Wreck leaves Marlin with 39th-place finish
By Dave Rodman, Turner Sports Interactive
July 9, 2001
3:12 PM EDT (1912 GMT)
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Sterling Marlin said he was taken out of a shot to win Saturday night’s Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway by a rules package he abhors.
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Pole-sitter Sterling Marlin found himself in the middle of a 12-car pileup on lap 142.
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But after adjusting his car and “playing chess” the best he could to maneuver into position to have a chance, a pileup involving no less than 12 cars with less than 20 laps to go cost him not only a shot at his first win in 165 starts, but also Dodge’s first in its return to the NASCAR Winston Cup Series.
Marlin, whose last win came in the 1996 Pepsi 400, started from the Bud Pole and fell back almost all the way to 30th with a car that was alternately loose and tight. But he and crew chief Lee McCall adjusted the car to the point he felt somewhat better about it.
Then, on about lap 142 in a cycle of green flag pit stops, Kevin Harvick and Mike Wallace were coming to pit road when Mike Skinner appeared to lift to avoid them. Kurt Busch, close behind Skinner, plowed into the back of Skinner and the dance was on.
Busch hit the outside wall and rebounded toward the infield, where he collected Marlin. Ultimately, front runners Skinner, Jeff Gordon, Terry Labonte and Bobby Hamilton were also eliminated from contention, or the race.
“That’s what happens with these rules you’ve got,” Marlin said of the aerodynamic and engine package that results in large packs of cars that can’t separate themselves. “Everybody is on top of each other, and it’s just really hard to race. I hope we can get something changed.”
When Marlin hit Busch, he tore the right front corner of his No. 40 Coors Light Dodge wide open. His crew was able to repair the car and Marlin ended up running in 39th at the finish. The result unofficially dropped him to sixth in the standings.
“They just went everywhere,” Marlin said of the accident. “We were trying to work on the car, but we knew it was coming. They’ve got to change these rules so we can drive these cars and run fast and get out of these big packs.”
Marlin has been a proponent of the former wide open spaces of speedway racing since he started his career here with an eight place finish in the 1980 Daytona 500. He has two Daytona 500 wins as well as his 1996 Pepsi 400 score and three Gatorade 125-Mile Qualifying Race wins.
“You go to places like Michigan and if you have to get out of the gas, you can race,” Marlin said. “Here, it just depends on who goes with you, if you guess right, if you get in the right line and go or go through the middle and risk bouncing off two or three.
“It’s just ridiculous racing. I love racing here, but we need to run about 195 and take these (roof) wickers off so we can race.”
Marlin bit off a bit of droll humor through his disgust, as he sat in his car waiting for his crew to make repairs, which he initially assisted with, wielding wrenches and power tools.
“You knew it was going to happen,” Marlin said, “and it ain’t over yet, so don’t go buy no popcorn.”
The final 11 laps were run with only one caution, caused when an oil line came loose on Gordon’s car. But only a miraculous save by Dave Blaney prevented what could have been the equal of a 20-plus car Daytona 500 backstretch pigpile.
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