The 2002 Pontiac Excitement 400

Mark and the No. 6 Viagra® racing team raced to a fourth-place finish Sunday in the The Viagra 6 Car

conclusion of the Pontiac Excitement 400. The race, which actually began on Saturday night before being red flagged due to persistent rainfall, marked Mark's 300th career Winston Cup Top-10 finish in 505 starts.

While slow on the start, the No. 6 Viagra® Ford Taurus proved to be one of the fastest cars on the track on the long runs, and Mark was able to move the car into third position, after passing Jeff Gordon on lap 359 of the 400 lap race. Ready to mount a run for the win, Mark was gaining a tenth of a second per lap on race leaders Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman, when the day's 12th caution on lap 364 halted Mark's serious shot at the win.

"We had a great run going - we were catching the leaders - when the cautions came we really didn't have a chance to win," said Mark, just moments after climbing from the car. ""We had some breaks today, but on the other hand the only chance we really had to win the race was for it to go green about the last 80 laps."

Even with the cautions, the car was strong enough to run to Mark's fourth top-five finish of 2002 and the team's eighth top-10 finish in 11 races, as Mark went on to finish fourth on the day. Mark started the race 18th after struggling with the car during the first practice and qualifying. The car began to get better during the happy hour where Mark ran the 12th fast lap. Rain delayed the start of the race and the green flag finally dropped around 9 p.m. on Saturday night, amidst a light drizzle.

By lap 56 Mark had moved the Viagra® Ford Taurus into 13th position. Mark Martin

On lap 60 NASCAR called a caution for rain and Mark came in to take four tires and a round of wedge out of the rear. However, the rain would only get worse and by lap 66 NASCAR red flagged the field and eventually the race was postponed to Sunday at noon.

Because all of the field didn't pit, Martin was running in 18th position when the race restarted amid a sunny Virginia sky on Sunday morning. Mark would be strong all day on the long runs, but would struggle on restarts and after cautions. He quickly moved the car into 14th position by lap 88 when the first caution of the 'day' was called for debris on the track. With the car 'feeling good' Mark stayed out, but would be slowed on the restart, dropping from 14th to 20th just four laps after the field went green on lap 93.

Martin would drop all the way back to 24th by lap 100, before the car settled in. Over the course of the next 48 laps Mark would move straight back up the field, passing car after car, and running in 13th position when the next caution came out on lap 148. With the car 'pushing' a bit, Mark came in to take four tires and some wedge out of the rear end. Excellent work in the pits by the No. 6 Viagra® racing team, sent Mark back onto the track in ninth position after a 14.60 second stop.

Mark would wait over the next few laps for the car to settle in for the long run, but cautions on laps 171 and 195 would slow the No. 6. When the third caution in 40 laps came out on lap 215, Mark came in for four tires and a wedge adjustment on lap 217 running in 10th positions. Another fast pit stop (15.61) sent Mark back out in 10th place, his highest position of the day when the field went green on lap 220.

Mark would move the car to fourth position by lap 241. The next several Mark Martin

laps were littered with cautions, as the yellow flag fell on laps 227 and 247. When the field went green on lap 251, Mark was running in fifth position, but not as fast on the start, the No. 6 Ford Taurus dropped back to 11th place by lap 263, before the car found its niche and began to work its way back up the field on the next lap. From lap 264 to 300, Mark worked his way back up to seventh place.

"The car was a little slow to begin but it was incredible on the long run," added Mark. "It showed that all day. We would fall back to the middle of the field and then march right back up on the long run."

Caution was issued on lap 311 and Mark came in for four fresh tires and a rear-end adjustment. Another excellent pit stop of 14.70 seconds send Mark back out in fifth position. The field had to be red-flagged on lap 312 to clean water from the track, but Mark was in fifth place when the field went green on lap 316.

The No. 6 team was hoping for green-flag racing the rest of the way, in order for Mark to work the car through the field, but it wasn't meant to be. The race would see three more cautions in the final 80 laps, and Mark would move on to the strong fourth-place finish.

"We were lucky today, but we sure could have been luckier," said Mark. "We were catching the leaders there at the end. We only had a chance on long runs. The car was perfect there on that run and we were really gaining on the cars in front of us. It was really starting to shape up, and we really needed it to go to the end and we had four or five more cautions.

"Still, we had a really good run and we are happy to run fourth. The car finished extremely well and the crew did an awesome job of getting the car ready and especially in the pits today."

"I'm very proud of the team and the job they did today," added crew chief Ben Leslie. "We had really good pit stops and they kept putting Mark out in better position. Mark did a great job in the car today and hopefully we will just keep getting better and better."

The finish moved Mark into fourth place in the point standings, just two points out of third place. Teammates Jeff Burton (3) and Matt Kenseth (6) both joined Mark in the top-10 of Sunday's race. All four of Roush Racing's Cup teams are now ranked in the top-10 of the Winston Cup point standings (Mark 4th, Kenseth 2nd, Busch 3rd and Burton 9th).

Mark and the No. 6 team will take next weekend off for Mother's Day, before returning to the track the following weekend for the Winston in Charlotte.