The 2006 UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400

Mark battled back to a sixth-place finish Las Vegas Motor Speedway 2006

Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Mark was strong early, taking the lead and leading 57 laps early on, before a setback in the pits dropped him back to 12th late in the race. Still, Mark and the AAA pit crew never gave up, fighting back for the sixth place finish and advancing one place to fifth in the Nextel Cup point standings.

“We had a really good car today,” said Mark after the race. “This is the best car that I’ve had in a long time. We had a couple of problems in the pits that set us back there late in the race, but the team gave me such a good car that we were able to battle back and get a good finish there at the end.

“We were able to get up front early and lead laps and compete and that’s what you have to do every week to win races. We’ll keep working at it and if we continue to get runs like today, we’ll be in good shape.”

Mark showed early that he would have one of the cars to beat in the race, starting 18th and advancing all the way into the top 10 after only 11 laps. By lap 26 he had powered his AAA Ford Fusion into the top-five, before moving to second on lap 38. Two laps later the day’s first caution was issued and nifty work in the pits with a 13.6-second stop put Mark back out in the lead when the race went green on lap 46. Mark would lead the next 51 laps of the race.

Mark eventually gave up the lead on a restart on lap 97 after the day’s Las Vegas Motor Speedway 2006

second caution. He would gain the lead back on lap 106, when crew chief Pat Tryson opted for a two-tire stop under caution on lap 106. Eventually Mark would again surrender the lead to cars on four tires. By lap 117 Mark had dropped back to third, before swapping positions a couple of times with teammate Greg Biffle.

Mark was still running in third when caution number four was called on lap 157. The team came down pit road for four tires and fuel, but lost three positions with a 14.23-second stop. Mark had advanced back to fourth position by the time caution was called for the fifth time on lap 187. This time a problem in the pits with the left front tire cost the team valuable time on pit road, resulting in Mark returning to the field in 11 th position when the race went green on lap 191.

Running in the dirty air, Mark quickly fell back to 12th. Mark would struggle with the car’s handling over the ensuing 43 lap run, with the car starting out extremely ‘tight’, before transitioning to very loose. Mark was unable to advance positions, and was still running in 12 th when caution number six was issued on lap 234. This time the team responded with a 13.7-second stop to take on four tires and make a wedge adjustment. The fast stop put Mark back in the top 10 at ninth when the field returned to green flag racing on lap 234 with only 33 laps remaining.

Mark battled back to eighth on lap 256, before taking over seventh position on lap 262, just two laps before the seventh and final caution was called on lap 268, setting up yet another green-white-checkered finish. Mark was able to pick up one more position, passing the No. 31 car of Jeff Burton on the final lap to move on to the sixth-place finish.

The finish moved Mark into the top-five in the Nextel Cup standings. Mark is currently fifth, 110 points out of first and only 25 points behind third. The team returns to action next weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway where Mark has two wins, 20 top-10 finishes and 12 top-fives. Mark will be making his 41st career Cup start at the 1.54-mile speedway.