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Mark Martin Advance - Chicagoland

Tuesday July 8, 2008

 

MARTIN LOOKS FOR FIRST WIN AT CHICAGOLAND

After a strong run at Daytona, Mark Martin and the No. 8 U.S. Army Team turn their attention to the 1.5-mile oval of Chicagoland Speedway. Martin will be looking for his third top-10 finish in the last four races this weekend.

AT CHICAGO…
Starts: 7
Wins: – Top 5’s: – Top 10’s: 3
Poles: —
Highest finish: 6th (’01)
First time: 7-15-01 (6th)
Last Year: 7-15-07 (14th)

Worthy Note: Chicagoland is the only track on the Sprint Cup circuit that Martin has never posted a top-five finish.

SHORT HISTORY AT CHICAGOLAND
This will be the Sprint Cup Series’ eighth visit to Chicagoland Speedway, where Martin has finished inside the top 10 in three of his seven visits. He finished sixth in the inaugural race in 2001 and ninth the following year. In 2004, Martin had one of the fastest cars in the race and was running third when he lost his engine with only two laps remaining and was forced to settle for a 24th-place finish. He rebounded in 2005 with a 10th-place result and finished 8th there in 2006 and 14th in a backup car in 2007.

TOP-FIVE SHUTOUT
Chicagoland is the only track on the Sprint Cup circuit where Martin has never posted a top-five
finish. It is one of four tracks (Chicago, Pocono, Loudon and Daytona) where the veteran has not won in a Sprint Cup point race.

FIRST HALF REVIEW
Martin has competed in 13 of his scheduled 26 events for 2008 (counting the two all-star events). Through his first 13 point races of the season, Martin has tallied two top-five finishes and six top-10s, while completing 99.8 percent of his laps and leading 69 laps. Martin’s six top-10 finishes are more than 17 drivers who have competed in all 18 events.

WHAT’S THE POINT
Martin is currently 28th in the Sprint Cup driver points, having missed five events this season. However, Martin has averaged 120.8 points per event in 2008, an average that would have him sitting in ninth place in the standings had the veteran competed in all 18 events.

QUOTING MARK:
“I’m excited to get back on the track at Chicagoland this weekend. After a weekend of restrictor plate racing, I’ll be glad to get back to more of the type of racing that I enjoy. The racing at Chicagoland has gotten better each year as the track has matured and the different grooves have started to come in. It’s the kind of place where I think we should see some really good racing this weekend and hopefully we’ll have this No. 8 U.S. Army Chevrolet right in the thick of things.

“I know a lot has been going on the past few weeks, but the thing to keep in mind now is that our goal is to finish out this year strong in this No. 8 DEI car. I’m 100 percent committed to helping get Tony Gibson, this entire No. 8 team, Dale Earnhardt Inc. and the U.S. Army into victory lane before this season is over. Everyone has done an outstanding job this season. I’ve had the time of my life driving these cars and I can’t think of a group that is more deserving to win a race. I’m going to do everything I can to make sure that happens. Hopefully we can make a solid run at it this weekend at Chicago.”

MARK MARTIN FAST FACTS –
• This will be Martin’s eighth start at Chicagoland Speedway.
• Martin finished sixth in the inaugural race at Chicagoland in 2001 and 14th there last season.
• Martin has a 13.6 average finish at Chicagoland.
• Martin has led in four of the seven races at Chicagoland.
• Martin is one of 17 drivers who have competed in all seven races at Chicagoland.
• Chicagoland is the only track on the Cup circuit where Martin has not posted a top-five finish.
• Martin and the the No. 8 U.S. Army are currenlty 17th in Sprint Cup owner points.

Last Year at Chicagoland…
July 15, 2007 –
Chicagoland Speedway
Started 4th, Finished 14th

Mark Martin picked up two positions on the final restart to bring home a 14th-place finish in the USG Sheetrock 400 at Chicagoland Speedway. Martin had to come from the back of the field after wrecking his primary car in the early moments of Saturday’s first practice session.

Martin was indeed stout on Friday, qualifying fourth. He was forced to give up his second row starting position after the team went to the backup car and Martin had to start at the back of the field.
The team recovered from the accident and Martin was able to get a full practice session in during Happy Hour on Saturday.
True to character, the veteran U.S. Army driver wasted little time flexing his muscle once the green flag dropped on Sunday, picking up five spots on the race’s first lap. He broke into the top 30 on lap 22 and had moved to 24th on lap 46 when the field began green flag pits stops.

The team used a duo of pit stops, a four tire stop on under green on lap 50 and a two tire stop under the race’s first caution on lap 58 to move Martin up to 17th position on lap 63.
Martin broke into the top 15 on lap 158 and ran inside the top 16 for the remainder of the race. He restarted in 16th position on the last restart of the race with 11 laps remaining and was able to gain two positions to move on to the 14th place finish.

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This report was provided by an outside PR source and posted by Kim DeHaven.

 

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