The 2006 Aaron's 499

Mark was not a huge fan of restrictor-plate racing heading into Monday’s rain delayed Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Mark in a pack at Talladega

Superspeedway; the latest installment at Talladega did little to change that opinion. Mark and his No. 6 AAA Ford Fusion were caught up in a multi-car accident after only eight laps of the 500-mille, 188-lap event. The Fusion sustained severe damage and had to be taken behind the wall for extensive repairs. Mark and the team would later return to the field, picking up the pieces for a 35th-place finish.

“I don’t really know what happened,” said Mark moments after the accident. “It’s Talladega – what can you say. You have all of those cars running in one pack like that and it’s only a matter of time.

“It would be ignorant for me to be mad about it,” added Mark. “I’ll just be glad when I don’t do it anymore. It’s a tough deal. It’s too bad. It was one of the most fun places I ever came. In 1982 it was just a blast to race here, but in today’s day and age it’s hard to have fun when you know that the pin is out of the grenade. It’s just a matter of time before it goes off.”

Mark started the race 10 th and was shuffled back to 24th by lap four. A handful of cars in front of Mark attempted to go five wide through turn three and the result was a multi-car accident that saw Mark and several other cars caught up in a chain reaction that saw the majority of those involved either forced from the race or behind the wall for repairs.

The AAA crew worked feverishly to repair the damage and Mark was able to Thank You Very Much Kyle Busch!!

return by lap 88 of the race in 37th position. He was able to stay ahead of those around him, while picking up two positions to 35th. The finish marks the third consecutive race for Mark at Talladega where he has been caught up in an accident and finished 33rd or worse.

“The team did a really fine job of getting in there and repairing the damage to the car,” said Mark. “We were beat up pretty bad, we were able to go back out and pick up a lot of points, which can be really important down the stretch.”

Mark and the AAA Team will look to rebound next weekend when they travel to Richmond for a Saturday night race. Mark has 12 top five and 22 top-10 finishes in 42 starts at the .75-mile short track.

After nine races, Mark is currently fifth in the Nextel Cup point standings, 184 out of first place and just three points behind fourth.