Pocono II: Mark Martin qualifying report

Martin Qualifies Second at Pocono
Veteran earns back-to-back outsides poles and third second-place qualifying effort of 2008

LONG POND, PA. (Aug. 1, 2008) -- For the second week in a row Mark Martin will start on the outside of the front row in second position along side the No. 48 car of Jimmie Johnson. Martin's No. 8 Steak-Umm Chevrolet turned a lap of 53.712 (167.560 mph), which was bested only by Johnson's pole effort of 53.503. The effort is Martin's third outside pole of the season and his second in as many weeks.

"I just can't say enough about Tony Gibson and this No. 8 team," said Martin. "These guys are putting me in great race cars each week and it's really showing in our qualifying efforts.

"As for the race, we qualified third here in June and we did not run quite as well in the race. We know that it will be key tomorrow that we have two productive practice sessions, and if we can build on what we have, then we may just have a car that can be competitive on Sunday."

"I also have to give a big shout out to these ECR (Earnhardt Childress Racing) engines," added Martin. "These engines have some really big power under the hood and they sure make it a lot of fun to drive these cars."

Sunday's Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 will mark Martin's 44th Sprint Cup start at Pocono Raceway, where he boasts six second-place finishes, 19 top-fives and 30 top-10 finishes, but is still looking for his first career victory.

"Well after last week I'm finished making predictions," joked Martin. "But we should have a good car and I know I'd love nothing more than to see this No. 8 team and that Steak-Umm car in victory lane on Sunday."

The qualifying effort marks the seventh time in 2008 that Martin and the No. 8 Dale Earnhardt Inc. team have started inside the top five in 16 events this season.

-credit: dei