rejuvenation, Mark readily awaits the start of the 2003 Winston Cup season,
a season that will mark his 17th full season in Winston Cup.Mark will be making his 19th run in the famed Daytona 500 when the checkered flag drops on Feb. 16, and he feels that his team will be ready.
"We had a pretty good test there a couple of weeks ago," said Mark. "Unlike a lot of the years, we feel like we have a pretty good car for the 500. Last year our car wasn't all that good and we still got a descent finish, so this year who knows.
"Everybody knows that Daytona is like playing the roulette wheel, but we do like what we are taking this year."
Last year Mark must have had a gamblers hand at his home track, running to a sixth-place finish in the 500 and finishing fourth in July at the 2.5-mile trioval.
Over the years Mark has accumulated three top-fives and six top-10's in 18 starts in the Daytona 500. In 35 Winston Cup starts at Daytona, Mark has ran to seven top-five and 12 top-ten finishes. Mark's first crack at the Daytona 500 came on Feb. 14, 1982, when he finished 30th after starting 26th and losing an engine.
Mark has led in six Daytona 500's, for a total of 133 laps. In 18 races, he has accumulated 2,827 laps for a total of 7,067 miles. In fact, Mark is one of only 22 drivers of the 461 who have competed in the Daytona 500 to complete every lap of the race on five or more occasions.
Mark has finished in the top six in four of his last six starts at Daytona International Speedway. This will be his 36th Winston Cup start at the track and his 15th straight start in the Daytona 500, dating back to 1988.
Mark will also make his 15th straight start in the Budweiser Shootout on Feb. 9, and his 16th overall. Mark made his first start in the all-star event on Jan. 2, 1982, where he finished eighth. He did not take place in the event again until 1989, but the veteran driver has not missed the event since. Although Mark didn't capture a pole in 2002, he will take place in the even via his 1998 win in the Shootout.
Mark will once again drive the No. 6 Kraft Ford Taurus in the Shootout.
