Marlin avoids wreck, wins at Darlington

DARLINGTON, S.C. - Sterling Marlin went from worst to first to win the Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 at historical Darlington Raceway.

			Sterling Marlin: Third win for Dodge in 2002

Battling from the tail end of the 43-car field due to a pre-race engine change, Marlin took the lead from Dale Earnhardt Jr. on lap 251 of the 293-lap race to claim his second victory of the season.

The race had two incidents where the leader was taken from contention after contact with lap traffic.

Marlin, in the No. 40 Coors Dodge, was running third when race leader Tony Stewart was involved in the second wreck, but was able to avoid any trouble. Marlin's patience and experience at the 1.366-mile track paid off with his 10th career victory in 544 starts.

Following Marlin was Elliott Sadler in second for his second top-five finish of the year. Kevin Harvick rallied to finish third.

"I knew yesterday we had a good car in practice," Marlin said in Victory Lane. "Tony (Glover, team manager) looked at the motor and found a bad lifter. We decided not to take the chance and just put another one and go to the rear.

			Elliott Sadler: First career top-10 at Darlington Credit: ASP

"We just took our time and eased up through there. Our car was really good on long runs, but they could beat us on the short ones. The longer the run, the better the car got.

"Dale Earnhardt taught me something here a couple of years ago. It has to do with down here in Turns 3 and 4. I learned from him. So, I just tried it today coming off Turn 4."

Marlin talked about how he was able to avoid the multi-car wreck and then pass Gordon for the win. Gordon did led a race-high 176 laps but finished ninth after receiving right-front grill damage.

"Pure luck, pure luck," Marlin said. "I hope everybody was all right after that wreck. The No. 24 is really good at missing wrecks and I just followed him.

"I almost caught the No. 20 car when it was coming back down the track."

Sadler finished second for the second time this year -- he was also second at Daytona. Sadler started sixth and stayed in the top 10 for all but six laps in the 293-lap event. He tried to give Marlin a run for his money at the end, but Sadler's tires were worn out from the harsh Darlington surface.

			Kevin Harvick: Best finish of 2002 Credit: ASP

"I just got a little bit loose there at the end," Sadler said. "Sterling and them have their stuff together. I tried to catch him but I kept getting looser and looser. I was afraid if I kept burning up my right rear I would have been a lot worse.

"I have to thank Dale Jr. for letting me go there at the end to make a run for the winner. It was a good day. We had great pit stops all day and this is exactly what we needed."

Harvick enjoyed a spirited battle in the No. 29 Goodwrench Chevrolet with Earnhardt Jr. Harvick was able to get by him and register his first top-five finish this season.

"That was a lot of fun, both our cars were out of control there at the end," Harvick said. "He's not like a lot of guys that get mad at when you run into him -- he seems to like it.

"I think I only scraped the wall once here today, that's pretty good for a 400-mile race on this track. We were just tight in and tight off the corners."

			Steve Park (1) spins after contact with Stacy Compton and Ricky Craven.

Stewart was removed from the car and a helicopter took him to the Carolina Medical Systems in Florence, S.C. He was conscious but complaining of pain in his lower back, numbness and tingling in the left foot.

He underwent a CT scan of the head, back and abdomen.

Gordon's crew brought him in to make repairs to the right-front grill by placing a patch over the damaged area. With his ninth-place finish, he was able to notch his third top-10 of the year.

Pole-sitter Ricky Craven was running behind race leader Steve Park when they both crashed on lap 39. Craven ran into Park, who had just made contact with Stacy Compton.

The two were not injured. Park was credited with completing 133 laps and a 39th-place finish in his return race, but did lead 19 laps.

Craven finished 41st after leading the first 18 laps.