The 2004 Dodge/Save Mart 350

Mark and the Viagra® (sildenafil citrate) Race Running at Infineon

Team ran to a solid eighth-place finish at Infineon Raceway on Sunday in NASCAR’s first of two road-course races of the season. The team was strong all weekend, posting its second top five start in three weeks, while running times inside the top 10 in all three of the weekend’s practice sessions. The finish was the team’s sixth top 10 of the season. "We just didn't have the setup to make it a rocket ship,” said Mark after the race. “We had the pit stops, the pit crew, the strategy, the gas mileage and the horsepower. We had the high-speed corners, but in the low-speed corners we were a little slow through those and I had to give up a little bit there. If we would have had the low-speed corners as good as the high-speed corners, we could have run with the top five."

Mark struggled with the car’s handling in the slow-speed corners all day, while experiencing a strong blend of speed in the high-speed corners. The team ran inside the top five for the majority of the first 35 laps, while staying out on fuel and eventually taking the lead on lap 35, thus earning five bonus points on the day. With handling tight in the slow corners, Mark came in the pits under green flag conditions for an adjustment on lap 35 to help the car’s handling. Several other cars were on different pitting cycles and Mark was running in 14th place when he returned to the field.

The adjustment made the car’s handling even tighter, but the veteran had worked his way up to eighth place when the day’s third caution was called on lap 45. When green flag racing resumed, the No. 6 Viagra? Ford was running in sixth place. Mark moved back inside the top five on lap 60, just six lap Mark and Biffle

before the day’s fourth caution was issued. The team came into the pits for an air pressure adjustment to help cure the car’s continuing handling issues. The team reeled in a 14.92-second stop, taking on tires and fuel, and Mark returned to the field in eighth place, as again other cars were on different cycles and did not elect to pit. The stop put Mark within a few laps of being able to go the remainder of the race without stopping for more fuel.

After another caution on lap 70, Mark was running in seventh place as the field went green, but the car continued to push in the corners. With handling issues, Mark dropped back to ninth place by lap 76. Another caution on lap 79 added Mark effort to go the distance without taking additional fuel and he would work during the race’s final laps to conserve fuel, while gaining one spot on the last lap for the eighth-place finish.

“This team has been strong but we’ve had things happen every week that have hampered our results,” added Mark. “We had an off day and still ran eighth, so I think that speaks highly of this team."

The top 10 finish moved Mark back up one spot to 15th in the Nextel Cup point race, 185 points behind 10th place. After 16 races, Mark is 103 points behind 11th place.

The finish is Mark’s 13th top 10 in 16 races at Infineon Raceway. The team returns to action next Saturday night in Daytona for the Pepsi 400.