The 2003 Pocono 500

A 13.90 second pit stop by the Viagra® (sildenafil citrate) Racing crew Mark at Pocono

helped move Mark’s No. 6 Ford Taurus into third place with just over 40 laps remaining in Sunday’s Pocono 500, helping Mark attain a second place finish - his sixth top-five of 2003. Mark, who earned his 17th top-five finish in 34 races at Pocono, boasted one of the fastest cars all day, leading on three separate occasions. In the end, Mark would run to his fifth second place finish at Pocono Raceway.

“The guys did a great job this weekend,” said Mark. “They gave me a great car and that last pit stop was key. I’ve been saying this all along, but I see really good things ahead for this race team. We got a great stop there with 40 to go and that helped us get by some other good cars. In the end, had a really fast car, just not quite the fastest.” The second place finish moved Mark up four spots to 11th in the Winston Cup point’s standings, only 21 points outside of 10th place.

The Viagra® Racing team was fast all weekend, running some of the quickest times in Friday’s practice session, en route to a sixth-place qualifying effort. Position in much of Sunday’s race relied heavily on pit sequence. Mark started sixth, but with the car ‘pushing really bad’ early, the veteran driver had dropped to eighth place by lap eight when the day’s first caution was issued.

Mark and crew chief Ben Leslie opted to take four fresh tires in addition to making drastic changes to the car’s chassis. The turns forced a longer stop of 16.483 seconds. In addition, much of the field took only two tires and Mark returned to the field in 21st place when the field went green on lap 16.

Mark at Pocono

The car remained ‘tight’ in it’s handling, but had maneuvered his way into 13th place by lap 40. The cars that had taken only two tires started pitting only a few laps later, and Mark had climbed to fourth place by lap 28 when he too came into the pits for four tires. Mark and Leslie decided to attempt to ‘free up’ the car’s handling and a stop of 14.59 seconds had Mark running in ninth place once the field had cycled through its stops.

Mark had climbed into eighth place when caution number two was called on lap 53. Mark came into the pits to take two tires and make additional adjustments. Much of the field opted to stay out and not pit, and Mark found himself in 16th place once the field returned to green flag racing on lap 61.

By lap 85 Mark had moved into 12th position. A couple of laps later the team’s that had opted not to pit under the lap 53 caution began having to pit under green-flag conditions and Mark began to steadily gain positions, eventually taking the lead on lap 92, earning five bonus points before heading into the pits on lap 94 for four tiles and a minor chassis adjustment.

Once the field had cycled through its stops, Mark was running in 10th place and posting the fastest times of any car on the racetrack. By lap 126 he had cracked the top-five once again, as the field began to pit. Mark took the lead again on lap 128, leading three laps before taking to the pits again on lap 130 to take on four tires and make minor adjustments. Mark came out of the pits in seventh place and again turning the fastest times on the track, in many cases a solid tenth of a second faster than the closest car.

The day’s third caution was called on lap 152, setting up the crew’s 13.9-second stop and Mark’s potential run at victory lane. Mark came into the pits in sixth position, and returned in third with just over 40 laps left in the race. The timing of the caution, would mean that none of the car’s in the field would be able to run the remainder of the race without coming into the pits for fuel, so one by one the field began entering the pits for gas, and the Viagra Ford Taurus took the lead for the third time on lap 176, leading three laps before making a fuel stop on lap 178.

Mark reentered the race in ninth position, the second car of those who had Mark couldn't get Tony under caution

already stopped for fuel. The race remained free of caution and by lap 190 ever car had been forced to take on fuel, and Mark found himself in a 10-lap race to the finish with leader Tony Stewart. The shootout was short-lived however, as caution came out on lap 192. The race returned to green on lap 197, but the day’s fifth and final caution on that same lap, put an end to Mark’s strong bid at his first ever win at Pocono. Stewart went on to win the race and Roush Racing teammate Matt Kenseth finished third.

"We couldn't beat Tony unless something happened, but I was sure going try to make something happen there at the end,” said Mark. “I wanted to run it out. We had a great car on the long run and it's just a tribute to Ben Leslie and the whole Viagra team. The Taurus worked well on the long run and we got a lot of long runs and that was really good for us.

“But it was a great effort by Ben Leslie and the whole Viagra Team today,” added Mark. “The guys really had the car going well and Jack (Roush) had us set up with great fuel mileage and we had great horse power today as well, so I guess we had it all today.”

Mark and the Viagra® Racing Team return to action next week in Michigan, where Mark has tallied four wins, 13 top-five finishes and 23 top-10’s in 34 races. Last season, Mark finished ninth in the spring race and fifth in the fall race at Michigan.