MARK MARTIN FAST FACTS
Pocono 500, June 12, 2005
RACE 14 - POCONO RACEWAY
(2.5 – MILE, 200 LAPS)
MARTIN LOOKS TO BREAK INTO POCONO WIN COLUMN
After successfully taming the 'Monster Mile' of Dover with a third-place run, Mark Martin will take his "Salute To You" Tour to Pocono, where he's been nothing less than stellar over the years, posting 17 top-five finishes and six runner-ups in 36 starts.
Chassis Number: (RK-221) - The team will run RK-221 at Pocono this weekend. RK-221 is the car that Martin won the All- Star Challenge with three weeks ago. The car finished fourth in Atlanta in its other run this season.
AT POCONO
Starts: 36 (18)
Wins: -
Top 5's: 17 (11)
Top 10's: 24 (12)
Poles: 3 (1)
Highest finish: 2 (6 times)
First time: 6/6/82 (26th)
Last time: 8/1/04 (2nd)
6/13/04 (36th)
Worthy Note: Martin has six second-place finishes at Pocono, including last fall.
IN THE POINTS
Martin's third place run propelled him up six places to sixth in the Nextel Cup Point standings, just 18 points out of fifth. At the midway point in the 'regular' season, Martin is currently 324 points behind first place.
MARTIN AT POCONO
This will be Martin's 37th race at Pocono, where he has finished inside the top 10 on 24 occasions. Martin boasts 18 top-five finishes at Pocono, the most of any driver. Martin was strong in both races last season at Pocono. He finished second in the fall and 36th in spring after experiencing engine problems in a race where he ran inside the top-five most of the day.
LOOKING FOR NUMBER ONE
Martin has never won at Pocono, but he has came close on numerous occasions. The veteran has posted second place finishes on six different occasions. In fact Martin has finished second at Pocono in three of his last five starts.
GETTING STARTED
Martin has posted 26-top 10 starts in 36 races at Pocono, including three poles and a fourth place start in this race last year.
MARKMARTINSALUTE.COM
Mark Martin is making his final run at the Nextel Cup title in 2005, and 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 POCONO
"Pocono is a great race track for us. It has long straightaways and you have to really be able to get in into the corners well. We ran well there in both races last year and finished second there in the fall. I love racing there. We've never won there, but we finished second a bunch, so I guess you could say that we might be due there. We'd like nothing more than to go there and get our first win there this weekend.
"We had a really solid run at Dover last weekend and a great points day. We are sitting at sixth halfway through the first 26-race period and I'm very happy with the way Pat (Tryson) and the Viagra Team have performed this season. We are in the middle of what should be a great stretch for us and are exited about the next couple of races we have coming up."
PAT TRYSON
"Mark has always been really good at Pocono and we were pretty good there last year in both races. We are taking the same car that we ran at The All-Star race a couple of weeks ago, so hopefully it'll bring us the same results that we had there. We had a good run last week, so we'll be looking to improve on that and hopefully help Mark get to victory circle for the first time at Pocono.”
Mark Martin Fast Facts – POCONO
Martin has finished second at Pocono on six different occasions.
Martin's 18 top-five finishes at Pocono are the most of any driver.
Martin's 25-top 10 finishes at Ponco leads all drivers.
Martin has posted 26-top 10 starts in 36 races at Pocono, including a fourth-place starting spot there last June.
Martin has finished second in three of his last five races at Pocono.
LAST YEAR AT POCONO..
JUNE 13, 2005
Pocono Raceway
POCONO 500 – Started 4th, Finished 36th
The team went into the weekend looking to add a strong follow up to the dramatic victory at Dover. After posting one of its top qualifying runs of the season (fourth), and laying down the fastest times during Saturday’s first practice session, Martin and the team were justifiably optimistic going into the race. For the first half of the race there was nothing that indicated anything other than Martin and the team would post their second strong run in two weeks. With unusually cool temperatures, Martin struggled with a tight car early and lost ground, but by lap 103 he had moved back into seventh place and was running the fastest times on the racetrack, as he continued to move forward. However the movement would be short lived as Martin radioed that he had lost the engine on lap 111.
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 558 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 615 Cup races, finishing inside the top 10 on 346 occasions, inside the top five 219 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.
