The 2005 Aaron's 499

Mark and the No. 6 Viagra® (sildenafil citrate) Racing Team appeared poised down the stretch for another strong finish in Mark in a pack at Talladega

Sunday’s Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway. Mark had run inside the top-10 for the majority of the day, leading laps and running amongst the field’s leaders. But in a weekend characterized by torn up race cars, Mark would see an end to his chances come crashing across the front stretch. The veteran was running in 10th position when this year’s version of ‘The Big One’ hit. Contact between the No. 8 and No. 4 cars resulted in a massive 25-car accident that caused much of the field’s top cars to suffer severe damage, thus slamming the door on the chances of over half of the race’s competitors.

“We had the best race car that I’ve had a Talladega in a long time,” said Mark. I wish I would have been ahead of it, but the way it works out there is you're always in a cycle - moving forward or moving back. I really didn't think I was that far back, but I was far enough back to be caught in it. The timing was just such that there wasn't anywhere or anything you could do.”

The race was red flagged for over 43 minutes as track workers worked to remove the mangled mass of cars and repair damage to the track’s retaining wall. Once the red flag was lifted, teams including the Viagra® Racing Team, worked frantically to repair the damage sustained in the accident. Mark was able to get back out on the track and drive home his damaged Ford to a 33rd place finish. The finish dropped Mark to 11th-place in the Nextel Cup point standings, but only one point outside the top 10.

I appreciate the effort by the guys and I wish when we raced we could get the kind of result that the effort shows,” added Mark. “This is a tough one. You just have to hope when you come here that you're in the right place to miss those things. The drivers have done a fabulous job of preventing that to happen, but the longer you run the more you need to race the more it's likely to happen. Unless you're really, really lucky you're going have that no matter how good the drivers behave themselves. They're just in a situation where that's so likely to happen that it's hard to get a race and not have it."

Mark had started the race 16th and wasted no time powering his Viagra® Ford to the front. Using his mastery of the draft, Mark broke into the top-five by lap eight. He continued to move in and out of the top-five, maneuvering his Ford between fifth and 10th place, and he was running in eighth place when the day’s second caution was called on lap 37. The team came into the pits for four tires and fuel and came out in 12th place when the field went green, as some teams elected for a two-tire stop.

Bogged down in heavy three-wide traffic, Mark fell back to as low as 25th, 3 wide at Talladega

before regrouping and mounting a move to the front. Utilizing excellent pit strategy, Mark came into the pits on lap 72 for a green-flag stop while running in 16th position. The stop allowed Mark to hook up with teammate Kurt Busch and the No. 29 car, and by lap 76 the trio had moved all the way to the front, with Mark running in third position. Mark would remain inside the top-10 for the next 55 laps, before getting caught up in the accident on lap 131.

Mark had advanced all the way to second place when the day’s fourth caution was called on lap 116. The team came into the pits for fuel only and used a lighting fast stop to beat all the other cars off pit road, thus earning Mark five bonus points for leading a lap. Mark restarted the race in first place on lap 120. Shuffling in and out of the draft, Mark rotated between fourth and tenth. He was in 10th position and starting yet another march forward when the huge-multi car accident put an end to his chances at victory on lap 131. The race was the second largest in the history of Talladega Superspeedway. On the day, over 30 of the race’s 43 cars sustained severe damage.

The team returns to action this Saturday night at Darlington where Mark has one victory, 16 top-fives and 23 top-10 runs in 38 races.