Mark secured his fifth IROC championship simply by taking the green
flag in the race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.Even though he already had the $1 million prize in hand, Mark tried for the race victory but couldn't catch reigning NASCAR Busch Series champion Mark Truex Jr.
"Truex gave me a driving lesson today. He gave us a spanking – big time," said Mark, who was tied with the late Dale Earnhardt with the most IROC titles (four).
"I congratulate Mark. He is a true champion. All the success he's had on the race track, he's earned. He's done it the old-school way. He hasn't robbed anybody or done it in a rough fashion.
"He's just gone out there and been really spectacular."
Mark has 11 IROC wins, sharing the record for most victories with Earnhardt and Al Unser Jr. His championship Saturday also secured an invitation to IROC next season, but Mark said he said he had not yet decided whether to accept.
Truex, who started ninth of the 12 drivers, dominated most of the race, leading 43 of the 65 laps, including the final 23. He held off Mark by .818 seconds. Matt Kenseth was third, Helio Castroneves fourth and Danny Lasoski fifth.
"I didn't think it was going to be too good of a day. I started in the back, ran into the wall, ran into a couple cars by about Lap 5 and I thought I messed my car up," Truex said.
"IROC is one of those things that is really cool to be part of. I watched it growing up and all the best drivers in the world were in it."
Truex finished second in points, 16 behind Mark, and Kenseth third. Mark won two of the races this season. Sebastien Bordais won the other.
