The 2006 Pennsylvania 500

Mark and the No. 6 AAA Race Team fought an uphill battle for most of the weekend at Pocono Raceway. Mark and the Mark running at 2nd Pocono 2006 race

team struggled with their No. 6 Ford Fusion on Friday and driving rains forced the cancellation of both of Saturday’s practice sessions, forcing the team to run an untested setup during Sunday’s race. The setup, combined with a solid pit strategy steadily moved Mark through the field, and he found himself moving in on a top-10 finish as the race wound down. However, Mark and the team did not pit after the race's eighth caution. The move backfired with all but one of the cars behind Mark coming in for fresh tires. On the older tires, Mark had his hands full, but he was able to hang on to the top-20 finish.

“That was a tough finish to a pretty good day,” said Mark. “I’m proud of the guys. We had a really bad car on Friday, and we were not able to practice on Saturday, but everyone pulled together and worked really hard and we were able to actually change everything and then work with the car today to get okay.

“The pit strategy really worked for us as well, and Pat (Tryson) did a great job of helping me get track position and putting us in a much better position to get a decent finish. Unfortunately, that last caution kind of fell at a bad time and we didn’t get in the pits and the cars behind us on fresh tires were just too much. Still, I’m really proud of this AAA team and the effort and we’ll look forward to the off weekend and we are really excited about going to Indy.”

Mark started the race 30th after struggling in Friday’s qualifying session. The team made wholesale changes to the car’s setup on Saturday, but were unable to test the changes when both of Saturday’s practice sessions were cancelled due to heavy rainfall. How the car would react to the changes was still a mystery when the green flag fell for Sunday’s race. The car started off tight and pushing in the corners, and Mark fell back to 33rd by the third lap of the race. As the race progressed the car became loose on entry into the corners and tight on the exit.

Running 28th, the team came down pit road to make massive adjustments to the car in hopes of improved handling. The team made its first big move after the race’s second caution on lap 30. With Mark running in the 25th position crew chief Pat Tryson opted to stay out while the majority of the field came down pit road. The strategy moved Mark up to the third position when the field went green on lap 37. While not able to run with the leaders, Mark patiently bode his time through the field, eventually settling in at 15th position. The strategy worked, with Mark eventually gaining 10 places on the move.

Running in 13th position, Mark pitted under green on lap 64 for four tires and fuel. Moments later, the third caution of the day was called on lap 66. Mark again stayed out and restarted in third position. He settled back into 10th place, but this time noticed marked improvement to the car’s handling. Mark and the team then caught a big break on lap 88 when the fifth caution was issued after Dale Earnhardt Jr. hit the wall on the backstretch. All but a handful of cars pitted, putting Mark back on the same sequence as the majority of the field and in solid position at 15th.

The team over-adjusted on the stop however, and Mark’s car became tight on the ensuing run. Running in 13th the team pitted under green on lap 127, taking wedge out of the left rear in hopes of loosening the car’s handling. The adjustment worked and Mark was able to drive all the way to 11th place on the next run. Running in 11th position the team pitted for the fifth time of the day, under caution on lap 151. This time Mark requested no changes and after a 14.26-second stop Mark restarted in 11th. He was able to drive his way into the top 10 and was running in ninth-place when the team pitted for the final time of the day on lap 171; under green. Taking on two tires and fuel, Mark came back out in 15th position, as all the cars in the field had yet to pit.

A caution only eight laps later would prove costly for Mark and the team. Mark was running just on the cusp of the cars that would pit or stay out and after a communication issue in the pits, Mark was forced to stay out. Tryson made a late call to pit, but Mark was past the commitment cone. The majority of the cars behind Mark took four tires and he would have to fight off several cars with fresh tires over the final 17 laps of the race. Mark restarted in 11th position on lap 183, but with the situation, he would be forced to fight tooth and nail for a position in the top 20, eventually holding on to 19th position when the checkered flag fell.

With the finish, Mark dropped one place to sixth in the points. Mark is currently 42 points ahead of seventh place and 95 points ahead of 11th. He trails fifth position by 6 points. The Nextel Cup circuit will take a much deserved week off next weekend, before returning to action in two weeks at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Allstate 400 at the brickyard.