The 2003 Sirius 400

"It wasn’t the easiest day and it sure wasn’t pretty, but it’s a top-10 and Mark Martin

we’ll take it, “ said Mark moments after he and his Viagra® Racing Team had just concluded a ninth-place run in the Sirius Satellite 400 at Michigan International Speedway. The finish, the team’s second straight top-10 run, moved Mark back inside the top-10 in the Winston Cup point’s race.

Mark and the Viagra Team struggled with a tight-handling car for the majority of the race; constantly in search of the proper adjustment that they never quite found. However, the team was able to use a solid effort in the pits and Mark’s expertise behind the wheel, to earn its seventh top-10 finish of 2003.

Mark was running in 10th position when the day’s ninth and final caution was called with just 10 laps remaining. The team opted to stay out and take its chances on old tires, and the No. 6 Viagra Ford Taurus was running in sixth place when the field went green with five to go in the race.

The majority of the cars behind him pitted for fresh tires, and Mark quickly dropped to ninth place when the field went green. However, the gamble to stay out paid off, as Mark was able to maintain ninth position and cross the finish line for his second top-10 finish in as many weeks. "We had a severe handling problem, but thanks to the grit of that race team we pulled off a top-10 finish. I'm real proud of that,” added Mark. “We really had severe handling trouble, so it was a real nice finish for the way we missed it on our setup today." "The car was better on the short run and we got all of those cautions, so that put us in the position to get a top 10."

The car started the race extremely tight, and by lap 37 Mark had fallen to 20th place when the day’s third caution was issued. The team came into the pits for the second time of the day to take on four tires, fuel and make severe adjustment to the car’s chassis. The adjustments paid off in the beginning and Mark quickly moved up to 15th position, before the car began to become tight once again.

The day’s fifth caution on lap 72 gave Mark the opportunity to again return to the pits to help adjust the car’s handling. The stop took longer than normal due to the adjustments and Mark returned to the field in 24th position – his worst position of the day - when the field went green on lap 77.

As was the case for most of the day, the adjustments paid off in the short run and my lap 99 Mark had moved back into 15th position. Mark had advanced to 14th place on lap 103, when the car’s handling began to tighten up again on lap 103. The team entered the pits for a green-flag pit stop on lap 121 to make additional adjustments and take four fresh tires.

Mark Martin

Again, the adjustment worked early on, as Mark had moved into 13th place by lap 129, when again, the car began to tighten up. However, this time the car settled in again, and when caution was called on lap 151 Mark came into the pits for tires and fuel only. A quick stop of 14.70 seconds put the No. 6 Ford in 12th place when the field went green on lap 163. Four laps later, Mark maneuvered the car into 10th place.

Mark had dropped to 11th when caution was again called on lap 170. With only 30 laps to go, the Viagra? Racing Team had to decide whether to come into the pits for fresh tires or stay out for track position. The team decided to pit and take four tires and after another fast stop of 14.65 seconds, Mark returned in ninth place when the field went green with only 25 laps remaining.

Mark fought for position for the next 15 laps before the day’s final caution with 10 laps remaining. The team opted to stay out this time and Mark was able to hang on for the ninth-place finish.

Mark joined four other Roush drivers in the top 11, including race-winner Kurt Busch.

The finish moved Mark back into the top-10 of the Winston Cup Point standings, 43 points behind ninth place and only 193 points outside of fifth place.

The team returns to action next week in Sonoma for the season’s first road race of the season.