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Congratulations, Ricky Rudd, for winning the 2001 Pocono 500 at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, PA. |
Mark earned another
top-five finish this weekend at Pocono Raceway en route
to reaching the top-10 in points. Mark started the race
in fifth place after posting a speed of 168.039 mph on
Friday afternoon.The ViagraŽ (sildenafil citrate) Taurus was tight at the start of the race, but Mark opted not to make adjustments during their first stop on lap 26. The 14.54-second stop moved Mark up one position, which put him in seventh place when the race resumed on lap 29. Mark remained in the top-10 despite the car getting loose. The crew made an air pressure adjustment in 15.15 seconds and sent Mark back out in 12th place. The car's handling began to improve and Mark returned to the top-10. He was in 10th place by the halfway point of the race. The car was not turning as well as Mark wanted so the crew continued to make slight adjustments during the next few stops. With about 50 laps to go, Mark told the crew that the car was the best it had been all day while he was in seventh place. On lap 159, the caution came out when rookie Casey Atwood blew his engine. The ViagraŽ team's 15.2-second pit stop sent Mark back to the track in fifth place. The car was working well and Mark maintained his fifth place position to finish the race while Ricky Rudd won his first race of the season. Mark's strong finish moved him up to 13th in the Winston Cup point standings. Now he trails 10th place by only 93 points. "The only way I could be happier today is if we could have won," Mark said. "We really weren't all that fast but we dug in there and fought hard and we got a top-five out of it. We had good pit stops today, but we need to find a little more speed in the corners and down the straightaways. We've got a little bit more work to do. We've got half of it, now we just need the other half. When we get the other half, we'll be up front to win." Next weekend the Winston Cup series heads out west to Sears Point Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. It will be the first of only two road courses on the schedule. |
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