Mark Martin and the CARQUEST/Kellogg's team earned their first top-10 finish of the 2009 season after taking sixth in the Sunday, March 29 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event at Bristol Motor Speedway.

"I had so much fun today," Mark said.
"The CARQUEST/Kellogg's Chevrolet was really good in long runs. I thought we had a shot at the win. The last change we made, though, the car just wasn't as happy. It didn't take off like it did in runs before. It doesn't matter though. It was an awesome day. We've had good speed everywhere we've gone (this year)."

For the second straight race week and the 43rd time of his career, Mark started from the pole position. During Friday's qualifying session, he cycled the .533-mile track in 15.256 seconds at an average speed of 125.773 mph. Mark also became the first repeat pole winner of the season.

Links Kellogg's Racing Official Site 2009 Sprint Cup Series Race Schedule Hendrick Motorsports NASCAR.com

During Saturday's practice, however, the CARQUEST/Kellogg's Chevrolet was lacking the speed it had on Friday. Mark and the team spent much of the day on Saturday finding a solution. When the green-flag waved on Sunday, Mark pleased the team when he reported that the Chevrolet's speed had improved from the day before.

The Chevy's handling had improved as well, neutralizing completely midway through the first green-flag run. When the caution flag waved for the second time on lap 59, the team opted to stay on track and retain track position. While the track position was beneficial in the opening laps, the lack of fresh tires proved costly as the green-flag run continued.

A much-needed caution occurred again on lap 123. Mark entered pit road for his second pit stop of the day. The pit crew gained changed four tires and added fuel, gaining three positions and moving Mark to 12th place.

The CARQUEST/Kellogg's Chevrolet was now just a tick tight in the center of Bristol's tight turns. Mark dropped two positions while he searched for a better way to turn through the corners. The team helped him out on lap 190 when it made an air pressure change to the left rear tire to help loosen the handling. The team once again had a great pit stop, moving Mark from 14th to 11th during the stop.

Twenty laps later, Mark announced that the air pressure adjustment had helped considerably. Crew chief Alan Gustafson agreed, noting that the Chevy's lap times had improved. Steadily, Mark found his rhythm on the track and began advancing through the field. During the 126-lap run, Mark gained three positions to take over eighth place.

During a caution period on lap 318, Mark and Alan discussed further adjustments to the CARQUEST/Kellogg's Chevrolet. Afraid of making the car too loose, the duo opted for just another small air pressure adjustment. The pit crew's swift streak continued, and Mark gained two more positions on pit road.

Mark quickly moved into fifth place. Following another air pressure adjustment during the team's fifth pit stop, he moved into fourth place. With 50 laps remaining, and for the first time during the race, Mark mentioned the finish of the race.

"I want to go for this one guys," he told his team. "But we also need a good finish today, so I'm going to do what I can."

With the support of the team behind him, Mark completed the race with a sixth-place finish -- the team's best finish of the season so far. Mark moved to 31st in the standings, one point behind 30th. With the finish, the team gained 46 points on its Chase for the Sprint Cup hopes. Mark now trails 12th place and the cutoff for the Chase by 143 points.

"This is what starts some forward momentum for us," Mark said. "It was an awesome day. I'm looking forward to Martinsville."

Mark and his team will travel Sunday to Martinsville (Va.) Speedway for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, which will air live on FOX-TV at 1:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.