The 2005 Dickies 500

Mark and the Viagra® (sildenafil citrate) Racing team posted their fifth top-five finish of the “Chase” and their sixth top-five Mark leads the way in Texas

in the last seven races with a strong second-place run Sunday afternoon in the Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. Running second to teammate Carl Edwards when the day’s sixth and final caution was issued on lap 319, Mark and crew chief Pat Tryson opted to stay out and Mark took over the lead when the race went green on lap 323 with 11 laps to go. Mark was able to hang onto the lead for the ten laps, but he would be unable to hold off Edwards coming to the white flag and would have to settle for the second-place finish.

“It was a great run,” said Mark after the race. “Pat Tryson made the right call and we just wound up second. Carl was spectacular today, and our car was too, especially on the re-starts. We made the right call and we almost pulled it off. There was just a little too much time left.”

“The best car won,” added Mark. “Carl was spectacular, but we just about did it. It was a great run by the whole Viagra® team - a great call. It was close. We were trying hard, though, our car was good on short runs, and it took off there on the re-start and we didn’t have anything we could do. We just came up a little short.”

Mark had been running second and was gaining ground quick on Edwards when the caution was called on lap 319 for debris, setting up the final run for the checkered. The veteran led on three separate occasions for 42 laps and ran inside the field’s top five for the majority of the race.

The Viagra® Racing Team’s over the wall crew enjoyed another stellar day in the pits, and they used the first of several key stops to move Mark inside the top-five for the first time on lap 30 when the team used a 13.3-second stop to move Mark up four spots to fifth when the field went green on lap 34. The team would turn in another stellar stop of 12.5-seconds to put Mark out in the lead for the first time on lap 187.

With the car’s handling beginning to loosen up Mark dropped back to second where he was running on lap 245 when the day’s fourth caution was issued. The team again rose to the occasion, turning in a lightning fast stop of 12.2-seconds to put Mark out in front again when green-flag racing resumed on lap 250.

Mark again dropped the lead to Edwards and fell back to third place by lap Mark Texas Dickies 500 2005

263, before he regrouped and started his march back to the front. He moved back into second place on lap 276 and had caught Edwards when the day’s fifth caution was called on lap 289. More quick work in the pits allowed Mark to hold onto position and he restarted in third place as one car opted to stay out and lead. By lap 296 Mark was back in second place and moving in on race-leader Tony Stewart.

With 27 laps to go Mark and Stewart battled for the lead, with Mark briefly getting by Stewarts No. 20 car, before Stewart came right back to retake the lead. While the two battled, Edwards was able to close in, eventually passing Mark one lap later. Five laps later Mark was able to get by Stewart and he was moving in on Edwards when the sixth and final caution was issued seven laps later on lap 319. Mark stayed out and restarted first, while Edwards took fresh tires and restarted in sixth. It looked as if Mark’s gamble would pay off, but Edwards on fresh tires would prove too much, as Mark came up just one lap short of his 36th career Nextel Cup victory.

It is fantastic to drive cars like this,” said Mark. “This is a great race team. We had another great run and I’m just really blessed to driving these cars.”

Roush teammate Matt Kenseth finish third behind Edwards and Mark and were joined in the top 10 by Kurt Busch, who finished 10 th. The run moved Mark up to fifth in the Nextel Cup point standings. He was able to cut 20 points off the leader and now trails first place by 123 points and fourth place by only a single point. Mark has been able to knock off 44 points off the lead in the past two races. The team returns to action next week at Phoenix, before concluding the season the following week at Homestead.