The 2004 Chevy American Revolution 400

The No. 6 Viagra® (sildenafil citrate) team had a solid showing at Richmond The Viagra 6 Car

International Raceway in the first Saturday night race of the 2004 NEXTEL Cup season. With Mark behind the wheel, the team rolled to a top-10 finish while moving up one position in the overall point standings, another step in the right direction for the veteran team.

During Friday's qualifying session, Mark drove the No. 6 Viagra® (sildenafil citrate) Ford to the 12th place starting position with a lap time of 20.929 seconds. Rookie Brian Vickers took the pole with a lap time of 20.772 seconds. Following qualifying, the NEXTEL Cup cars took to the track for happy hour and Mark again had a solid showing. Upon completion of the session Mark was pleased with the car after running lap times in the top five. The team looked ahead to Saturday's race and felt confident that they had a car to win.

Vickers brought the field down for the green flag and immediately moved into the lead while Mark maintained his 12th place position. After a quick caution on lap three, the field resumed under green on lap 12 and Mark began his ascent to the front of the field. By lap 79 he broke into the top 10 and the team began planning their adjustments to help the tight problem Mark was reporting. On lap 103 the No. 6 Ford arrived on pit road for service. Under caution, the team changed four tires, took on fuel and made an air pressure adjustment in just 14.4 seconds returning Mark to the track in seventh for the re-start on lap 107.

By lap 121 Mark had moved to fifth and when the fifth caution flew on lap 151 Mark came over the radio to report, "We have a great car!" The No. 6 Viagra® (sildenafil citrate) team was one of the few leaders to pit under caution. This moved Mark to 15th for the re-start on lap 157 but when the sixth caution came on lap 169, the remaining leaders pitted placing Mark in fourth. Mark continued to run in the top-10 but as the night wore on the car began to loosen up. The No. 10 lost a motor on lap 343 bringing out the ninth and final caution along with a round of pit stops. On lap 345 the No. 6 team pitted for the fifth and final time taking on four tires, fuel and making a wedge adjustment to help the loose in just 14.34 seconds. This put Mark back on the track in ninth and away he went to chase down the leaders.

The field ran under green flag conditions for the last 45 laps and Mark drove hard trying to catch the leaders battling his way through lapped cars. When the checkered flag flew on lap 400 Mark crossed the line in seventh while Dale Earnhardt Jr. went on to win.

"We were really awesome early and then we were off in the middle of the race and got an adjustment behind," said Mark. "At the end we got it back to where it was hooked up. The No. 6 Viagra Taurus was blazing at the end there and it was too bad the race ended when it did because I was passing cars left and right and was coming on strong. I'm so proud of this team. It feels so good to drive a race car that'll run. We had great power tonight, we had it all. We had a great car."

Mark moves to 12th in the overall NEXTEL Cup point standings, up one position from the previous week. He sits just seven points out of 11th and 96 points out of 10th. The No. 6 Viagra® (sildenafil citrate) team prepares for the NEXTEL All-Star race this coming Saturday at Lowe's Motor Speedway with the hopes of bringing home the $1 million prize.