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Congratulations Mark for winning the NASCAR 2005 Banquet 400 in Kansas City, Kansas. |
Mark and the Viagra® (sildenafil citrate)
Racing Team were dominant in Sunday’s Banquet 400 at Kansas Speedway,
leading 139 laps and taking the checkered flag in grand fashion for Mark’s
first points Cup win of 2005. Mark, who won the All-Star Challenge in May,
took the lead on lap 127 when crew chief Pat Tryson implemented a two-tire
strategy. Mark would hold the lead for virtually the remainder of the race,
never looking back and never being seriously challenged for the lead. Roush
teammate Greg Biffle looked to close late, but was never able to move close
enough to seriously challenge for the lead.“It's a really special day for me,” said Mark after the race in victory lane. “I want to thank all the fans for all the great support I've had this year and I have to thank Pat Tryson and the Viagra team. This Ford was incredible today. It reminded me of the old days in a Busch car. It was just awesome. These guys want to win so badly and they believe in me and they made a winner out of this old man today. “We had a great car we took the lead before the halfway point, so it was almost a relief to cross that finish line,” said Mark. “I had a lot of laps out front to worry about what could go wrong. I thought I could hold off Tony (Stewart), but when I saw Biffle get by him pretty easy I knew I’d have to drive the fool out of the thing like he does to stay in front. I didn’t want to lose and we did what we had to in order to get this win.” Tryson initially took two tires on the team’s first pit stop under the day’s 
first caution on lap 17 – the move advanced Mark from 14 th to third. He took
two again three stops later on lap 121 moving Mark from 10 th to first. Mark
would lead the remainder of the race except for pitting cycles. With the
field in hand it was up to the Viagra® Racing Team to keep him there, and
when called upon the Blue Crew delivered on two separate occasions – keeping
the No. 6 Ford in the front of the field.“The team was just awesome in the pits,” said Mark. “They kept us out in front. Pat made a great move to put us there and clean air was so important. Once we got there, staying there was key, and the team really came through with two fast stops that allowed me to stay in that clean air and ultimately win this thing. These guys are my heroes and I’m sure glad that we were able to give them the win today.” Mark pitted for the fifth time of the day under green on lap 180. A quick 13.60-second stop kept him in the front of the cycle and when all of the field had cycled through its stops five laps later on lap 185 Mark was back in the lead. The day’s sixth caution on lap 216 would once again set up the stage for the crew’s heroics, and with the race on the line the over-the-wall crew put out one of its best stops of the season, a 13.2-second four-tire stop that sent Mark back out in first when the race restarted on lap 222. “Like I said, clean air was important and we were able to get out to a good 
start on both of those last two restarts,” added Mark. “It would have been
really hard to get back in the lead if we ever gave it up, so we had to stay
there. The team did what they needed to do in the pits and it was up to me
to do what I had to do on the track. It was really a team effort and it makes
for a great win.”Mark would have to hold off point leader Tony Stewart on two occasions on restarts. First on lap 222 and then again after caution number seven on lap 228. Mark was able to pull away from Stewart on the final restart with 39 laps to go and he never looked back, holding onto the lead for the remainder of the race and crossing the finish line for the 35th career Nextel Cup victory. Mark had started the race 19 th after Saturday’s qualifying effort. He moved into the top 10 on the 15th lap of the race. He was running 14th when the day’s first caution was called on lap 17 and Tryson used the two-tire stop to put him up to third. Other than the green-flag pit cycle, he would never run outside the field’s top 10 again. With the finish Mark has now posted three top-10 finishes and two top fives in four ‘Chase’ races, having contended for wins in both top-fives. He has now led in three of the four ‘playoff’ races, and he earned an additional five bonus points on Sunday for leading the most laps of the race. If not for last week’s 41st place finish at Talladega, Mark would most likely hold the lead in the standings. Still Mark advanced from ninth to seventh and cut the advantage between him 
and first down to 118 points. More importantly Mark trails second-place Ryan
Newman by only 38 points, should leader Stewart falter during any point of
the remaining six races.“The wreck we got in last week really hurt, but we’ll just have to keep fighting,” said Mark. “But points race or not, this was a really good win and that’s all we can do. We’ll come back and try to win next week and see where we go from there. This has been the best year of my career and no matter what happens it will always be special. We’ll just keep fighting each week and if the leaders have a problem; we’ll be right back in it.” The team returns to action next weekend at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, which Mark regards as his favorite track. He won the All-Star race there in May and he boasts four cup wins, 15 top-five finishes and 19 top 10’s at the 1.5-mile oval. “ Charlotte is next. Woohoo!,” said Mark in the post race press conference. “I love Charlotte - I look forward to going there this weekend.” |
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