The 2004 Samsung/Radio Shack 500

Mark and the Viagra®(sildenafil citrate) Racing Team had the fastest car on the race track as the laps were winding Mark in a line

down on the Samsung Radio Shack 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, but their hands were tied. The team had overcome a slow start, working their way up the field, only to be setback by an untimely caution mid-way through the race. The caution caused three-fourths of the field to go a lap down, and saw Mark’s shot at a fourth straight top-10 finish at Texas come to halt.

“We had the car there at the end,” said Mark after the race. “The car started off slow, but by the end we were as fast as anyone on the track. Unfortunately, we needed a break there when we were running as the first car one lap down and we never got that break.

“Then we pitted and the caution came out and cost us another lap,” added Mark. “If we had gotten that caution just a couple of laps earlier we would have been racing inside the top 10 there at the end, instead we got trapped two laps down and had to just go out and get what we could.”

The team qualified 28th on Friday, but posted some of the fastest times on the track during Saturday’s practice session. However, Mark’s car was loose during the early part of Sunday’s race and the No. 6 Viagra® Ford was running in 29th place when the day’s first caution was issued on lap 17. In need of better track position, crew chief Pat Tryson opted for right side tires only for the team’s first pit stop of the day. The gamble paid off and Mark returned to the track in 18th position when the field resumed green-flag racing.

The field would embark in a lengthy green flag run that would see the handling of Mark’s car change to tight. Mark had dropped back to 23rd position when the field began green-flag pitting. The No. 6 team came in on lap 79 for four tires and fuel. After a 16-second stop the team was running in 20th place once the field had cycled through its stops on lap 87.

Mark’s car started off loose on the run, but started to tighten as the run progressed. Eventually Mark would go down a lap, after being passed by the field’s leader on lap 104, while running in 21st place. The team used the day’s second caution on lap 118 to come into the pits for four tires, fuel and make a massive wedge adjustment to help offset the car’s handling.

Mark would return to the field in 23rd place, the fifth car one lap down to the leader. After a caution on lap 196 the team came into the pits and again took two tires and fuel. Once again the gamble paid off and Mark returned to the field in 18th place, the third car one lap down when the field went green on lap 204.

With the car running some of its best lap times of the day, Mark moved up the field and to the front of his lap on 232, running in 15th place, an impressive half a lap in front of 16th. The No. 6 Viagra® Ford had adjusted into one of the fastest cars in the race, and for the next 30 laps Mark would run at the front of his lap, just one caution away from the ‘free pass’ that would put the team back on the lead lap, in good position and ready to make a run at the top 10.

However, that break would never come, and instead the team was hit with a dose of horrible luck. Running in 14th place the team came into the pits for a green-flag stop on lap 261. Only about half of the field had pitted when the No. 0 car of Ward Burton smacked the wall on lap 261, causing the day’s fourth caution and killing the team’s chances of a top-place finish. As a result of the caution, Mark was caught two-laps down, as only 10 cars remained on the lead lap. He would have to spend the rest of the day fighting lapped traffic for all he could get.

True to form the team refused to give up. Mark was running in 23rd place when the day’s sixth caution was called on lap 282. The team stayed out and Mark moved up to 21st place, where he was running when the field went green for the final time on lap 300. Mark would use the remaining 34 laps to gain every position possible. By lap 326 he had moved into 18th, before out-dueling the No. 88 car for 17th place on the race’s final lap. Elliot Sadler went on to win the race.
“We never gave up,” said Mark. “We fought our way back to the front of our lap early on and just needed a break to get back on the lead lap. We didn’t get that break, but we kept on fighting for all we could get. This is a great team. There are some areas that we have to improve on, but I’m confident that we’ll get there. We just have to keep plugging away at it.”

Mark is currently 17th in the Winston Cup points race, but moved to within 45 points of 10th place. NASCAR takes a week off next Sunday for Easter, before returning to action in two weeks at Marksville.