Mark Martin Advance - Richmond
MARTIN, No. 8 Team HUNGRY FOR VICTORY LANE AT RICHMOND
After their strongest run of the season three weeks ago at Phoenix, Mark Martin and the No. 8 U.S. Army Race/Dale Earnhardt Inc. team head to Richmond International Raceway hungry for victory. Martin led 68 laps and was the strongest car down the stretch at Phoenix, but lost out on fuel mileage. The team will look to finish the job this weekend.
AT RICHMOND
Starts: 44 (22)
Wins: 1 (-)
Top 5s: 13 (6)
Top 10s: 23 (11)
Poles: 3 (1)
Highest finish: 1 (2/25/90)
First time: 9/13/81 (7th)
Last spring: 5/7/07 (17th)
Last time: 9/8/07 (21st)
Worthy Note: Martin won his second career Cup pole in his first Cup start at Richmond in 1981. He finished seventh in the race, his first career Cup top-10 finish.
RICHMOND DEEP IN HISTORY FOR MARTIN
This will be Martin's 45th start at Richmond, dating back to Sept. 13, 1981 when he earned his second career Cup pole in only his fourth career start. Martin rolled to a seventh-place finish, the first of his 23 career top-10 finishes at Richmond and the first of his Cup career. Over the years, the veteran has logged over 12,300 miles at the .75-track. He leads all drivers in top-five and top-10 finishes in both the Cup and Nationwide Series and his five Nationwide wins are a track record as well.
ON THE POLE
Martin earned his second career Cup pole at his first start at Richmond in 1981 and his 41st pole there in September 2001. His other pole came in September of 1996.
NO. 8 LOOKING FOR RETURN TO WINNER'S CIRCLE
The No. 8 Dale Earnhardt Inc. Team's last trip to victory lane came at Richmond on May 6, 2006 - 72 races ago. Martin and the team hope to end that streak this weekend at RIR.
POINTING IT OUT
Despite running a limited schedule and having missed two of seven events in 2008, Martin is still in the top 30 in the Sprint Cup point standings; ahead of nine drivers who have competed in more events. In addition, Martin has three top-10 finishes in 2008; more than 19 drivers who have taken part in all nine events. Also, Martin has as many or even more top fives than 21 drivers who have raced in every event in 2008.
CHASING THE OWNER POINTS
While neither Martin nor co-driver Aric Almirola are in contention for a Sprint Cup Driver Championship, the No. 8 U.S. Army team accumulates points each week as with any other team. The No. 8 Dale Earnhardt Inc. Team has tallied four top-10 finishes in nine events this season and three top-eight runs in the past four races, and is currently sitting 17th in owner points. The No. 8 team is just 63 points outside of the top 12 and the "Chase" cutoff point.
QUOTING MARK:
"We have a long history at Richmond, going all the way back to the early '80s when I first broke into Cup racing. I sat on the pole there the first time we went in 1981. We were able to actually get a top-10 there the first time as well. It has always been a track that is pretty fun to race on and we've had some great battles and quite a bit of success there over the years. I was able to win there in 1990, but I think a lot of people will remember that for the now famous 46 point penalty that we got after the race. That really played an important role in the championship that season. We've also had some really memorable runs there to race our way into the Chase in our last couple of seasons of point racing.
"We had a great run at Phoenix and it is our hope that it carries over to Richmond. This has always been a strong track for this No. 8 team at DEI and hopefully I can add a little to that mix and we'll be able to go in this weekend and again compete for a win. We came really close at Phoenix, and hopefully we can get the job done for our Soldiers this weekend."
FAST FACTS
Martin has finished inside the top 10 in six of his last 12 races at Richmond.
Martin earned his first career Cup top-10 finish at Richmond on Sept. 13, 1981, finishing seventh.
Martin sat on the pole at his first career Cup race at Richmond in 1981.
Martin has one win, 23 top-10 and 13 top-five finishes in 44 races at Richmond.
Martin holds the Cup and Nationwide records for top fives and top 10s at Richmond.
Martin has a record five Nationwide wins at Richmond .
Martin earned his 41st career Cup pole at Richmond in May 2001.
LAST YEAR AT RICHMOND...
MAY 7, 2007 –
Richmond Int'l Raceway
Started 9th, Finished 17th
Martin battled with an ill handling car for the entire way, going a lap down half-way through the race, while falling back as far as 26th. Still, the team never gave up fighting its way back onto the lead lap with just 23 laps to go in the race and held on for the 17th-place finish.
Struggling early, Martin dropped a lap down after staying out on a longer pit sequence and pitting on lap 213. He later led a laps, as the team made massive adjustments to the car during a series of pit stops throughout the race.
Eventually, while running 23rd, they made wholesale changes with the track bar and wedge under caution on lap 318. The changes paid off with Martin fighting his way back onto the lead lap, eventually battling to the lucky dog position on back on the lead lap on lap 363.
With just 23 laps to go from the checkered flag, Martin was able to hang on for a top-20 finish.
ALL-TIME NASCAR ELITE, MARK MARTIN
Martin’s 35 Sprint Cup wins put him fourth on the win list among active drivers and 17th on the all-time list.
Martin started 621 consecutive Sprint Cup races between 1988 and 2007, the fifth-longest streak in NASCAR history.
Martin’s 41 Cup poles are the fifth most in Cup history.
Martin ranks fifth all-time in the Sprint Cup point standings.
Martin has started 704 Cup races, finishing inside the top 10 on 388 occasions, inside the top five 240 times and visiting winner’s circle 35 times.
Martin’s 48 career wins in the Nationwide 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.
Martin is the only driver in NASCAR to have won a Cup, Busch, Truck and IROC race at the same track (California Speedway).
