ViagraŽ Racing Team Closes Out 2002 With Third Straight Top-Five Run
Mark Martin and the #6 ViagraŽ Racing Team
Homestead-Miami Speedway/November 17, 2002
Roush Racing

Homestead, Fla. - (Nov. 17, 2002) - "We really fought for it and you can't say that we ever gave up. I don't know how close it was, but it was pretty close; I'm proud of this team," said Mark Martin moments after climbing out of his car after finishing fourth in Sunday's Ford 400. The strong finish moved Martin to within just 38 points of first place in the Winston Cup Championship race as the season came to a conclusion.

"We realized back in May that we might have a shot at winning this championship and it just never went away for us. It kept on being a reality all the way down to the end. I'm glad it's over. We gained points the last three races every race, so, in a way, I wish it wasn't over. This team is great. They put me in race cars the last three weeks that have been incredible."

Martin and the ViagraŽ (sildenafil citrate) Racing team concluded their 2002 season with their third straight top-10 run and their fifth top-10 finish in as many weeks. The fourth place finish marked Martin's 12th-top five run of the season and the 22nd time the Viagraâ Racing Team finished inside the field's top-10.

Martin, who went into the race 89 points outside of first place in the Winston Cup point's race, pulled to within 38 of eventually champion Tony Stewart, but was unable to overcome the deficit. Still, the season marks a remarkable turnaround for Martin who finished 12th in the points a year ago, while posting only three top-five finishes in all of 2001.

As promised, Martin and the No. 6 team fought to the last checker flag dropped, picking up three in the final 10 laps of the race to move inside the field's top five.

"We said we would fight until the very end and we did," said Martin after the race. " We never gave up and we made a point's race out of it. I just wasn't able to score quite enough points in the end. I wish we could have scored about 100 more points, but we did all we could do. We fought as hard as we could from the first green flag in February until the checkered dropped today and nobody can take that away from us."

The team struggled with the car on Friday and qualified a disappointing 34th. With second place locked up coming into the race, Martin wasted little time moving up the field. By lap 12 the veteran driver had the No. 6 Ford Taurus running 25th. Martin broke into the field's top 20 by lap 49. Martin ran the next 100 laps in the middle of the field before making his move forward. By lap 148 he was running in 15th place when the field began green flag pitting. The No. 6 team came in for four tires and a wedge adjustment to help tighten the car's handling. After an excellent stop of 14.589 seconds, Martin found himself in 13th place once the filed had cycled through.

Martin broke into the field's top 10 by lap 180. He was running in 11th place when the day's fourth caution was called on lap 195. The team came into the pits for four tires and more wedge adjustment. Another fast stop of 14.95 seconds sent Martin back out in sixth place when the field went green on lap 204.

With the car still loose Martin dropped back to ninth place by lap 220 and was running in eighth when the day's fifth caution was called on lap 226.

Crew chief Ben Leslie and the No. 6 team opted for a two-tire stop and Martin returned to the field in sixth place when the race went green on lap 233 with only 35 laps remaining.

Caution was again called for the sixth and final time of the day on lap 236, but the ViagraŽ Racing team opted to stay out running in sixth when the field went green with only 24 laps remaining. Martin struggled with the car, dropping back to eighth place by lap 257, but the veteran mounted a late run, gaining three spots to fourth place when the checkered flag dropped on the race and the 2002 season.

"We came from the back of the pack and wrestled with an ill-handling car all day and we got it right at the end and the car was really, really good," said Martin. "We worked our way up all day."

"We made it close," added Martin. "We gained points on a guy (Stewart) that's incredibly hard to beat for three races in a row. I'm as proud of that as anything we did all year long. We beat him the last three races in a row and I'm telling you that's a tall order."

"We fought hard until the very end and we never gave up. Nobody can ever take that away from us and I'll never forget the effort that these guys on this team made. I feel like they rejuvenated my career."

