The Checkers Auto Parts 500k

MMark started Sunday's race in 29th place and the Viagra® Mark Martin

(sildenafil citrate) Taurus was loose from the start. Mark fell back as far as 33rd before he was able to pit for adjustments under caution on lap 34. He came into the pits in 28th place when the crew added wedge to the car, made an air pressure adjustment and changed right-side tires in 7.5 seconds to send Mark back out in 12th place.

Mark told the team that the car needed to be tighter, so he pitted for more adjustments on lap 72. The crew made another air pressure adjustment and lowered the track bar quickly enough to maintain his 16th place position.

By lap 120, Mark had slipped back to 20th place and told the team that he was not happy with the adjustments they had made on the last stop. The car was looser than before, but now it also pushed in the middle of the corner. He asked them to reverse some of the adjustments they had made during the next caution. That caution came on lap 133 and Mark returned to the race in 19th place.

As the race progressed past halfway, the car was still too loose. On top of that, several cars were having problems with their right-front tires so Mark was very cautious on long runs. A caution on lap 203 for debris, which could have been a factor in the tire problems, brought Mark into the pits for more adjustments. A 14.2-second stop helped him gain five positions which sent him out in 11th place.

Despite continued work on the car, Mark said it was still loose off the corners and tight in the middle. The team made more adjustments during their next pit stop on lap 242 and Mark resumed the race in 19th place.

the 2002 #6 car

Mark was moving up from 19th place when he sustained some damage to the right-rear of the car on lap 255. Jimmy Spencer hit Mark's Roush teammate Kurt Busch from behind for no reason, which sent several cars spinning. Mark made it through the incident, but another car made contact with him. He did not pit during that caution since the team could not see much damage from the pits. Once the race resumed, the right-rear fender began to rub the tire. Mark was forced to pit during the next caution on lap 271 to pull out the fender. The additional stop dropped him from 16th back to 29th place with 38 laps to go.

The Viagra® team never gave up and Mark was on a mission to get the best finish he could. In the final 38 laps, he gained 10 positions to finish the race in 19th place. Another of his Roush teammates, Jeff Burton, won the race for his second victory of the season. Mark remains 11th in the Winston Cup point standings.

"I'm real proud of this Viagra® team," Mark said. "We struggled with the car all day, but we had great pit stops that improved our track position. We did the best with what we had to work with. I hated to break our string of top-10 finishes, but we'll go back to the shop and put together a good car for Rockingham next week."

Next weekend the Winston Cup series returns to North Carolina Speedway for the Pop Secret Microwave Popcorn 400.