Checker Auto Parts 500 - Mark Martin Notes

MARK MARTIN FAST FACTS
PHOENIX INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
(1 - MILE) - 312 LAPS
RACE: 35, 9 OF 10 IN CHASE
Checker 500, Nov. 13, 2005

MARTIN LOOKS TO CARRY MOMENTUM INTO PHOENIX
Mark Martin will look for his third top-five finish in a row and his fifth in the last seven races when the team heads out west to Phoenix this weekend for the ninth race in the 'Chase' for the Nextel Cup. Martin will look to continue his forward momentum as the season winds down with only two races remaining.

Chassis Number: (No. 48) - The team will run No. 48 this weekend at Phoenix. Martin used the car to finish seventh at Loudon in Sept. Kurt Busch used the car to finish sixth two weeks ago at Martinsville. Busch won the Sept. Richmond race with the car earlier this season as well.

AT PHOENIX
Starts: 18 (17)
Wins: 1 (1)
Top 5's: 8 (8)
Top 10's: 13 (13
) Poles: -
Highest finish: 1st (10/31/05)
First time: 11/6/88 (36)
Last time: 11/7/04 (15)
4/23/05 (22)

Worthy Note: Martin won at Phoenix on Halloween of 1993 and he has finished second or better in six of 18 starts.

IN THE POINTS
Martin moved up to fifth in the point standings, trimming 19 points off point leader Tony Stewart's lead. Martin is currently 123 points outside of first place and only one point outside of fourth with only two races remaining in the season.

BREAKING DOWN THE CHASE
Martin has started a total of 24 races at the remaining two tracks that will make up the Chase for the Nextel Cup. He has posted one win, 11 top-five and 16 top-10 finishes at those tracks. Martin has an 11.15 average finish at those two Chase tracks and he has led a total of 499 laps, including 471 at Phoenix.

MARTIN AT PHOENIX
Martin has posted top-10 finishes in 13 of his 18 starts at Phoenix. He has eight top-five finishes and won the Cup event there in October of 1993. He has finished inside the top 10 in 11 of his last 14 there. In addition, Martin has run second at Phoenix on five occasions. He finished 22nd in the spring race and 15th there last fall.

MARTIN IN THE CHASE
In eight chase races, Martin has six finishes of seventh or better, including a win at Kansas, a second at Texas and a third at Atlanta. Martin has led a total of 262 laps during the "Chase". Martin trails the leader by 123 points, and his Championship hopes were dealt a severe blow after getting caught up in someone else's early accident at Talladega where he lost 150 points to the leader.

QUOTING MARK AND PAT …ON PHOENIX
MARK MARTIN
"Phoenix is a good track for racing. It's set up a little different on each end, but ultimately the key is getting through the corners faster than everyone else. We've had pretty good success there over the years, although we have been off a little the last couple of times. Hopefully we can get that figured out and go there and get another strong finish for this race team.

"We've had some really strong runs in the last couple of races and I can't tell you how proud I am of Pat Tryson and this Viagra Race team. These cars that they are giving me are awesome and it's a lot of fun to drive them. We had a really good car this past weekend at Texas and we almost pulled it off, but we just lost out to the best car. We've finished second and third in the last two so hopefully we can do just a little better this week and get us another win here before this thing is over."

PAT TRYSON
"We've been pretty strong lately and we are looking forward to going back to Phoenix and hopefully getting another strong run. We were off there in the spring race, so we are hoping to go there and get that corrected and come out with another good finish. We've been really fast lately - we just have come up a little short on getting the win. Hopefully this week we can go there and come out on top."

MARK MARTIN FAST FACTS – PHOENIX