The 2003 Food City 500

Sunday's Food City 500 saw 17 cautions before the checkered flag dropped, Bad day at Black Rock

but it was the day's ninth caution that proved to be the most costly for Mark and the Viagra® (sildenafil citrate) Racing Team. The accident, which occurred on lap 198 of the 500-mile race, halted what had been a strong run for the No. 6 team. Mark went on to fight his way to a 29th-place finish.

Mark had rebounded from an early problem with his throttle, and was steadily moving his Viagra® Ford Taurus through the field, where he was running in 19th-place on lap 198. Mark's car was running some of the most competitive times on the track, when several cars in front of him started 'checking up.'

The cars behind Mark were unable to stop and Mark's No. 6 Ford was struck from behind and sent into a tailspin towards the apron. After being struck by another car, Mark's Ford had received considerable damage on the left side and the No. 6 Viagra® Racing Team was forced to go behind the wall for repairs.

The Viagra® crew worked feverishly to repair the severely damaged car, and Mark was able to return to the track 48 laps later; forty-seven laps down and in 33rd position. Mark's car proved to be so strong on Sunday, that despite the severe damage he was able to run lap times comparable to that of the race leaders.

"We were going to be really strong," said crew chief Ben Leslie. "We had a great car and even with the damage and Mark taking it easy, we were able to run lap times that were only about 2/10's off of the leader of the race."

"That's the way it goes sometimes," added Mark. "The guys did a great job getting the car ready and we were pretty fast. We had a problem early on with the throttle sticking and that got us behind, but we were able to work our way back up through the field."

"We were just starting to get a run on some guys when we got caught up in the accident. I'm not even really sure what happened, but the car was banged up pretty good. Still, the guys did a great job getting it fixed up and it actually drove great for a wrecked car. We really had a great car today, and we might have made a run at the thing, had we not wrecked."

Mark continued to battle all day and was able to gain four addition positions and run to a hard-fought 29th-place finish.

Mark's car was fast right off the truck. He qualified 19th and ran practice times that were consistently inside the top-10 all weekend. The beginning of the race was plagued by caution after caution and after the day's fourth caution on lap 54 Mark came into the pits for the team's first stop of the day.

With the car starting to become loose, the team came in for right-side tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment to tighten up the car. After a quick stop, Mark returned to the field in 11th place, but with the field still under caution, he began to experience problems with the throttle sticking and was forced to return to the pits on the next lap. The team was able to correct the problem and with the field still under caution Mark returned to the pits on the next lap to take on left-side tires.

By the time the field went green on lap 62, Mark was in 34th position; the last car on the lead lap. Mark soon began to work his car back towards the front of the field, and by lap 109 he was running in 22nd position. By lap 122 he was able to break back inside to top-10 and he was running in 17th position when the day's sixth caution was called on lap 134.

Mark loses it at Bristol

The team came into the pits for four tires, fuel and another wedge adjustment, but struggled in the pits with a 17.50 stop. Mark returned to the field in 20th position when the field went green on lap 141. Mark had worked his way into 17th position when caution was again called on lap 180. The team would again come into the pits for four tires, fuel and additional wedge adjustments. A 14.40 second stop sent Mark back out in 20th position.

Mark had moved into 19th place by lap 194 and was beginning to mount a run on several cars in front of him, when he became the victim of the mishap on lap 198.

"Despite what happened, we never gave up," added Mark. "Like always this team continued to fight until the last flag dropped and that is what we will continue to do next week and the week after that."

Mark's teammates Kurt Busch and Matt Kenseth went on to finish one and two in the race.

The team returns to the track next week at Texas Motor Speedway for the Samung/Radio Shack 500, where Mark won in 1998 and ran to a third-place finish a year ago.