Veteran Excited About Moving Into the Daytona 500

"That was awesome guys...we can win, we can win the Daytona 500," said an energized Mark Martin as he pulled his No. 01 U.S. Army Chevrolet into the garage after finishing sixth in Saturday night's Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway.  "It's just a pleasure to drive this car for the U.S. Army team and to work with these guys -- and to run good is just a bonus," added Martin.  "The car was really fast, did well on the long runs and handled well in the corners.  That wasn't a win, but I believe that if we can make our car handle that good on Sunday, I think we can have a shot to win the Daytona 500."

Martin started the race 10th and drafted his way all the way to fourth in just the first two laps.  He eventually was shuffled out of the draft and moved back to 11th by Lap 13 of 70.  He was running 10th when the mandatory caution was issued on Lap 20.

After the break Martin moved in and out of the top 10 for the next several laps.  He radioed the team on Lap 39 that his U.S. Army Chevy was good enough to win with the right mix of help.  However, Martin would struggle finding the drafting help he needed to move back through the field as he settled in at eight place for the next several laps.  "We didn't have a ton of help -- we almost got wrecked there early and several of the fast cars that could have helped got around us," explained Martin. "The car was fast enough to get up there and make some noise, but we just couldn't find the right partners to help us make that happen."

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