The 2001 Pepsi 400

Mark and the Viagra® (sildenafil citrate) team maintained their Mark and the 6

13th place position in the Winston Cup point standings after a hot race under the lights at Daytona International Speedway Saturday night.

Mark started the race in ninth place after turning a lap of 182.138 mph during qualifying on Friday. Even qualifying was affected by the Florida weather after rain washed it out on Thursday night. Mark was two cars away from qualifying on Friday afternoon but another storm delayed qualifying for three hours before he had the chance to take his two laps.

The rain stayed away on Saturday, but the intense heat remained. The Viagra® Taurus was tight throughout the entire race, but Mark was still strong in the draft. He moved up as high as fourth place by the time he had to pit for fuel under green on lap 53. The crew had a problem changing the right-rear tire, which caused a slower stop than usual and sent Mark back out in 14th place.

Even after the air pressure adjustments made during the first stop, Mark was still not pleased with the car's handling. He was in 15th place by the halfway point of the race. The first caution of the race came out on lap 89. The leaders used that opportunity to pit and this time Mark gained four positions in the pits as the team made more adjustments to the car.

Mark was in seventh place when the race resumed on lap 93. He was able to remain in a draft with the top-10 cars and with 20 laps to go, the team planed to bring Mark into the pits for only a splash of gas when the leader, Dale Earnhardt Jr., came into the pits. Unfortunately, only two laps later Mark got caught in an eight-car accident coming off turn four. He pitted immediately so the team could change the flat left-side tires and pull the front fender away from the tire. Mark pitted three times under caution for repairs and luckily the only damage was to the sheet metal.

He returned to the race at the end of the lead-lap cars in 24th place with 10 laps to go. Only two laps later the caution came out again when Jeff Gordon's engine blew. Mark decided to pit one last time for four tires and a few more adjustments to loosen-up the car since he was already at the end of the lead lap. The team hoped new tires and a wedge adjustment would help Mark in the final laps of the race.

Mark was 25th with only six laps to go and he used those laps to draft up as far as he could. He gained seven positions to finish the race in 18th place. Earnhardt Jr., went on to win his first race of the season. The finish maintained Mark's 13th place position in the point standings.

"We probably would have had a top-10 finish if we wouldn't have been caught in that wreck," Mark said. "I'm glad we all got through this race okay and nobody was hurt. I've never been a fan of restrictor-plate racing. The Viagra® Taurus was tight all night, but it was good enough to finish better than we did. If I had a few more laps who knows what might have happened. I might have finished 10th, or we could have been shuffled back to 30th. I'll be anxious to get back to real racing at Chicago next weekend."

"We were pretty good and had the prospect of having Mark in the top-five," said Jack Roush. "But with the wreck we got involved in, we'll never know. Nobody had anything for Earnhardt tonight."

Next weekend the Winston Cup series will race at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill., for the first time.