Mark Martin and the No. 01 U.S. Army team battled back for one of their strongest outings of the season last weekend at Indianapolis. This week they will look to take the No. 01 Chevy to Victory lane at Pocono, where Mark Martin has six second-place finishes, but has never won.
Mark Martin AT POCONO
This will be Mark Martin's 42nd race at Pocono, where he has finished inside the top 10 on 28 occasions. He boasts 19 top-five finishes at Pocono, the most of any driver.
STILL LOOKING FOR THE WIN
Mark Martin has never won at Pocono, but he has come close on numerous occasions. The veteran has posted second-place finishes on six different occasions. In fact Mark Martin has finished second at Pocono in three of his last nine starts. In addition, he has finished third there on four more occasions. Mark Martin has finished second or third in 25 percent of his starts and top five in almost 50 percent of the starts. Pocono is one of five tracks on the circuit where Mark Martin has not won a Nextel Cup point race (Chicagoland, Indy, Daytona and New Hampshire).
GETTING STARTED
Mark Martin has posted 27 top-10 starts in 41 races at Pocono.
POINTING IT OUT
Despite having missed five races in 2007, Mark Martin is still 17th in the Nextel Cup driver point standings; ahead of 13 drivers who have competed in all 20 events and 19 who have competed in one or more races. In addition Mark Martin trails 16th place Greg Biffle by only 44 points and 15th place Jamie McMurray by just 59. He is only 172 points out of the Chase cutoff point, and the No. 01 Chevy that he copilots is 10th in the owner points; only 34 points behind seventh.
GINN RACING MERGES WITH DEI
For the second week Mark Martin and the No. 01 U.S. Army Team will race under the banner of Dale Earnhardt Inc., as a result of last week's merger between DEI and Ginn Racing. DEI fields four Nextel Cup cars, with the No. 8 of Dale Earnhardt Jr., the No. 1 of Martin Truex Jr. and the No. 15 of Paul Menard making up the four-car stable.
QUOTING MARK
"We had a pretty good car there in the spring, where we were able to get a top-10 finish in a race that was cut short by the rain. Pocono is one of my favorite race tracks, and it is hard to believe that we've never won there with all of the success that we've had there over the years. I know that we've finished second there a whole bunch, and hopefully we can go there and run well again.
"We had a great car at Indy last weekend and I kind of messed that up with the transmission. Maybe this week I can make that up to Ryan (Pemberton) and the guys and go out and try to put this team in victory lane where it really deserves to be.
"It's been a crazy couple of weeks with the merger with Ginn Racing and DEI, but now it's really time to put all that behind us, look to the future and get down to the business of winning races on the track. I know this team can do it, we just have to put it all together and finish the job."
FAST FACTS
* Mark Martin has finished second at Pocono on six different occasions.
* Mark Martin has finished second or third in over 25 percent of his 41 starts at Pocono.
* Mark Martin's 19 top-five finishes at Pocono are the most of any driver.
* Mark Martin's 28 top 10 finishes at Pocono leads all drivers.
* Mark Martin has posted 27 top-10 starts in 41 races at Pocono.
* Mark Martin has finished second in three of his last nine at Pocono.
* Mark Martin and the No. 01 U.S. Army are currently ninth in Nextel Cup owner points.
* Mark Martin is 18th in Nextel Cup driver points, ahead of 13 drivers who have competed in five more races in 2007.
