The 2005 Daytona 500

Mark and the No. 6 Viagra® Racing team were faced with obstacle after obstacle during the 2005 version of speedweeks, but true to the character that has so often defined them, they were able to battle back to a sixth-place finish in Sunday's famed Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.

Mark just misses a wreck at Daytona 500

"This is truly a champion ship caliber team," said Mark after the race. "I just can't say enough about Pat Tryson and this whole Viagra® Team. They are the best I've ever had and they are the best in the business. Their effort to get that car fixed and back out on the track and for it to run that well means everything to me. It means a whole lot more than any trophy ever could. I might not have won the Daytona 500, but that effort means more to me that any would could have anyways."

The tone was set on Thursday when Mark, who was running third, had his Viagra® Ford severely damaged in a multi- car accident during the 35th lap of the Gatorade Duel 150's. Mark's crew worked long hours to repair the damage and provide Mark with one of the fastest cars during Sunday's season opening race.

"The car was good," said Mark. "We had the penalty early and the problems with the fan later, but we came back to the front both times. I made a couple of mistakes out there where I might could have went a different way, but that's the chances you take at Daytona. Overall we are pretty happy with this and we'll take this run to Fontana next week and look to win that thing."

Mark started the race from the back of the field, but eventually worked his way to the front. However, he would have to make his way back to the front on two more occasions on the day. First after a drive through penalty on lap 62 and then after coming into the pits for the crew to examine a faulty blower on the rear-end cooler. Both instances dropped Mark from the top-10 to the back half of the field, but Mark was able to battle his way back to the front each time.

Mark started the race in 32nd after the wreck on Thursday, but the veteran wasted little time mounting his march to the front. Mark had moved all the way to 17th position by just the fifth lap of the race. The team broke into the top 10 for the first time of the day on lap 28, after taking two tires during a pit stop during the second caution of the day on lap 27. By lap 34, the veteran had powered his Viagra® Ford into sixth position.

Mark was running in ninth place when the team came into the pits under green on lap 62 for four tires and fuel. The No. 6 team came up with a solid stop, but Mark was penalized for speeding on pit road and was forced to serve a pass through penalty. The incident dropped Mark to 29th position and two packs behind the leader. Mark was able to work with the No. 48 and No. 97 cars, both which were penalized as well.

The team caught a break with the day's third caution on lap 85, and after the first of several stellar stops on the day (13.76 seconds), Mark found himself in 16th position when green flag racing resumed. After the stop, Mark began to experience a problem with the blower for the rear cooler fan, and worried that the problem could result in burning up the rear end of the car. The team came into the pits under caution on lap 104 to examine the problem. The team was unable to provide any solution to the problem, which eventually cured itself, but Mark had dropped back to 31st place when green-flag racing resumed.

For the third and final time of the day Mark embarked on yet another drive to the front. By lap 112 he was in 23rd. Six laps later he had advanced all the way to 16th position, before breaking back into the top 10 on lap 134. Mark would run all but one of the remaining 66 laps inside the top 10.

A 13.91-second green flag stop for four tires and fuel on lap 136 helped Mark break into the top five for the first time of the day, as Mark hooked up with a six car pack that featured some of the strongest cars in the race. Mark had advanced all the way to fourth place when the day's sixth caution was issued on lap 153. A lightning fast 13.06-second stop was the fastest of all the cars that took four tires and helped Mark move inside the top-three where he was running when caution was again issued on lap 160. The team used the caution to come into the pits to take on fuel only, in what would be its final stop of the day. More excellent pit work put Mark back out in second place when the field resumed green-flag racing on lap 165.

Mark got caught in the middle and was shuffled out of the draft and back to as far as 11th place, before he rebounded. By lap 180 Mark was teamed up with a group of cars working the inside lane as they battled back and forth with the cars in the outside lane. The action made for great racing, but ultimately resulted in a multi-car accident on lap 183, that Mark just narrowly escaped while running in eighth place.

The field went green again on lap 187 with just 13 laps remaining, but caution Mark just misses a wreck at Daytona 500

was called immediately, with several cars getting break checked as the green flag was dropped. Again Mark narrowly escaped getting claimed in the malay, although his No. 6 Ford did sustain slight damage.

Green flag racing resumed on lap 195 and the action was intense, with Mark running seventh and on the bottom in a pack of three cars that continued to feverishly battle another pack of three cars on the top. Mark teamed with Roush teammate Kurt Busch and long time competitor Rusty Wallace. Both lanes fought back and fourth for position, before caution No. 10 was eventually issued with only two laps remaining, with Mark in eighth place.

The caution would force a green-white-checkered finish, where Mark was able to pick up two more spots and finish sixth, just narrowly beating the No. 20 car of Tony Stewart who led 107 of the race's 200 laps. The finish was only Mark's eighth top 10 at the Daytona 500, but his third top-six finish in the Great American Race in the last four events.

Mark leaves Daytona seventh in the Nextel Cup standings, as the team heads out west to Fontana, where Mark finished third last fall.