Gone was the surly eternal pessimist who swore to the death he may never win again. In came a cheery -- giddy, even -- veteran just happy to be
there and, uncharacteristically, damn certain he and his team were capable
of winning every single weekend.Makes sense, because he truly was.
Though he won just once -- at Dover in June -- Mark completed the season with 10 top-five and 15 top-10 finishes. Of those 10 top-fives, half were runner-up finishes, three of which came during the Chase for the Nextel Cup.
All said, Mark finished fourth in the championship standings, 107 points behind fellow Roush Racing teammate and 2004 champion Kurt Busch, and some 32 points ahead of fifth-place Dale Earnhardt Jr.
The fourth-place finish marks Mark's 14th top-10 points finish in the last 16 seasons, and improves on last season's career worst 17th place effort by 13 positions.
"The team fought hard all year," Mark said. "We came out 43rd in points leaving Daytona with our hearts broken and battled our way all the way back to fourth. I'm proud of them for that. The guys did a great job. I'm proud of them and I look forward to next year."
Initially, Mark wasn't in favor of the Chase. Matter of fact, he was totally against it.
But by season's end, after he'd been a part of it and had time to digest its impact, he freely congratulated NASCAR chairman Brian France on the vision that changed the sport forever, calling it the single greatest change ever from a fan standpoint.
Mark benefited tremendously from the Chase format. He qualified for the 10-team playoff by reeling off four top-fives during the crucial five races leading up to New Hampshire, the first event in the 10-race Chase.
Following a 25th-place finish in the Brickyard 400, Mark was on the outside of the Chase looking in. He was 15th in points, and knew it'd take a serious push to qualify. And push he did.
He finished third at Watkins Glen, second at Michigan, third at California and fifth at Richmond to jump from 15th to eighth in the championship standings. Suddenly, he had what some considered the best team in NASCAR.
That's one reason he was falling all over himself this year. He was competitive again, and with that came a heightened feeling of respect from his peers. Mark was undeniably the sentimental favorite in the Chase for the Nextel Cup.
"I've already received the biggest trophy that any man can receive, and that's from people that I had to beat," Mark said as the Chase began at New Hampshire.
"It's not easy to pull for somebody that beats you occasionally or on a regular basis - owners, drivers and all that - but they've shown some support toward me and they did in 2002, but even more this time. It's nice."
Late in the 2004 campaign, Mark announced that 2005 will be his final full time season in the Nextel Cup Series. He'll still dabble in Cup, and said he'll run some Truck Series events, too.
But rest assured, the four-time Cup Series runner up will be more focused than ever in his final shot at winning a championship.
"I'm going try to keep all of these guys together and we're going to make a real effort to be in first place at the end of this deal next year," Mark said.
