The 2006 Daytona 500

Mark posted one of his strongest Daytona 500 runs ever on Sunday, leading 19 laps and running in the front of the field Mark battles Kyle Busch & Casey Mears

for the majority of the day. A late fueling issue in the pits would force Mark to battle back from the back of the field. True to their unyielding character and determination, Mark and the No. 6 AAA team refused to give up, fighting to the last lap for a solid 11th-place finish.

“We really had a great car today,” said Mark after the race. “The AAA Ford Fusion was really strong and I think we could have contended easily for a top-five finish. We just had a killer car. We ran inside the top five all day until we had the problem there with the fuel on the one stop.

“There just was a lot of traffic out there and we had a really hard time getting back through,” added Mark. “ We got back to 12th or 13th anyway, but we certainly had a lot better stuff than that today. Still, I’m really proud of the AAA team. They did a great job today and all of Speedweeks and they gave me one of the best cars today that I’ve had at Daytona.”

Mark started the race 10th based on Thursday’s solid effort in the Twin duals. The veteran maneuvered in and out of the draft for the first several laps of the race, looking for the right feel of the track, while testing the different lines of the track. The team struggled with a ‘tight’ handling car for the first quarter of the race, and Mark came into the pits after the second caution of the day to take four tires and make a wedge adjustment in hopes of improving the handling. Mark came into the pits in 12th place, but an excellent 13.85-second stop moved the AAA Ford Fusion up four places to eighth when the field returned to green flag racing.

Martin broke into the top five for the first time of the day on lap 81. He moved to fourth on lap 102 and with an excellent move and a push from the 20 car of Tony Stewart, Mark maneuvered to the outside to take the lead from Dale Earnhardt Jr. on lap 104. Caution was called just one lap later and Mark came down pit road for four tires and fuel. The team responded with a 13.96-second stop and Mark returned in third, as two cars opted for two tires only.

Mark spent the next several laps maneuvering back and fourth with the draft, while hovering around third to sixth place. He had dropped back to ninth when the race’s sixth caution was issued on lap 125. The team again came into the pits, but this time crew chief Pat Tryson opted for a two-tire stop. The strategy worked, as Mark came out of the pits with the lead again, as the field returned to green on lap 128. Mark spent the next several laps holding off challenges by Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 48 car of Jimmie Johnson. He would lead the next 13 laps, before the car started to get ‘loose’ on the older left side tires. Mark would drop back to ninth position, before settling back in at seventh, where he was running when caution was called again on lap 154.

The team came down pit road on lap 156 for four tires and fuel once more, but an issue with the fueling of the car would force Mark to come back down pit road again to put the remaining fuel in the tank. The problem would cost Mark valuable track position, as he dropped all the way back to 30th when the field went green with only 42 laps remaining.

With his back against the wall and the pressure on, Mark went to work, passing three cars on the first two laps. By lap 163 Mark had gained 10 positions and was running back inside the top 20. He climbed to as high as 11th with only five scheduled laps remaining, but was shuffled back to 17th two laps later. He was running back in 15th when the race’s 10th and final caution was issued on lap 196, setting a green-white-checkered finish. Mark would be able to pick up four more spots in the final two laps for the 11th place run.

“It’s a shame, because we kind of wasted it today,” said Mark. “But you have problems and unfortunately we just couldn’t get back through the pack good enough to get back to the front.

“We’ll take this and move on to California , where we are really excited about the car we are taking there,” added Mark. “ California is the kind of racing that really suits my style of driving and I can’t wait to get out there on the track and see what we can do next week.”

The team will return to action next week at California Speedway, where Mark boasts one victory, three top-fives and five top-10 finishes in 11 starts. Mark leaves Daytona in 11th place in the Nextel Cup point standings, 53 points out of first and only two points out of 10th.