The 2002 Samsung/Radio Shack 500

A record amount of rainfall fell in the Dallas/Ft. Worth The 6 car

area over the weekend, forcing the start of the Samsung/Radio Shack 500 to be delayed by almost 24 hours. Still, in the end it was not enough to stop Mark from racing the No. 6 Viagra® (sildenafil citrate) Ford to his second top-five finish of the season; a third place finish Monday at the Texas Motor Speedway.

"I really love working with this No. 6 Viagra® Racing team," said Mark after the race. "We get better the more we work together. We probably had one of the best cars here today on the long runs. It's just a great feeling to work with these guys."

Mark went into the weekend having never qualified outside the top-10 at Texas and continued that streak by laying down the eighth-fastest lap in qualifying on Friday. Heavy rains would soon move in, forcing the cancellation of both of Saturday's practice sessions, and the cars would not touch the track again, until the heavy precipitation finally subsided on Monday.

The car started off loose and Mark was quickly shuffled back into 13 place by lap 11. However, as would be the case for the majority of the day, the car's handling began to improve by lap 20, and Mark broke back into the top 10 just before NASCAR issued a planned caution on lap 35. Taking on four tires and fuel, Mark gained one place in the pits and found himself running ninth when the field went green on lap 42.

Once again, Mark struggled with the car on fresh tires and the No. 6 Ford dropped back to 12th place by lap 49. Mark began to find his niche with the car by lap 57 and broke back into the field's top 10 on lap 68, before passing several cars to move to fifth place by the race's 100th lap.

Mark pitted under green flag conditions on lap 105 to take on four fresh tires and fuel and was running 10th when most of the field had finished pitting by lap 116. Once the car settled in, Mark once again began moving up the field, and by lap was running fifth on lap 158 when the field began to pit under green-flag conditions. Mark stayed out and led the 164th lap of the race, earning five bonus points, before entering the pits to take four tires and fuel and make a wedge adjustment.

The No. 6 returned to the field 10th on lap 166 and moved back up to sixth place by lap 172. Back-to-back cautions on laps 171 and 183 slowed the field for the next 20 laps, and Mark was running sixth when the field went green on lap 191. Again the No. 6 struggled on fresh tires and Mark dropped back to ninth on lap 195. Finding his rhythm with the car, Mark began moving back up the field on lap 212, and used the next eight laps to pass three more cars up to sixth place before green-flag pitting began.

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Mark led his second lap of the race on lap 232 before heading into the pits to take four tires and fuel and make another wedge adjustment on lap 235. Caution came out soon after on lap 241, and several cars were able to pit under the caution. The caution put Mark and the No. 6 Ford at the tail end of the lead lap - in danger of loosing a lap - and in 10th position when the field went green again on lap 246.

Fortunately for the No. 6 team caution came out again lap 253 and Mark was able to restart back with the leaders, as well as make a stop to take four more tires and fuel. With 50 laps remaining in the race Mark had worked his way back into eighth place on lap 284, and he found himself running fifth when the races final caution came out on lap 306. The No. 6 team came in and took on two tires and enough fuel to finish the race. Quick work in the pits put Mark back out on the track in third position when the field went green on lap 313 with 21 laps remaining. Mark would close on second place Jeff Gordon with a few laps remaining, but would be unable to overtake the 24 car. Roush teammate Matt Kenseth went on to win the race.

Mark ran the 14th fastest time during the first and only practice session of the weekend, before qualifying eighth. From the start, the No. 6 team knew the car would be strong.

"This was the first race all year that I felt after driving the car on Friday that we really had a shot at this thing," said Mark. "And we did. We are happy with third, but we certainly were not slower than Matt or Jeff Gordon at the end."

"Mark did a really good job on the track today," said crew chief Ben Leslie. "I'm proud of the No. 6 team and the effort that everybody gave in both getting the car ready and during the race. We'll have to use this to build on and continue to get better as the season goes on."

"Ben Leslie and the Viagra® Racing team did a great job," said owner Jack Roush. "The car tended to start off loose and then the car would get tight, but a lot of cars were doing that. Mark adjusted to it; Ben and the team worked well on the car and the pit stops were good.

"They put the car in a position based on their pit strategy to be on the lead lap in the end, when a lot of cars were not. They raced for second place with a good possibility to take that position."

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Mark jumped three places in the standings to fifth and is 144 points behind Marlin. Mark, who looked extremely strong in the final 50 laps, is still searching for his first victory since 2000, but has posted four top-10 finishes already this season.

“Man, I love this team,” Mark said. “All of these guys, they’re building me better and better cars and they’re doing good on pit road. I’m really, really privileged to work with this Viagra team. They’re good guys and I think that we’ll be strong this summer. I think we’ll get better the more we work together.

“We maybe had one of the very best cars here today on the long run, but we were pitiful on new tires, so the way it finished up it was good to where we could just take two. I wished we didn’t have to take any, but we had to. It’s just a great, great feeling to get a finish like this.”

The finish was Mark's second top-five finish of the season and his fourth top-10 finish in seven races. The run also marked Mark's 297th career-top 10 finish and 190th top-five finish in 501 Winston Cup starts. Mark and the No. 6 Viagra® Racing team head to Martinsville next week for the Virginia 500.