The 2005 UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400

Mark and the No. 6 Viagra® (sildenafil citrate) Las Vegas Motor Speedway 2005

Racing Team saw their Vegas luck run out midway through Sunday's UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400. Mark came down the pits under caution on lap 87 to take on four tires, fuel and make a track-bar adjustment, but his No. 6 Ford dropped a cylinder while on pit road, forcing the team to take the car behind the wall to work on the problem. The result would see Mark return to the race 24 laps down, in 35 position and running on only seven cylinders. Still Pat Tryson and his Viagra® Team charged on, racing strong to the end, while picking up six valuable positions to finish 30th. The finish was good enough to keep Mark in the Nextel Cup Top 10 in the point standings.

"The guys on the Viagra® Team did a great job today getting us back out on the track," said Mark. "You never want to have to race that way, but every position matters and we were able to do what we had to do and get everything we could get out of it. The car was starting to come around some and I think we would have been okay, but we'll just take this and move on to Atlanta where we are very excited about racing next week."

Mark qualified 19th on Friday, but after working with the car throughout both practice sessions on Saturday, the team had Mark in third place on the speed charts after Happy Hour. Mark struggled with a loose car and heavy traffic early and fell back to as far as 24th. The team continued to make adjustments and Mark was optimistically confident - having begun to turn lap times competitive with the leaders - when the team came down pit road on lap 87 running in 19th position.

"Okay guys, let's put together a good stop and make a run for it here," Las Vegas Motor Speedway 2005

Mark radioed his crew just moments before loosing the cylinder. Mark's optimism turned sour just moments after the crew's stop when he informed crew chief Pat Tryson that he had dropped down to seven cylinders. The team came down pit road to look at the engine and opted to go behind the wall to fix the problem and attempt to finish the race. The move paid off as Mark was able to pick up six more positions and move on to a 30th place finish when the checkered flag fell.

Mark and the team will look to rebound next week in Atlanta, where Mark led 227 laps and finished second last fall. Mark is currently 10th in the Nextel Cup point standings, 151 points behind first place.

Mark was honored by Las Vegas Motor Speedway before the race, where he has been one of the track's most successful competitors. Mark won the inaugural event at Vegas in 1998 and has posted six top-10 finishes, including four top-fives, in eight Nextel Cup starts there. In addition Mark won two Busch races at Vegas, including Saturday's Sam's Town 300, his record-extending 47th win in the Busch Series.