Banquet 400
Kansas Speedway
Oct. 1, 2006
Started 19th – Finished 3rd

FUEL MILEGE GAMBLE NETS NO. 6 AAA TEAM THIRD-PLACE FINISH AT KANSAS; MARTIN MOVES TO THIRD IN POINTS

Martin moves to third in Nextel Cup points standings, 70 out of first and one point behind second

“We're still in this thing and we're going to fight 'til the very end.”
- Mark Martin after Sunday’s 3rd place finish at Kansas

KANSAS CITY, KANSAS – Mark Martin and crew chief Pat Tryson gambled big in Sunday’s Banquet 400 at Kansas and the payoff was huge, with Martin finishing third in the race and moving from sixth to third in the Nextel Cup point standings. Martin pitted for the last time taking four tires and fuel on lap 196 of the 267-lap event. Martin returned to the field in 14th position, but was able to conserve fuel during the rare long green flag run to end the race; surviving for the third-place finish while the majority of the field either ran out or were forced to pit for gas late in the race.

"The AAA team just really worked hard today, I'm proud of these guys,” said Martin after the race on pit road. Pat and the AAA team have struggled this weekend with the handling on our car. They made some changes for the race today and made a little bit of progress, but we were still a little bit off so on the last run, we switched into a different mode - into a fuel-saving mode and ran a little bit easier. We put a little bit of gas in the bank and it was great strategy by Pat Tryson and our AAA team based on not having the sheer speed to get up there and race with the leaders."

Martin battled with the car’s handling for virtually the entire race, with the No. 6 Fusion starting out ‘too loose to drive,’ before eventually turning into what Martin at one time described as the tightest race car he had ever driven. All the while, Tryson and the team continued to work in the pits to correct the car’s handling, while using pit strategy to improve their position on the track.

At one point Martin went a lap down to the leader after pitting under green on lap 125 while running in 20th position. However the day’s sixth caution was issued only five laps later and Martin was the recipient of the lucky dog free pass. Running in 17th position, the team used the opportunity after the seventh caution on lap 144 to take two tires, and Martin returned in seventh place when the field went green on lap 149. Martin reported a few laps later that he was happy with the car’s handling, as he advanced to sixth place just before the race’s ninth caution was issued on lap 171.

The team again came down pit road for four tires and fuel and the No. 6 AAA over-the-wall crew responded with a 12.51 second stop that sent Martin back out inside the top-five for the first time of the race. After another quick caution a few laps later, Martin got tangled up with lapped traffic and fell back to 11th position by lap 192. Four laps later the race’s 11th and final caution was called on lap 195, setting up the final scenario that would see the team take on as much fuel as possible, while Martin used his experience to save just enough fuel to go the final 71 laps of the race.

Martin started the race in 19th position based on Friday’s qualifying session, and was forced to deal immediately with the ‘tight’ nature of the car. He fell back to 20th by the time caution number one was called on lap 11. The team called for a two-tire stop and Martin returned in 15th position. He eventually drove his way inside the top 10 by lap 34, but dropped back to 12th and the car continued to handle poorly. The team made wedge and air pressure adjustments under caution on lap 59, but the car began to ‘push horribly’ over the next run, with Martin falling back to as far as 20th on lap 114 as Martin lost the lap after the green-flag stop just 11 laps later.

“We were really struggling with the car at different parts of the race today,” added Martin. “I had to slow down a little bit, or I would have wrecked like they did. We even went a lap down at one point, but we were able to get that back with the caution. In the end, we did exactly what we had to do. I want to really praise Jack Roush and Doug Yates for the carburetor on my car and for giving me the opportunity to put a little bit of gas in the bank there on that last run. We saved enough fuel, to where I actually ran hard the last lap because I was just racing to get to the white flag because then if we ran out we were at least the first car one lap down or whatever. It was a good race for our AAA team; we did a real smart job today."

The top-two finishers ran out of gas on the final lap of the race, and Martin came just short of pulling off the surprise victory. Still the team left Kansas with a top-five finish and their highest position in the points since leaving Martinsville second in March.

"Well, the race is on,” added Martin in the media center after the race. “That's what the fans deserve and that's what the competitors get. We needed a race like this today for us and we'll just see what happens.”

With the finish Martin moves to third in the point standings and trails first place Jeff Burton by just 70 points and second by a single point with only seven races remaining in the “Chase” to determine the Nextel Cup Champion. The series heads into Talladega Superspeedway next weekend, where Martin has two wins, but has gotten caught up in major accidents in his last three starts.

“Based on my past experience, my expectation would be to wreck next week at Talladega,” joked Martin. “But so far I haven't had a disaster, so let's go see what happens. If we come through Talladega, we might have a chance.

“We're still in this thing and we're going to fight 'til the very end.”