Crown Royal 400
Richmond International Raceway
May 6, 2006
Started 2^nd – Finished 11^th                 

MARTIN WEATHERS TOUGH NIGHT IN RICHMOND FOR 11^th-PLACE FINISH

Martin posts ninth-top 15 finish of the season, advances to fourth in Nextel Cup points

 “It was a tough night…we had a car that was good enough to win the race.”
- Mark Martin after Saturday night’s 11^th-place finish at Richmond

RICHMOND, VA. – Mark Martin and the No. 6 AAA Racing Team were able to survive an untimely caution early and a late miscommunication on pit road to run to their ninth top-15 finish in 10 races this season. The 11^th-place finish might not have been indicative to the type of car Martin had for the 400-mile event, but it was good enough to move Martin up one spot to fourth in the Nextel Cup points race. Martin, who qualified second and led early, gained eight points on leader Jimmie Johnson and 86 points on third-place Matt Kenseth.

“It was a tough night,” said Martin. “We ended up with a solid finish, but we had a car that was good enough to win this race, so it’s really hard to be in a real good mood about tonight. I guess when the smoke clears and the dust settles, we ended up with a good points night and we almost got a top-10 out of it. It would have been nice to contend for the win – like I think we could have – but we’ll take this and move forward to Darlington.”

Martin started the race second based on Friday night’s strong qualifying effort. He led lap two, before settling back into second for the next 20 laps. Martin continued to run in the field’s top three for the next 46 laps until caution was called on lap 66 bringing the race leaders down pit road for four tires and adjustments. Martin lost two positions in a heated battle on pit road, restarting in fifth when the field returned to green.

Martin had driven all the way back to third, before coming into the pits under green on lap 185. In a stroke of bad luck, teammate Carl Edwards spun out attempting to enter pit road behind Martin. The spin brought out the caution just as Martin had entered the pits. The veteran was able to wisely drive on through the pits and stay on the lead lap, but he lost position back to 14th as the field returned to green on lap 191.

Martin began patiently working his way back through the field. By lap 251 Martin had maneuvered his No. 6 AAA Ford Fusion back inside the field’s top 10. He moved into ninth place on lap 315, where he was running when caution was issued after Robbie Gordon cut a tire and spun into the turn one wall on lap 346. In a crucial error of miscommunication, Martin – along with Jeff Burton – entered pit road while the pits were closed. The result was that Martin had to go to the tail end of the longest line, in 15^th position, when green-flag racing resumed on lap 352 with only 48 laps to go. Martin was able to battle back to 11^th position, fighting for 10^th down to the final lap of the race.

The team returns to action next weekend at Darlington International Raceway, where Martin has one win, 16 top-fives and 24 top-10 finishes in 39 starts at the historic 1.366-mile track.