NEWS & NOTES
EVERYTHING BUT A WIN: In 44 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Pocono Raceway, Mark Martin has scored 19 top-five finishes, 31 top-10s and three pole positions, but has yet to win a Sprint Cup Series race there. Pocono is one of only six active tracks where Martin has yet to visit Victory Lane.
SO CLOSE: Martin has finished in the runner-up position at Pocono six times—a stat that ties his personal best at Dover (Del.) International Speedway and Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.
LAPS LED: Martin has led at least one lap in 27 of his 44 races at Pocono, second only to Dover where he has led 29 races. In 1996, he started from the pole at Pocono and led a career-best 121 laps at the track before settling for a ninth-place finish.
MORE POCONO BESTS: Martin’s 31 top-10 finishes and 36 lead-lap finishes at Pocono are the most for the NASCAR veteran at any active racetrack. Meanwhile, his 19 top-fives rank second for Martin, just behind the 21 he has recorded at Dover. His average start of 8.6 and average finish of 10.7 at the Long Pond, Pa., triangle make Pocono the only non-road course track where both stats are in the top 10.
LOOP STATISTICS: Martin has spent a little more than 77 percent of the last eight races at Pocono Raceway inside the top 15, which ranks him second overall. Martin also ranks fifth overall with a driver rating of 98.2.
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THE NO. 5 TEAM: Under the direction of crew chief Alan Gustafson, the Kellogg’s/CARQUEST team has competed in eight races at Pocono, earning one top-five finish and two top-10s. In the team’s first race together with Gustafson at the helm – June 12, 2005—it rebounded from a 38th starting spot to finish fourth—the team’s best finish to date with Gustafson.
IN THE TOP 12: Martin and the Kellogg’s/CARQUEST team currently sit 12th in the Sprint Cup standings, 31 points ahead of 13th and just 20 points behind 10th.
CHASSIS CHOICE: Gustafson has chosen Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-538 for Sunday’s race at Pocono Raceway. This is the same chassis that Martin drove to victory at Phoenix International Raceway in April.
HENDRICK AT POCONO: Hendrick Motorsports, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, has tallied 11 wins, 47 top-five finishes, 80 top-10s and 11 pole positions in 50 events (157 starts) at Pocono.
MILESTONE WIN: Jimmie Johnson’s performance Sunday at Dover marked the 180th Sprint Cup victory for Hendrick Motorsports. Rick Hendrick ranks first in wins among car owners in the modern era and second all-time.
QUOTES
MARK MARTIN, DRIVER, NO. 5 KELLOGG’S/CARQUEST CHEVROLET (ON NOT HAVING WON AT POCONO.): “I’ve had close ones, but I’ve never been close to winning it at the end of the race. I’ve had a lot of races when I had a really good car there. Last year, in the second race, we were awesome. I thought we had a shot at it last year, but we had a mistake in the pits after leading about 55 laps, so that one didn’t happen either. Been close. I’ve had a lot of second-place finishes, but I’ve never gotten to a point where I thought, ‘I have this one.’”
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