spent chasing the NASCAR dream from a single cockpit -- the No. 6 Roush
Racing Ford.Turns out it was merely a warmup.
Extenuating circumstances regarding chosen replacement Jamie McMurray's contractual obligations to Chip Ganassi Racing led Jack Roush to request Mark's return for an 18th season in the No. 6.
And while he truly had no desire to engage himself in the Cup Series circus one more time, Mark, ever selfless, obliged.
Judging by the 2005 season finale, he still has plenty of fight left.
Mark and teammate Greg Biffle treated fans to an epic duel in the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, a fierce door-to-door sprint off of Turn 4 that ultimately sent Biffle to victory lane by a scant .017 seconds -- the sixth-closest finish in NASCAR Cup Series history.
"I did everything I could," Mark said of the run to the checkers. "And I thought I had him, but we just came up inches short. Still, it was a lot of fun and it's really exciting to end the season this way.
"This is a great race team. These guys are killer. I've had the time of my life in 2005.
"I hope we can keep these guys (on the No. 6 team) together for another year, and we'll come back and make one more run at this thing."
All indications suggest Mark will once again be in the thick of the title hunt next November.
The No. 6 team got progressively stronger as the 2005 season unfolded, to the tune that his final ranking in the championship standings -- fourth -- was his highest position since the season's sixth week.
Moreover, on the strength of five top-fives -- including the season's lone win at Kansas Speedway in which he led a race-high 139 laps -- Mark improved five positions, from ninth to fourth, in the final eight races.
Alongside the Kansas victory, Mark scored second-place runs at Texas Motor Speedway and Homestead, runner-up finishes that both came at the hands of a teammate. Overall he had six top-fives in 10 Chase races.
"We scored a lot of points in the Chase," Mark said. "If you look at what we did, we were in the top five almost every race, except for two where one time we shot ourselves in the foot (at Phoenix), and the other time was the wreck at Talladega.
"I'm just hoping that I can drive cars that good again next year. That was fun."
Mark's sponsorship relationship with Viagra also comes to an end this season, with AAA taking over in 2006.
