The 2002 Tropicana 400

Mark continued to close the gap in the Winston Cup points race, with a ninth-place Mark leads the pack

finish in the Tropicana 400 on Sunday. The finish, Mark's 13th top-10 of the season, moved the veteran within 49 points of Sterling Marlin and first place in the championship points race.

Mark started the race 13th, but with the car handling extremely loosely, dropped to 24th place by lap 16. After the day's second caution came out on lap 16, the Viagra® Racing team decided to come into the pits for gas, while most of the field pitted. Mark entered pit road in 24th place and returned to the field in 25th position, when the field went green on lap 21.

While the rest of the field began pitting on lap 54, the extra fuel allowed Mark to stay on the track, eventually taking the lead on lap 72 and earning five bonus points in the points race. Mark would lead for the next 12 laps of the race, but ran short on fuel on lap 83 and was forced to coast into the pits. Still, the Viagraā Racing Team reeled off a 14.6-second pit stop to take on four tires and make air pressure adjustments. Mark returned to the field in 25th position on lap 85 and went one lap down to the leader.

Mark got the lap back on lap 131, after the field again began green-flag pitting; again taking the lead on lap 139. The No. 6 team got a break on that same lap when caution was called after the No. 15 car blew an engine, leaving oil all over the track. After taking on four tires and fuel in another impressive stop of 14.92 seconds, Mark returned to the field running in eighth place when the field went green on lap 148.

Still struggling with the car on the starts, Mark dropped back to 13th place, before working his way back into the top 10 by lap 182 when the day's third caution was called. The No. 6 team once again came into the pits to take four tires and fuel and returned to the field in 11th place when the race went green on lap 188.

After falling to 11th place on lap 191, Mark made his way back to eighth place on lap 202, before moving to seventh place on lap 234. The No. 6 Viagra® Ford Taurus had climbed to sixth place when the day's fifth and final caution was called on lap 241. Mark came into the pits for fuel only. Three cars didn't pit and the No. 6 returned to the field in seventh position when the field went green with 20 laps remaining on lap 247. Despite running on old tires, Mark was able to stay in the top-10, holding off the Dale Earnhardt Jr. for the final three laps of the race and moving on to claim the ninth place finish.

Mark Martin

"The guys did a good job today. The car struggled some on the take off, but by the end it had really settled in and was running well," said Mark. "Still it was another good run for the Viagra® Racing team, and another strong top-10 finish."

The finish is Mark's 13 top-10 of the season and his ninth in the last 10 races. Mark's 13 top-10 finishes in 2002 leads all drivers and he has now posted top-10 finishes in 10 of the last 12 races.

Mark and the No. 6 Viagra® Racing team take their pursuit of the Winston Cup Points Championship to New Hampshire next week, where they will look to continue their string of impressive runs.