The 2004 Aaron's 499

Mark and the Viagra® (sildenafil citrate) Racing Team were exactly where they wanted to be as the final laps of the Aaron's 499 rolled Blue Crew in action

around, right in the middle of things. In one of the wildest restrictor-plate races ever, Mark maneuvered his way in and out of the draft for much of Sunday’s race, and the veteran - making his 575th Cup start - found himself right in the thick of things, with the Viagra® Ford Taurus strongly in the hunt for the victory late in the race.

“We were there,” said Mark. “We did everything that we needed to do, we just didn’t have quite enough in the end. We put ourselves in the right position, but we also didn’t seem to have a lot of friends. The last couple of cautions really didn’t help us either, but we still had a great run today.

“I tell you what, I'm proud of my Viagra® team,” added Mark. “We put ourselves in position up in second place right at the end and we did everything we could, but we were just too slow to take on all five of those guys. There wasn't anywhere I could put it and not get swallowed up. That's all the effort we had.

“Still, I just want to thank Pat Tryson and my entire Viagra® team. We had awesome Ford power and a great car here with the Taurus."

Mark masterfully worked his way through the draft, moving into second place on lap 165 behind the lead car of Dale Earnhardt Jr. After the day’s eighth caution on lap 166, Mark became part of a four-car pack that started to pull away from the rest of the field. With only 11 laps to go it looked like Mark and the other three cars would race for the victory, but the ninth caution of the day was called on lap 177.

The race went green on lap 280 with only eight laps remaining and Mark was forced to battle a ‘train’ of drafting cars high. Mark was soon shuffled back to sixth, but had worked his way back into fifth, when the No. 25 car of Brian Vickers spun out behind him with only four laps to go. The race would never go green again. NASCAR determined that the No. 31 car just narrowly passed Mark before the yellow flag was waved, giving Mark a sixth-place finish.

“It was fantastic to be in that position at the end of the race,” said Mark. “But the bottom line is there were five Chevrolets there and they didn't even mess with us. They didn't even get in there and say, 'Oh, he's up there, I'll push him.' They just found another place and boogied on."

Mark posted the sixth quickest lap in Friday’s qualifying session, after struggling during the first practice session. The team backed up the qualifying effort on Saturday, posting the fastest practice session in happy hour.

Mark had moved up to second place by lap three when the day’s first caution Mark Martin

was called. The team opted to stay out and not pit and Mark became the race leader, leading his first laps of the season and earning five bonus points in the process.

Mark would spend the remainder of the race shuffling in and out of the draft, running as high as third and as low as 25th. With around 40 laps to go the veteran began to make his move. By lap 143 he had broken back inside the top 10, where he would run for the remainder of the race. Twelve laps later he broke into the top five, before working his way into second place on lap 165.

The race saw a great deal of very aggressive driving that helped lead to 10 cautions and several cars sustaining severe damage. Mark was able to narrowly avoid all of the day’s accidents, including a close call with the ‘big one’ on lap 83 that claimed 11 cars in its carnage. Jeff Gordon managed to squeak out the victory, as the race was finished under caution. Mark teammate Jeff Burton finished just behind Mark in seventh place.

"I'm glad I didn't wreck today,” said Mark, who had been caught up in accidents in three of the last four races at Talladega. “ I'm glad nobody got hurt today. To tell the truth, that wasn't much of a race to me. It’s crazy out there and I’m just not a big fan of restrictor plate racing where we ride around all day bunched up waiting for someone to make a mistake and hoping that we can avoid it.”

Mark and his team were delighted to leave Talladega with a solid finish and they both realize that the next few races all take part at race tracks that suit Mark’s style of driving and where he has experienced a great deal of success. That continued success is pivotal in the team’s fight to get back in the Nextel Cup top 10, but Mark said they are ready for the challenge.

“I’m really proud of my team,” Mark added. “I have an awesome team and I believe if we can get on a roll this summer, we'll get back in the top 10 and we’ll make a run for this thing.”

The strong finish moved Mark up three places in the Nextel Cup point standings to 15th, 105 points outside of 10th place.

The team returns to action next week at California Speedway in Fontana.