The 2005 Pepsi 400

Mark went into Saturday night’s Pepsi 400 looking for his first Cup victory at Daytona International Speedway in what Riggs Crashes Mark at 05 Pepsi 400

was most likely his final cup start at the famed superspeedway that lies just a few miles from his home. The No. 6 Viagra® (sildenafil citrate) Team gave Mark the fast car he would need to pull off the story book finish, but Mark’s hopes turned sour only 34 laps into the rain-delayed race as Mark was caught up in an eight car accident that would see his hopes of a solid finish come to an end, as his car was transported back to the garage area on a roll-back.

“That’s just been our story at Daytona,” said Mark moments after leaving the infield care center. “We had an awfully good car tonight and I know what happened could happen anywhere, but that’s just been the way it’s been here. I’m glad this is the last time I ever have to race here.”

The race was rain delayed for over two hours and the first 10 laps were run under caution. Once the green flag dropped, Mark wasted no time powering his No. 6 Viagra® Ford towards the front. By lap 28 Mark had worked his way inside the top-10. He broke into eighth place on lap 32. Moments later the field would begin green-flag pit stops. As the No. 24 car of Jeff Gordon went to pit, the No. 42 car began to slow behind him, causing the No.10 car of Scott Riggs to first slam on the brakes and then turn a hard right. The resulting turn left Mark with no place to go but up, which eventually carried him into the wall, causing teammate Kurt Busch to run into the back of Mark’s car as both were then collected by Riggs. The wreck caused severe damage to all three cars.

“I’m disgusted right now,” added Mark. “I just didn’t want to wreck. I wasn’t Mark early running at 2005 Pepsi 400

really worried about winning; I just didn’t want to get in an accident. That’s just a silly way to wreck. It could happen anywhere, but someone just wasn’t communicating.”

The team worked adamantly to make repairs to the car and get Mark back out on the track, and despite massive damage to the No. 6 Taurus, Mark was able to go back out on lap 105 and pick up four positions. True to its nature, the No. 6 Team never gave up as Mark picked up his last position on the final lap of the 160-lap race.

“Pat Tryson and the team did a great job getting that car back out on the track,” added Mark after the race. “I couldn’t believe how well it drove considering all of the damage it sustained, but we were able to go back out and pick up positions. They never gave up and I’m really proud of them for the job they did tonight. They gave me a car that was good enough to finish in the front and then when things went wrong, they dug in there and never gave up. We’ll just take that and go to Chicago and look to win the thing.”

The team returns to the track next weekend in Chicago, where Mark has two top-10 finishes in four starts. Despite the finish, Mark remained inside the Nextel Cup top 10, in eighth place. He is currently 25 points behind seventh and 310 behind the leader.