Started :8th Finished: 9th
Mark earned his second top-10 finish of 2001, after starting eighth with a strong day of qualifying on Friday. The team went with a two-tire change strategy on both of its last pits, allowing Mark to move inside the field’s top 10, after running in the top 15 most of the day. Mark and the No. 6 crew struggled with the car’s handling for most of the race, but were still able to close out strong with the top-10 finish.
TIME FOR TEXAS:
After a hard-fought 11th place finish at Bristol, Martk and the No. 6 Viagra Racing team head out west to the Texas Motor Speedway for the Samsung/Radio Shack 500. Mark won the Winston Cup race in Texas in 1998, and has started all five of the races there inside the top 10.
GETTING STARTED:
Mark has never started the Texas race outside the field’s top 10. In fact his worst start at Texas came in 2000, when he started 10th. He has twice started the race sixth (‘97 & ‘99) while starting seventh (‘98) and eighth last year.
MOVING UP THE FIELD:
Mark has gained position (from start to finish) in every race this season, except for one. On average Mark has gained 15.16 positions per race. On two occasions this year (Daytona, 33/6 and Atlanta 39/8) Mark has gained over 30 places in a race. He gained 26 places last week in Bristol (37/11). In addition Mark was running in the field’s top 10 after starting 31st at Darlington, before getting caught up in a multi-car accident late in the race.
443 AND COUNTING:
After starting his 500th career Winston Cup race at Bristol, Mark has now started 443 consecutive Winston Cup races. The streak is currently the fourth longest in Winston Cup. Mark has not missed a start in a Winston Cup race since starting the first race in 1988.
WINNING AT TEXAS:
Mark won at Texas in 1998 after starting the race seventh. He also won the inaugural Busch Grand National Series race there in 1997. Mark went on to win two more Busch races at Texas in 1999 and 2000.
FIRST AND LAST:
This will be, ironically, Mark’s sixth Winston Cup race at Texas. He finished 38th in the inaugural race at Texas in 1997, after starting sixth. Last year Mark scored his second top-10 finish at Texas with a ninth place finish, after starting eighth in the race.
IN THE POINTS:
Mark is currently eighth in the Winston Cup point standings, trailing seventh place Ryan Newman by 10 points and leader Sterling Marlin by 163 points.
JR-44:
The No. 6 team will take JR-44 to Texas this weekend. JR-44 raced at Pocono last July where it qualified third, finished seventh and led four laps. It also ran the following week at Indianapolis, starting 25th and finishing 22nd.
Mark By the Numbers
|
Texas (Overall)
|
|
Five Races
|
|
One Top Five Finish
|
|
Two Top 10 Finishes
|
|
Five Top 10 Starts
|
|
One Win (1998)
|
Quoting Mark
"I really like our chances. It’s been a good track to us in the past. It’s my kind
of track and I like to race on it."
"They have down new asphalt there, so it will be a lot different. A lot of teams have tested there, and we have not, so we will be on a steep learning curve."
"When they lay down new asphalt on a track, it makes it like a new track. A lot of times we come out on the good end of that, still there will be an advantage for the ones who have tested there."
"They have down new asphalt there, so it will be a lot different. A lot of teams have tested there, and we have not, so we will be on a steep learning curve."
"When they lay down new asphalt on a track, it makes it like a new track. A lot of times we come out on the good end of that, still there will be an advantage for the ones who have tested there."
Mark's Winston Cup Career Record--Texas Motor Speedway
| Date | Event | Start | Finish | Laps | Reason | Money Won |
| 04/01/01 | Harrah's 500 | 8 | 9 | 334 | Running | $127,176 |
| 04/02/00 | DirecTV 500 | 10 | 11 | 334 | Running | $93,525 |
| 03/28/99 | Primestar 500 | 6 | 34 | 253 | Running | $58,975 |
| 04/05/98 | Texas 500 | 7 | 1 | 334 | Running | $356,850 |
| 04/06/97 | Interstate Batteries 500 | 6 | 38 | 143 | Engine | $42,000 |
One of NASCAR's All-Time Elite, Mark Martin
- Mark's 32 Winston Cup wins make him the fourth winningest active driver on the Cup circuit.
- Mark has currently started 443 races, the fourth-longest string of any current driver and the eighth-longest streak in Cup history.
- Mark's 41 all-time Winston Cup poles are the fifth most in Winston Cup History.
- Mark ranks fifth all-time in Winston Cup points standings.
- Mark has started 500 Winston Cup Races, finishing inside the top 10 on 296 occasions, inside the top five 189 times and visiting winner's circle 32 times.
- Mark's 45 career wins in the Busch series are a NASCAR record.
