MARK MARTIN FAST FACTS – Daytona Speedweeks, Feb. 10-19th
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY (2.5 - MILE)
RACE: 1
BUDWEISER SHOOTOUT, FEB. 11 - (70 LAPS)
GATORADE 150'S, FEB. 16 - (60 LAPS)
DAYTONA 250 (TRUCKS) FEB. 17 - (100 LAPS)
IROC RACE, FEB. 17 - (40 LAPS)
DAYTONA 500, FEB. 19 (200 LAPS)
MARTIN EYES ONE MORE SHOT AT DAYTONA 500
Mark Martin and the AAA Race Team look to take their shot at the famed Daytona 500, as Martin prepares for 22nd run at the world's most famed racing event
Chassis Number: (No. 284) - The team will run RK-284 in the Daytona 500. RK-284 is a new car that tested to pleasing results at Daytona in January. They will run RK-337 in the Budweiser Shootout. RK-337 will see its first track time at Daytona.
THE 500:
Starts: 21
Top 5's: 4
Top 10's: 8
Highest finish: 3rd ('95)
First time: 2-14-82 (31st)
Last time: 2-16-03 (5th)
Worthy Note: Martin has finished top six in three of his last four Daytona 500's.
AAA TO SPONSOR THE NO. 6 IN 2006
Martin will sport a different look and sponsor this season, with the No. 6 Ford Fusion decked in the red and blue colors of AAA. As North America's largest motoring and leisure travel organization, AAA boasts more than 48 million members.
MARTIN AT DAYTONA
A resident of Daytona Beach, Florida, this will be Martin's 22nd start in the Daytona 500. In addition, Martin - who made his first start at Daytona International Speedway in 1982 - will also be running a record 18th-consecutive Budweiser Shootout - an event he won in 1999. The Daytona 500 will be Martin's 41st career Nextel Cup start at Daytona International Speedway.
TRIPLE DUTY
Martin will find himself quite busy this Speedweeks, taking part in the five different races. Between the Craftsman Truck Series, Gatorade 150's, IROC Race, Budweiser Shootout and Daytona 500, Martin will look to run a scheduled 470 laps and 1,175 miles during the 2006 Speedweeks.
MARTIN READIES FOR ENCORE SALUTE IN '06
Martin had planned last season as his final in NASCAR's Nextel Cup Series, but when called into action by Jack Roush opted to return for one more go around. Martin's fourth-place finish in the points in '05 proved he is still one of the fastest stars in NASCAR and he plans on using 2006 as an encore performance of his highly popular 'Salute To You" Tour, where he will continue to take the time to thank each and everyone that he feels played a role in his success, including the team members, the fans, NASCAR and the media.
QUOTING MARK AND PAT… ON DAYTONA SPEEDWEEKS
MARK MARTIN
"We are pretty excited about this year's Speedweeks. We are going to be really busy this year with the Daytona 500, Bud Shootout and the Truck and IROC races. It's a lot of racing and that's what we are going there to do and it should give us a great chance to hopefully pick up a couple of more trophies.
"We are also really excited about kicking off our new relationship with AAA as the primary on the No. 6 car and it should be exciting to debut the all new Ford Fusion as well. The AAA Ford Fusion looks really good and I can't wait to get it out on the track and hopefully we can take it to victory lane real soon. We've been coming to Daytona a long time and we'd like nothing better than to take the No. 6 AAA Ford Fusion to victory lane in the biggest race of the season."
PAT TRYSON
"We had a pretty good test session at Daytona in January and we are excited about going back down to Daytona and seeing what we can do. We've been pretty good at Daytona the last few years and we had a really good run in the 500 last year, so hopefully we can build on that and help give Mark a win in his last Daytona 500. We are excited to have AAA on board this season as the sponsor and hopefully we'll be taking that AAA Ford Fusion to winner's circle a lot this year."
MARK MARTIN FAST FACTS – DAYTONA
This season will mark the final for Martin as a regular on the Nextel Cup circuit.
Martin will debut the No. 6 AAA Ford Fusion at this year's Speedweeks.
Martin is scheduled to run five races during the 2006 Speedweeks. He is scheduled to run a total of 470 laps and 1,175 miles over the course of this year's Speedweeks.
Martin has started 602 Cup races with 339 top-10 and 214 top-five finishes.
Martin has currently started 545 consecutive Cup races, the third longest active streak. After the running of the Daytona 500, Martin will hold the longest current streak of consecutive starts.
Martin has finished in the final eight of the Cup standings in 15 of the last 17 seasons.
LAST YEAR AT THE DAYTONA 500...
FEBRUARY 20, 2005 – Daytona International Speedway
DAYTONA 500 – Started 32nd, Finished 6th
Martin and the No. 6 team were faced with obstacle after obstacle during the 2005 version of Speedweeks, but true to the character that has so often defined them, they were able to battle back to a sixth-place finish in the Daytona 500. The tone was set on Thursday when Martin, who was running third, had his Ford severely damaged in a multi- car accident during the 35th lap of the Gatorade Duel 150’s. Martin’s crew worked long hours to repair the damage and provide Martin with one of the fastest cars during Sunday’s season opening race. Martin started the race from the back of the field, but eventually worked his way to the front. However, he would have to make his way back to the front on two more occasions on the day. First after a drive through penalty on lap 62 and then after coming into the pits for the crew to examine a faulty blower on the rear-end cooler. Both instances dropped Martin from the top-10 to the back half of the field, but Martin was able to battle his way back to the front each time, moving on to the solid sixth place run.
ALL-TIME ELITE, MARTIN
Martin’s 35 Nextel Cup wins put him fourth on the win list among active drivers and 17th on the all-time list.
Martin has currently started 581 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 638 Cup races, finishing inside the top 10 on 359 occasions, inside the top five 227 times and visiting winner’s circle 35 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 a record five championships in the IROC series, including a record three straight.
