The 2006 Allstate 400

Mark and the No. 6 AAA race team put together one of their strongest runs of the season in Sunday’s Brickyard 400 at the Mark pits at Indy 2006

famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The finish – Mark’ fourth top-five of the season, maintained Mark’s sixth-place position in the Nextel Cup Point standings, and moved Mark 137 points ahead of 11th position with just five races left before the 26-race cutoff.

“This was a really good effort by this AAA team today,” said Mark. “This is why I've raced for 32 years. We just weren't quite good enough to get up there and win, but we were good enough to get up there and watch them race for it and that is what you ask for. We couldn’t get in the lead today, but we sure could see it.

“The Roush-Yates horsepower was awesome today,” added Mark. “We had a good car and a great effort and it was a lot of fun. Hopefully we can take this and move on to Watkins Glen and put a little more distance between us and 10th place.”

Mark was fast from the beginning and the AAA team was fast and steady in the pits. After qualifying 19th on Saturday, Mark wasted no time flexing his muscle on the track, moving to 15th position by just the seventh lap of the race. Mark broke into the top 10 on lap 25, and he would run there the remainder of the day. The AAA Team would help Mark move into the top five for the first time after a 13.68-second stop to take on four tires and fuel on lap 42.

Mark continued to hold his No. 6 AAA Ford inside the field’s top five for virtually the remainder of the 160 lap race. On lap 124 – in the final fuel window – crew chief Pat Tryson brought Mark down pit road under green, for what might have been the final pit stop of the day. Once again the No. 6 team sent Mark out in solid position, with the veteran running in fourth position once the field had cycled through its stops. However, the team would have a tense moment in the pits when Mark reported on lap 128 that he had a vibration in the wheels of the car and a fear of a loose wheel. The team caught a break, just moments later when the day’s seventh and final caution was issued on lap 143.

"I was real concerned,” said Mark. “I don't know if we would've made it or not, but we got a caution and we got a chance to change it. Thankfully things fell our way for once and we were able to go out and get the type of finish that we deserved this time.”

Mark brought his No. 6 Fusion down pit road for what would be the final stop of the day. Taking four tires and fuel in just 13.1 seconds, he returned in 10th position, as a handful of teams opted for two tires or to stay out.

The field went green on lap 146 for the final time and Mark would use the remaining 15 laps to make a march to the top five, picking up the final position with only five laps remaining.

"Mark did a great job,” said crew chief Pat Tryson. “We had a strong car all day long, not quite strong enough to win, but we might have been good enough had we been able to get him all the way up in clean air. Still he did a fantastic job and you can't ask for any more than that. Right now, we just have to gain some momentum back and make a run for the championship."

Mark and the team will return to action next weekend for the season’s second and final road course race of the season at Watkins Glen International, where Mark boasts three wins - all from the pole and 16 top-10 finishes in 18 starts.

"I want to thank the fans for supporting us so much, for supporting this AAA Fusion and my team, for standing behind me,” added Mark. “"We've got to tune up to be a championship contender, but it's all here. This old man hasn’t given up yet."