The 2006 Carfax 250

Mark recorded his record 29th Busch Series Pole and then went on to finish fifth in the Carfax 250 on Saturday at Michigan 2006

Michigan International Speedway. The finish is Mark’s sixth top-five and eighth top-10 in nine Busch starts at MIS. Mark started up front and ran as low as eighth late in the race with a car strong on long runs, but saw his chances of victory foiled by a series of late cautions at the end of the race.

“We had a really good car today, especially on the long runs,” said Mark. “Mike (Beam) and the team did a great job with the car at it was fast today. We just weren’t good enough on the restarts to get ahead of them there late in the race. We were able to get up to the front on that one long run, but all the cautions late hurt our chances in the end.

“We really wanted to get up there and race for the win with (Dale Earnhardt) Junior. It just didn’t really like the restarts that much and it would take it a while to come in. Still, we had a good car and it was a lot of fun to drive the Pennzoil Fusion today,” added Mark. “Hopefully we’ll be able to bring this car back to Fontana and go for the win there in a couple of weeks.”

Mark started on the pole, but quickly dropped back to fourth as he worked with the free handling condition of the car. The team pitted under the day’s second caution on lap 21 to take four tires and fuel and came back out in 12th position, as several cars opted to stay out. Mark quickly moved back through the field, breaking back inside the top five on lap 32. He stayed out under the race’s fourth caution and returned in second place on lap 43. However, he struggled with the car’s handling after a restart on lap 49 and fell back to seventh position by lap 50.

The field then embarked on a long-green flag run that saw Mark patiently work his way back through the field. He moved back inside the top-five by the half-way point on lap 63. He took over third place on lap 75 and passed teammate Carl Edwards for second on lap 77. The team pitted under green on lap 78 for four tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment. By the time the field had cycled back through, Mark was back in second place when caution number six was called on lap 101. The team again came into the pits for four tires, fuel and wedge and returned in seventh as a handful of cars opted for two tires. The field restarted on lap 105 and by lap 109 Mark was in sixth and clearly turning the fastest times on the race track. He was catching the leaders by two and three tenths a second, but saw his momentum halted when the caution flag waved on lap 117. The car would be too loose on the restart and Mark dropped back to sixth by lap 122. Edwards, who was leading the race, was wrecked on the last lap and Mark was able to avoid the spinning No. 60 car and move back inside the top-five for the fifth-place finish.

With the pole, Mark now holds the Busch record for poles (29) and wins (47). Mark will return to action in the Busch Series in two weeks at California Speedway.