Martin Caps Off Strong Weekend with Top-10 Run in Las Vegas Cup Race

Driving the No. 8 U.S. Army Chevrolet, Mark Martin posted his ninth top-10 finish in 11 career Sprint Cup starts at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Sunday's 10th-place result capped off a stellar weekend that saw Martin post his career-best qualifying effort of third in the Car of Tomorrow and collect his 48th career Nationwide Series victory on Saturday.

“Today was a very solid outing by our No. 8 U.S Army Team,” said Martin. “We laid down a great qualifying lap on Friday and backed it up with a strong run in our Soldiers' car. We made a great deal of improvement over last week and we’ll keep building on this and see what we have for them next week in Atlanta.”

Martin’s third-place qualifying effort was also his best in over a year, and the 10th-place finish was the best in three starts this season for the No. 8 Dale Earnhardt Inc. team.

“We just have to keep getting better each week,” added crew chief Tony Gibson. “Mark did a great job out there and once again this U.S. Army Team was solid on pit road. They battle like our soldiers with plenty of pride and spirit."

Martin, who led the first lap, virtually ran the entire race inside the top 10. His overall Cup record in 11 starts at Las Vegas Motor Speedway now stands at one win, five top fives and nine top 10s.

The U. S. Army team will return to action next week at Atlanta Motor Speedway, where Martin has two wins, 13 top-fives and 22 top-10s in 44 career starts.