The 2003 UAW GM Quality 500

Solid was the word that Mark used to describe Saturday night’s 11th –place Mark at Lowes Motor Speedway

finish at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. The Viagra® (sildenafil citrate) Racing team was excellent in the pits, posting several quick stops and the car handled well as Mark moved up the field throughout the course of the race.

“It was a really solid effort,” said Mark. “It was a good run for us. We weren’t even close to the leaders, but it was a good run. We had really solid pit stops by the guys. It was a real solid race for Ben on the pit box and a real solid race for me.”

“The changes we made on the car - the calls he made and the calls I made - we had a successful race tonight, we just have to get faster."

Mark started the race 27th, but was running inside the top 20 by the 35th lap of the race. Mark had worked his way all the way to 13th place when the day’s first caution was issued on lap 86. Mark came into the pits to take on four tires, fuel and make a minor adjustment. A quick stop of 14.30 seconds put Mark in 11th place when the race went green on lap 94.

The car got really tight on the new set of tires and Mark dropped back to 14th place. The team came in on lap 154 for a green-flag stop to make a wedge adjustment in hopes of ‘loosening’ the car’s handling, while taking on four tires and fuel.

By lap 182 Mark was running in 13th place when the car began to ‘push’ in Mark hits the pits at night

the corners. The team used the night’s fourth caution to pull a spring rubber in hopes of again loosening the car’s handling. The adjustment was not enough and the car was still handling ‘tight’ when caution was called on lap 231 with Mark running in 12th position. The team came in and made another wedge adjustment, taking two rounds of bite out of the car, while taking four tires and fuel.

Mark was running in 11th position when the field went green with just under 100 laps remaining. Mark broke into the top 10 on lap 268, but again the car’s handling became tight. The team came into the pits on lap 296 and took two more rounds of bite out of the left rear. Mark returned the field in 12th place when all the green-flag stops had cycled through.

The car’s handling became neutral and Mark was able to move into 11th place on lap 300. The veteran driver was able to maintain position and move on to the 11th place finish.

“The car was perfect it just wouldn't run as fast as those guys so we've got to work on that,” added Mark. “At least we ran a lot better than we have been. We were real solid in every way and if we can start doing that more often, then we'll be getting on the right track."

Mark and the Viagra® (sildenafil citrate) Team return to action next week at Marksville.