The 2002 Pepsi 400 at Michigan

Mark used the final 12 laps of the race to gain five places and run to his 8th Mark pits at Michigan Pepsi 400

top-five finish of the season, with a fifth-place finish in Sunday's Pepsi 400 at Michigan International Speedway. Mark, who led 20 laps of the race, used the strong run to gain 10 points on points leader Sterling Marlin in the championship race.

Mark was the race's leader when caution came out on lap 162. The No. 6 Viagra® (sildenafil citrate) racing team opted to pit and take four tires, while the majority of the field took only two. The No. 6 Ford Taurus returned to the field in 16th place when the field went green on lap 168 with 32 laps remaining. The fresh tires allowed Mark to work his way up to 9th place by lap 185 when the day's seventh and final caution of the day was called for oil on the track.

Mark stayed out and was able to maneuver up to fifth place in the race's final 12 laps.

"This team has a lot of heart," said Mark after the race. "We were not bad on speed today, but we had to fight all day. We were pretty good in the end and that says a lot about this race team. It didn't come easy, but we never gave up and it really paid off in the end."

The No. 6 team struggled with the car's setup for much of the weekend and for the first several laps of Sunday's race. Mark started the race 17th, but quickly dropped to 21st position. The car's handling would start out loose, but would quickly move too tight and hard to turn in the corners. The team took only two tires after the day's second caution on lap 27 and used a 6.82-second pit stop to return to the field in fourth place. However, with Mark continuing to struggle with the handling and the car running tight, the Viagra® Ford Taurus dropped to 17 by lap 43 and to as low as 24 by lap 79.

The team used a green-flag pit stop on lap 79 to make track bar and air pressure adjustments, while taking four fresh tires. The adjustments were successful and by lap 91 Mark was running the fastest times on the track, while working his way up the field. Mark had worked his way to 14th place by lap 124 and eighth place by lap 129 when the team pitted under green to take four more tires and make additional air pressure and wedge adjustments. Some of the field took two tires only and Mark returned to the field in 16th place.

By lap 140 Mark had broke into the field's top 10, running in ninth place when the day's fifth caution was called on lap 142. The Viagra® Racing Team opted not to pit and stayed on the track, taking the lead on lap 143 and earning five bonus points in the championship race. Mark would lead the next 21 laps, putting distance between him and the rest of the field.

Mark in the pack

Caution no. 6 would occur on lap 164 and Mark and the No. 6 team opted to come into the pits for four tires and a minor wedge adjustment. Most of the field would take only two tires, but the No. 6 team thought that four fresh tires would give the No. 6 more speed in the end. After a quick stop of 15.10 seconds, Mark returned to the field in 16th place when the field went green on lap 168; first of all the cars taking four tires. Mark was faster than most of the cars on four tires and by lap 183 the No. 6 Viagrā Ford had broken into the top 10. Mark was running in ninth place when the day's seventh and final caution was called on lap 185. The No. 6 again opted not to pit and was still in ninth place when the field went green on lap 188, with only 12 laps remaining in the race. Mark would use those 12 laps to pick off four more cars and move on to the fifth-place finish. Dale Jarrett went on to win the race.

"This was a championship type effort by the Viagra® Racing Team today," added Mark. "We really wrestled with the car on the starts and in traffic, but we kept plugging away until we found what would work and we were fast in the end when it counted. I just can't say enough about the effort that the team gave me today."

Mark moves to within 43 points of point's leader Sterling Marlin; 17 points ahead of third place Jimmy Johnson. The Viagra® Racing Team will travel to Bristol, Tenn. next weekend for Saturday night's Sharpie 500 - the third night race of the season.

The finish marked Mark's eighth top-five finish of the season, but his first since early July. It is his 15th top-10 finish of the season and his second in a row. Mark has now finished in the top 10 of the last 13 races. The finish was Mark's 13th top five in 34 races at Michigan and his 23rd top 10. He finished ninth there in June.