Mark and the No. 8 U.S. Army team battled to a 12th-place finish in
Sunday’s Dickies 500 Sprint Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway. Mark held on for the solid finish
after taking two tires on the final pit stop with 14 laps remaining.
"That was just a great effort by this U.S. Army team today,” said Mark. “The car wasn’t that good and we
needed a little more speed, but I’m extremely proud how we battled back to finish 12th. We had excellent pit
stops and that really helped to save the day."
Mark started the race 20th after a disappointing qualifying lap on Friday. He quickly moved inside the
field’s top-10 on Lap 64 of 334 but struggled with a loose handling car early in the race. He dropped
back to 18th by Lap 100, but then recovered and moved inside the top-15 on Lap 118, where he would
virtually run the remainder of the race.
Race winner Carl Edwards put Mark a lap down on Lap 231, despite the fact that Mark’s No. 8 Chevy was
running in 14th position. However, the Army team stayed patient and eventually earned its way back on
the lead lap.
“We had a really great effort on pit road today,” noted crew chief Tony Gibson. “All of the stops were
fast and the guys on this U.S. Army team really made the most of the hand they were dealt. Now it’s time
we turn our attention to Phoenix and hopefully get a little redemption for what happened there in the
spring.”
During the April race at Phoenix, Mark led 68 laps and was the class of the field, before settling for
a fourth-place finish when the team came up short on fuel mileage.
The No. 8 team heads to Phoenix 14th in the owner point standings. The Phoenix race (Nov. 9) will be
Mark’s final start in the No. 8 U.S. Army Chevrolet and his last race for Dale Earnhardt Inc. Co-driver
Aric Almirola will pilot the team's car in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Nov. 16.
|
