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Congratulations Greg Biffle for winning the NASCAR 2004 GFS Marketplace 400. |
Mark clearly had the fastest car in Sunday’s
GFS Marketplace 400, leading 46 laps
and battling back from a penalty in the pits to score a solid second-place finish.
Mark’s No. 6 Ford sported a Pfizer/Batman paint scheme for Sunday’s race and Mark
exhibited super power driving skills in route to his second straight top-three
finish. The finish was the Viagra? Racing Team’s fifth top-five of the season and
it’s third in the last four races."It's just such a privilege to drive for this team and work for these guys,” said Mark. “They put me in a race car that could contend to win and the car made me look good today. I'm very grateful for that. I'm just incredibly grateful that I get to work with this team and that I get to drive stuff that will run like that,” added Mark. “I've just dreamed of having an engine like that. Man, it was unbelievable and the car handled, too. Mark took the lead for the fifth time, passing teammate Greg Biffle on lap 112, and it looked like he may never relinquish it. The team came down pit road under caution on lap 131 still in the lead. After a quick stop it looked as if the No. 6 Team had held the lead, but in a controversial call the NASCAR official deemed that the team had failed to place on all of the lug nuts on the left rear tire and Mark was ordered to come back down pit road. Despite the adamant protest of crew chief Pat Tryson and his crew, Mark returned to the field in 28th place when the field went green on lap 134 with 66 laps remaining. “I couldn’t worry about all of that,” said Mark. “My job is to drive the car to the front and that is what I had to concentrate on doing, no matter what happened. We simply had to come back and we did. We had a fast car and I knew we could get back to the front, so I just put the other behind me and started concentrating on the job at hand. We had an incredible car. We came from the back of the pack with no cautions to run second and I applaud Pat Tryson and this team. “I’m not even sure what happened in the pits, but we had some type of problem,” said Mark. “That kind of stuff happens, but you just have to keep fighting. We did that today and I’m really proud of that. I said I've got the best race team in the business right now and I mean it." Mark went to work, picking up seven positions on the next three laps. By lap 144 Mark had moved all the way up to 14th place. By lap 155 he was running inside the top 10 in ninth position. The veteran used the next 10 laps to move up to sixth place, before breaking back into the top 10 on lap 169. Mark was closing in on the field, but the leader –Biffle – had a solid eight-second lead on the No. 6. Needing to pit one more time, the team opted to cut into Biffle’s lead with a two-tire stop under green on lap 175. The move worked as Mark came out in second place just behind Biffle. However, the challenge to overcome Biffle’s No. 16 Ford, who had taken four fresh tires, proved to be too much to overcome. Mark was able to move away from the remainder of the field and drive to the strong-second place finish. “Hey, we went for it, what can you say,” said Mark. “We knew we would come out neck-and-neck with him and we were praying for a miracle. The car didn't run as good on two as it would have on four, so it wasn't good enough, but we rolled the dice and took a chance. We figured we were going to run second either way, so I'm proud of Pat for making the call to go for the win." Mark started the race in 13th place after Friday’s qualifying session was cancelled due to rain. The car was too loose early on and Mark quickly dropped to 18th position by the second lap. The car started to settle in and Mark – running in 15th place – radioed the crew that he was about to “start wearing the boys out in a minute.” By lap 15 Mark radioed the crew that the car was ‘perfect.’ Running the fastest lap times on the track, Mark broke into the top 10 on lap 20, proclaiming, “We can win with this car.” By lap 43 Mark was running in the top five, where he would run for the next 90 laps before the incident on pit road. The team took right-side tires only under caution on lap 45, and Mark returned to the field in third place when green-flag racing resumed on lap 49. One lap later Mark moved by Biffle, taking the lead for the first time of the day. Mark was still leading the field when the day’s fifth caution was issued on lap 69. The team came into the pits for four tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment. Mark returned to the field in seventh place, as different cars were on various pit cycles, when the field went green on lap 74. Mark quickly maneuvered in and out of the traffic around him, moving up to third 
by lap 77 and reclaiming the lead on lap 81. However the car was very loose and
Mark was having trouble hanging on and quickly dropped back to second place.
Once the car settled back in, Mark regained the lead on lap 86 and was running
in first place when caution was issued on lap 91.The team came into the pits for four tires and fuel and came out in fifth place, as other cars were again on different pitting cycles. The field went green on lap 94 and Mark had moved to third place by lap 101. After battling through lapped traffic Mark again took over the lead from Biffle on lap 112 and led the next 18 laps before the incident in the pits dropped him back to 28th. Biffle went on to win the race just ahead of Mark, as all five Roush Racing Teams placed finishes inside the top 10 for the first time since March of 1998. The finish moved Mark into 12th place in the Nextel Cup point standings – only 33 points out of 10th and only 73 points out of eighth place. Mark, who trailed 10th by 92 points two weeks ago, has picked up 59 points on 10th in the last two races. There are three races to go in the chase for the top 10. "We have a top-five race team and if I wind up being a spectator at the banquet, so be it,” said Mark. “I have to look at things from a positive standpoint and say, 'Golly, at least we didn't run 14th every week and make it in.' I'd much rather not make the cut and run like I ran today and at Indy and at Pocono and at the Glen. That's real special to me. I've always said that that is the glue that keeps a winning team together. “But don’t get me wrong,” added Mark. “We plan to go down swinging.” The finish was Mark’s second straight runner-up finish in two days at Michigan, as Mark finished second in Saturday’s Busch race as well. The team returns to action next Saturday night at Bristol, where Mark has two wins and 20 top 10 finishes in 35 races. |
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