First segment pileup takes four out of Winston

CONCORD, N.C. -- A multi-car wreck on lap 16 of The Winston took out four race contenders -- Sterling Marlin, Dale Jarrett, Rusty Wallace and Bobby Hamilton.

On lap 16, Marlin was running mid-pack down the backstretch when he motioned a trailing Ward Burton to move to his inside so he could pit. When Marlin moved a little to the left, Burton made contact with his fellow Dodge driver.

Marlin’s car turned hard right and hit with the wall. Hamilton, in the No. 55 Chevrolet, got into the right side of Marlin’s car and damaged his own car.

“We were going to pit,” Marlin said. “You know, a normal deal. I had my hand out and I was waving and still in the gas and Ward just hit us in the rear and turned us head-on into the fence.

“One of them racing deals, I guess.”

Seems that Burton saw it differently from where he was sitting in the car.

“I couldn’t tell if Sterling was trying to block me or Sterling had a problem,” Burton said between the first and second segments. “But, I pulled down low and he tried to block my line. You cannnot block in Winston Cup Racing. I don’t give a damn who you are.

“Some of my guys told me he was having a problem. If he didn’t have a problem, he was trying to block me -- I was already there.”

When Marlin hit the wall, Jarrett ducked below him, but Wallace was running close behind and got into Jarrett. Wallace and Jarrett both slid up into the wall knocking them out of the race.

“I don’t know, something happened in front of me,” Jarrett said upon exiting the infield care center. “I think Sterling might have said he got turned around there. In the corners is one thing, but everyone is in a hurry and that’s what this race is all about.

“I got on the brakes when I saw all the smoke. But, I got drilled from behind and that spun me and then I got hit. It’s just The Winston.”