prepared with the best restrictor-plate car in his Roush
Racing stable. The team is returning JR-59 to action next
weekend, the same Viagraâ Taurus that Mark raced at Talladega
in April, as well as at Daytona in July and the Budweiser
Shootout in February."JR-59 is one of the best restrictor-plate cars we've ever run," Mark said. "We ran it at all four restrictor-plate races last year and we were lucky enough to have the car in one piece after each race. That is not an easy thing to do at those races. Luckily we ran a different car in this year's Daytona 500, which was pretty much totaled after that race."
Last year, JR-59 posted two top-five and four top-10 finishes between Daytona and Talladega. Mark finished fourth and fifth at Daytona and sixth and seventh at Talladega in 2000. This year he finished eighth in the Budweiser Shootout, fourth at Talladega in April and a somewhat disappointing 18th at Daytona in July.
"We were running in the top 10 most of the race in July until we got caught in an eight-car accident with about 18 laps to go. Luckily, it was just sheet metal damage, but by the time we repaired it under caution, we were on the tail end of the lead lap in 24th place with 10 laps to go. I drafted up as far as I could with the little time I had left in the race. That was our worst finish with this car in two years, so hopefully we can pull out another top finish next weekend for the final restrictor-plate race of the year."
