The 2006 Chevy Rock & Roll 400

Two-hundred laps into Saturday night’s ‘regular season’ showdown at Richmond International Raceway, Mark found himself in unfamiliar territory; on the 10 drivers in 2006 Chase

outside looking in on the Chase for the Nextel Cup. Running in 12th position and with Mark’s No. 6 AAA Ford Fusion fading fast, Mark and his AAA team faced their moment of truth. How they would respond during the next 200 laps would ultimately not only decide their success in the Rock and Roll 400, but their fate for the season.

Once again Mark and the AAA crew reached down deep and came out fighting. In the end, Mark battled back to his sixth top-five finish of the season and he not only fought his way back inside the top-10 but picked up two positions to seventh in the final Nextel Cup standings before the 10-race Chase for the Cup begins next weekend at Loudon.

"This AAA team, they really put it all together tonight,” said Mark. “We just got up on the wheel and got it done there. It means a lot to me. This is a good night for us. There are a lot of big names that didn’t make the Chase and I’m really proud of the effort of this team to put us where we are. I just can’t say enough about the effort of these guys.

“I want to thank all the fans out there for all the 19 years, but especially for this year and the overwhelming support,” added Mark. “I can't describe what it means to me. It was a great night for our AAA Fusion team. Pat Tryson and all the guys on pit road, they redeemed themselves for sure and I got up on the wheel when I had to and it was really a great effort by this whole team.”

Mark moved into the weekend in ninth position in the Cup standings, and with only a two-point lead over 10th, the pressure was on from the start. The team responded with a fourth-place qualifying effort on Friday. Starting on the second row, Mark maintained position inside the field’s top five for the majority of the race’s first 120 laps. However, after pitting under caution on lap 121, Mark’s car’s handling began to get too tight on the ensuing run, and the veteran started to fall back in the field. With the car continuing to ‘push’ really badly, Mark dropped back to 12th on lap 179 and more importantly outside the Nextel Cup top 10 with just over two hundred laps remaining in the race.

“We went in knowing we had to run good and in the middle of the race we weren't running good enough to get it done,” said Mark. “Halfway through the race I really thought we were done for and we made one last little adjustment that I never dreamed would have made any difference with two runs to go and it just set the car on fire.”

By the halfway mark, Mark was in 13th position and losing ground. The race’s fifth caution on lap 220 would prove a lucky break for the AAA team. Mark came down pit road for four tires, fuel and chassis adjustment to improve the car’s handling. With the pressure at the premium, the AAA over-the-wall crew delivered one of its fastest stops of the season, a 13.5-second stop that put Mark back in the field’s top 10 in both the race and the points. Mark would never fall out of Chase contention again.

“The AAA crew was just awesome on pit road all night,” added Mark. “They really came up with come clutch stops when we had to have them.”

The night’s sixth caution was called on lap 154 and Mark again came down pit road, this time for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment that would prove to be the difference in the race. After another lightning fast stop of 13.38-seconds, Mark went back out in 11th position and he would never look back. He broke back inside the top 10 just four laps later on lap 266. He took ninth place on lap 269 and eighth place on lap 283. Mark began to pull away from Chase contenders Jeff Burton and defending Nextel Cup Champion Tony Stewart.

Running seventh Mark came down pit road for the final time of the race under the seventh caution on lap 320. Again the AAA team delivered in the clutch, changing four tires and taking on fuel in a 13-second flat stop that moved Mark inside the top five as the field went green on lap 327.

Mark would continue to pull away from the contenders behind him, battling down to the last lap for the top-five finish and securing his place in Chase for the Cup. With the finish, Mark becomes one of only three racers to make the Chase for the Nextel Cup in each of its first three seasons. Last year’s Champion Tony Stewart ended up the odd man out.

"I knew that somebody that deserved to be in it wasn't going make it and that's unbelievable,” said Mark. Last year's champion – a two-time champion - Tony Stewart, the greatest race car driver of this era - in my opinion - missed the chase."

"I'm not worried about the championship. We might get lucky or something, but just to be in the chase with all these great, young drivers is a big deal to me. I was really afraid of missing the chase because I was going to feel like I lost and from here on out these last 10 races I'm going to go out, give it all I have and have some fun -- I promise."

“We might really put on a charge and make this thing exciting and we might not, but we're in it and I'm proud of that. Sixteen of the last 19 years in that 6 car we've been in the top 10 and I'm proud of that record."

Mark will begin his quest for the elusive Nextel Cup next weekend at New Hampshire International Speedway, where he finished fourth in the spring and seventh last September. New Hampshire is one of only two ‘Chase’ tracks where Mark has never won.