• TOTAL WINNINGS 2002 SEASON: $5,251,905 (Includes $1 million - No Bull event)
• TOTAL POINTS: 4762
• POSITION IN STANDINGS: Second (-38)
• STARTS: 36
• WINS: 1
• TOP 5: 12
• TOP 10: 22

DATE	RACE & TRACK	START	FINISH	STATUS	LAPS COMPLETED	WINNINGS
February 10	Bud Shootout Daytona International Speedway	18	12	Running	70	$32,955
February 14	Gatorade 125 (Race 1) Daytona International Speedway	17	25	Out	45	N/A
February 17	Daytona 500 Daytona International Speedway	39	6	Running	200	$300,995
February 24	Subway 400 North Carolina Speedway	17	21	Running	392	$75,293
March 3	UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 Las Vegas Motor Speedway	6	3	Running	267	$199,233
March 10	MBNA America 500 Atlanta Motor Speedway	39	8	Running	325	$84,833
March 17	Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 Darlington Raceway	31	29	Running	278	$73,073
March 24	Food City 500 Bristol Motor Speedway	37	11	Running	500	$93,378
April 7	Samsung/RadioShack 500 Texas Motor Speedway	8	3	Running	334	$219,358
April 14	Virginia 500 Martinsville Speedway	17	8	Running	500	$82,833
April 21	Aaron's 499 Talladega Superspeedway	19	37	Accident	166	$85,258
April 28	NAPA Auto Parts 500 California Speedway	26	5	Running	250	$110,458
May 5	Pontiac Excitement 400 Richmond International Raceway	18	4	Running	400	$106,708
May 18	The Winston Lowe's Motor Speedway	5	18	Engine	51	$40,800
May 26	Coca-Cola Racing Family 600 Lowe's Motor Speedway	25	1	Running	400	$280,033
June 2	MBNA Platinum 400 Dover International Speedway	13	41	Accident	283	$82,553
June 9	Pocono 500 Pocono Raceway	6	2	Running	200	$141,003
June 16	Sirius Satellite Radio 400 Michigan International Speedway	9	9	Running	200	$87,198
June 23	Dodge/Save Mart 350 Infineon Raceway	12	7	Running	110	$93,048
July 6	Pepsi 400 Daytona International Speedway	18	5	Running	160	$117,883
July 14	Tropicana 400 Chicagoland Speedway	13	9	Running	267	$100,133
July 21	New England 300 New Hampshire International Speedway	17	16	Running	300	$85,233
July 28	Pocono 500 Pocono Raceway	17	13	Running	175	$78,298
August 4	Brickyard 400 Indianapolis Motor Speedway	9	28	Running	160	$133,858
August 11	Sirius Satellite Radio at The Glen Watkins Glen International	15	10	Running	90	$83,998
August 18	Pepsi 400 Michigan International Speedway	17	5	Running	200	$107,138
August 24	Sharpie 500 Bristol Motor Speedway	21	23	Running	497	$93,818
September 1	Mountain Dew Southern 500 Darlington Raceway	2	11	Running	367	$88,578
September 7	Chevy Monte Carlo 400 Richmond International Raceway	4	6	Running	400	$87,288
September 15	New Hampshire 300 New Hampshire International Speedway	7	16	Running	207	$85,433
September 22	MBNA All-American Heroes 400 Dover International Speedway	32	2	Running	400	$148,593
September 29	Protection One 400 Kansas Speedway	9	25	Engine Failure	250	$92,833
October 6	EA Sports 500 Talladega Superspeedway	2	30	Running	186	$82,363
October 13	UAW-GM Quality 500 Lowe's Motor Speedway	2	16	Running	333	$81,433
October 20	Old Dominion 500 Martinsville Speedway	20	10	Running	500	$84,258
October 27	NAPA 500 Atlanta Motor Speedway	3	8	Running	248	$103,533
November 3	Pop Secret Microwave Popcorn 400 North Carolina Speedway	5	2	Running	393	$130,923
November 10	Checker Auto Parts 500 Presented By Pennzoil Phoenix International Raceway	7	4	Running	312	$129,218
November 17	Ford 400 Homestead Miami Speedway	34	4	Running	267	$148,083

Mark Martin's 2002 Race-by-Race

Mark Martin 2002 Season Articles - Page 1.

Mark Martin 2002 Season Articles - Page 2.

Mark Martin 2002 Season Articles - Page 3.