After taking off two races at Sonoma and New Hampshire, Martin returns behind the wheel of the No. 8 U.S. Army Chevrolet for the Coke Zero 400 at the famed Daytona International Speedway.
AT DAYTONA...
Starts: 46 (22)
Wins: -
Top 5’s: 9 (4)
Top 10’s: 16 (7)
Poles: 1 (1)
Highest finish: 2nd (’07)
First time: 2-14-82 (31st)
Last Year: 7-1-07 (17th)
Last time: 2-17-08 (31st)
Worthy Note: Martin has never won in a Sprint Cup point race at Daytona, but he has won there in the Craftsman Truck and IROC series.
MARTIN AT DAYTONA
A resident of Daytona Beach, this will be Martin’s 47th start at his ‘home’ track of Daytona International Speedway. Martin has tallied nine top-five finishes and 16 top-10 finishes in 46 Sprint Cup races at Daytona.
IN VICTORY LANE AT DAYTONA
Martin has never won a Sprint Cup Series points race at Daytona International Speedway, but he does boast a victory in the Budweiser Shootout, two IROC wins (2003 and 2005) and he won the Craftsman Truck Series race there in in 2006.
UNRESTRICTED - MARTIN ONE OF ALL-TIME BEST AT RESTRICTOR PLATE RACING
Despite not being a big fan of the restrictor-plate tracks, Martin has proven to be one of the best at the craft. In fact, Martin’s 37 top-10 finishes in restrictor-plate races is the most ever. Over all he has 80 starts at restrictor-plate tracks (ties for second most ever), with 19 top-fives (fourth most), two wins and three poles. He has an average start of 15th at those races, with an average finish of 15.9.
FIRST HALF CLOSING IN
This race will mark the 13th of Martin’s 26 starts for 2008 (counting the two all-star events). Through the first 12 point races of the season, Martin has tallied two top-five finishes, five top-10s, while completing 99.8 percent of his laps and leading 69 laps.
QUOTING MARK MARTIN:
“I’m excited about getting back in the car at Daytona. I’ve had a couple of races off and its always good to go out and get your batteries charged back up. We had a good car at Daytona during Speedweeks and should have gotten a good finish if we had not of gotten caught up in a late accident. So, we’ll go there this week and try to fine-tune what we learned in February.
“These DEI cars have always been strong on the restrictor plate tracks, and despite the fact that I’m not really a huge fan of this type of racing, I’m looking forward to seeing what (crew chief) Tony Gibson and the guys will put under me. They have been stellar all year and it continues to be awesome to work with these guys and drive their car. We are going to keep trying hard to put that No. 8 in Victory Lane this season, and I can’t think of a better time than the Fourth of July weekend at Daytona.”
MARK MARTIN FAST FACTS:
· Martin has two wins in the IROC series and a Budweiser Shootout victory at Daytona.
· Martin has finished inside the top six in six of his last 13 races at Daytona.
· Martin has finished inside the top-10 in 16 of his last 33 at Daytona and seven of his last 16 summer races.
· Martin has nine top-five and 16 top-10 finishes in 46 starts at DIS.
· Martin has finished in the top-10 in 56 percent of his 80 restrictor-plate races.
· Martin’s 37 top-10 finishes in restrictor plate races are the most ever.
· Martin has two wins, 19 top-fives and three poles in his 80 restrictor-plate starts.
LAST YEAR AT DAYTONA...
July 7, 2007 –
Daytona Int’l Speedway
Started 9th, Finished 17th
Martin battled back to finish 17th after picking up 13 positions in the closing laps of the Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway.
Martin restarted his No. 01 Principal Financial Chevrolet in 30th position after being forced to pit with a cut right-rear tire just moments before the race went green on Lap 147 of 160.
Martin was running in 16th position when the night’s seventh caution was issued on Lap 143. The team opted to stay out, but moments before the field was set to resume green-flag racing Martin noticed that he had a tire going down.
The No. 01 car entered the pits just as the rest of the field went green. Martin was able to take on right-side tires and stay on the lead lap. The race’s eighth caution just a few laps later allowed Martin to catch up with the field for the final restart and battle for track position.
Martin started the race ninth based on owner’s points after qualifying was rained out. The veteran fought a tight-handling racecar in heavy traffic for the majority of the race.
