Daytona 500

Mark started 22nd in the Daytona 500, and finished The Restrictor Plate big one

33rd after being caught up in "the big wreck" on lap 174. "I hate that we couldn't have had the finish we deserved," he said. "I came out of turn two and saw a lot of smoke. Before I knew it someone had hit me and the hits just kept coming. I don't even know how many times I got hit, or who did it. It is a disappointing finish considering how well we ran. I didn't expect a lot from this car going into the race, but we could hold our own in the draft. I'm anxious to go to Rockingham and get back to real racing."

ROCKINGHAM PREVIEW:
Rockingham has always been good to Mark. He has The Restrictor Plate big one

two wins, 17 top-10 finishes, and five poles in 29 starts at North Carolina Speedway. In addition, Mark experienced great success racing his BGN car at "the Rock." "We've had great success in the Busch car for years," he said. "Without having that anymore, we'll have to win the pole and the race in our Winston Cup car. I've always liked racing at Rockingham, and we're taking a car that we've won a bunch with everywhere else. With that combination and a little luck, we can make some big gains in the points standings after our poor finish at Daytona last weekend."

IN THE HOLE:
"It seems like we always have to start digging out of a points hole when we leave Daytona," Mark said. "Last year was the first year in a long time that we came out of there with a good finish. In 1999, we left Daytona 31st in the points race and then won at Rockingham the next week. That moved us up to eighth in in points with just one race. I feel confident we can do that again this year."

OLD FAITHFUL:
Mark will drive JR-52 at Rockingham, a car that has produced several wins since it was built in 1998. The team brought that car to Rockingham last February and finished eighth. They took a new car in the fall, which was destroyed in an accident, so they will return to their trusted JR-52 this weekend.