NASCAR Cup career, heads to Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend
seeking his third consecutive top-five finish of the year.Mark, who is running a part-time schedule in the No. 01 Ginn Racing Chevrolet, is a past winner at the track (1998) and has seven top-10 and four top-five finishes in nine starts. He was sixth at the track a year ago, driving the No. 6 Roush Racing Ford.
The 48-year-old Arkansas native, who has finished second in the Cup championship on four occasions, enters the weekend leading the point standings for the first time since Sept. 22, 2002.
"I've always enjoyed Las Vegas, and we've had a lot of success there over the years," Mark said. "The win there in 1998 really stands out for a number of reasons. We had a new team, and it was the first race there, and I can remember leaving the track that night and looking down from the helicopter on the track and thinking, 'Wow, this wasn't some dirt-track win.' Very rarely in my career have I allowed myself to stop for a second and think about a win or anything, but for a few minutes I did that night."
Mark isn't worried about the reconfigured track's new surface, though he admits that "repaved surfaces aren't exactly my strong point."
His team had a solid test at the track in January, so Mark remains confident they can run strong in Sunday's UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400.
Can they hold onto the points lead?
"We've had fast cars, and the guys have been stellar on pit road," he said. "[Crew chief] Ryan [Pemberton] has done an excellent job with the pit strategies, and things are really coming together ... We still have a ways to go at Ginn Racing, but we are sure headed in the right direction."
Speculation is rampant that Mark might not step out of the car for the March 25 race at Bristol Motor Speedway, the first event he is scheduled to miss this year. Mark says he does still plan to skip that race, but the team's release concerning Las Vegas points out that "team owner Bobby Ginn has left the door open if Mark should change his mind."
