The 2002 Pocono 500

Mark used the last 30 laps of Sunday's Pocono Mark after dark

500 to maneuver the No. 6 Viagra® (sildenafil citrate) Ford Taurus from eighth to second place, passing Ricky Rudd with only three laps to go, to claim second place. This second place finish gave Mark his sixth top-five finish of the season and his fourth top-five finish in the last five races.

"This was just an awesome effort by the Viagra® Racing team," said Mark after the race. "We really were not that great here today, but the team fought hard all day and we were able to get a second place finish."

Mark and the No. 6 team were the last car to pit under green-flag conditions on lap 159, and had hoped to win the race via fuel mileage, as they were the only car in the field that could run the last 40 laps of the race without refueling. However, a caution for debris on the track on lap 168 brought the entire field into the pits. Mark, who was running in fifth place, took four fresh tires and returned to the field running in eighth place when the race went green on lap 172.

Several of the race leaders only took two tires and were not as fresh as the No. 6 car. Mark worked his way to sixth place by lap 176 and into the top five by lap 179. He passed the Winston Cup points leader Sterling Marlin on lap 184 to move into fourth place with just 16 laps remaining.

One lap later Mark got around teammate Jeff Burton for third place, before overcoming Rudd with three laps to go, to move onto the second place finish.

Heavy rains on Thursday, caused water to seep from the track, and both qualifying and practice were cancelled on Friday. With the field unable to qualify, Mark started Sunday's race sixth, based on owner points. By Saturday afternoon, the No. 6 Viagra® Racing team had Mark's Ford Taurus running the fastest times in Happy Hour.

With the car running tight at the start of Sunday's race, Mark dropped back to ninth position by lap 20, and was running in eighth place when the first caution was called on lap 31. With the car 'pushing' and 'too loose', Mark came into the pits for four tires, fuel and rear end and air pressure adjustments. He returned to the field in 14th place when the field went green on lap 36.

Mark in line

Mark worked his way back up the field and was running in ninth place when green-flag pitting started on lap 64. Mark stayed out and led laps 70 and 71 - earning five bonus points - before entering the pits for four fresh tires and further adjustments to the rear of the car. He returned to the field in 13th place.

Mark broke back into the top-10 on lap 77 and was running in seventh place when the second caution of the day was called on lap 86. With the car still pushing, the No. 6 Viagra® racing team made another rear-end adjustment to the car and took on four tires and fuel. Mark returned to the field running in ninth position when the field went green on lap 92.

Mark began to power his way back up the field and was running in sixth position when caution was again called on lap 116. Pleased with the way the car was running, the No. 6 team opted only for four tires and after a stop of 14.76 seconds, returned to the field in fourth place when the field went green.

Mark was still running in fourth place when the field began to pit under green flag conditions on lap 152, but Mark was able to stay our for another seven laps - leading five more laps - before pitting on lap 159. The extra laps would have enabled the No. 6 team to go the distance without having to pit, had the field stayed green for the final 40 laps.

Still Mark was able to run to another strong finish, his sixth top-five finish of the season and his ninth top-10.

"The No. 6 team did a great job today," said team owner Jack Roush. "They had good pit stops, good strategy and a great car, and we are certainly happy about the finish they had."

The finish moves Mark to fourth in the point standings, 47 points behind third place Jeff Gordon and 212 points behind leader Sterling Marlin. The finish is Mark's 15th top-five finish at Pocono and his 22nd top 10 finish in 31 races at the track.