races, finishing inside the top 10 on 352 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.
