Marlin, Gordon get together again at Dover

DOVER, Del. -- If there is a controversy brewing between Jeff Gordon and Sterling Marlin, the temperature rose Sunday at Dover International Speedway.

	After contact with Jeff Gordon, Sterling Marlin hits the inside wall at Dover.

Gordon and Marlin got together again, with Marlin spinning off Turn 4 and slamming the inside wall. Marlin's No. 40 Dodge went to the garage for repairs, while Gordon continued racing inside the top five.

Two weeks ago in The Winston at Lowe's Motor Speedway, Gordon got into Marlin in a nearly identical incident.

"We were racing hard and caught the 01 car and got held up by him as usual," Marlin said. "We got clear, and the 24 got up under us and turned us around again. That's twice in the last three races.

"It's kinda getting old. I don't know what's wrong with the 24, but we need to find out."

VIDEO CLIPS Marlin spins into the inside wall with help from Gordon Play video Several cars are involved in a crash on the second lap Play video Several cars are involved in a spin on lap 211 Play video

Gordon said it wasn't intentional.

"I definitely got into him," Gordon said. "There's no doubt about it. I certainly didn't mean to. I don't know if I caught the apron or just got a big push, but we were racing hard for position, and the front end just took off on me. I tried to stay out of him, but I couldn't."

Marlin had a fast car this weekend, qualifying sixth and running the fastest lap in the lone Winston Cup practice Saturday morning. Sunday, Marlin was running in the top five until the collision with Gordon.

"You've got to give and take in this league, and he has done a lot of taking," Marlin said. "It's disappointing. We had a shot to win this thing. ... The car was good. It's been good just about every week, but it seems like we can't avoid all this crazy stuff that happens out here."

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Marlin came into the race ninth in the Winston Cup points standings, having finished in the top 10 in five of the last seven races.

"I'm sure he's mad," Gordon said. "I was mad when I got hit by him one time at Richmond. Hopefully, we'll get past it and move forward. He's not a guy that I really talk to a lot. He doesn't talk to me a lot, so I would imagine we'll see one another on the race track again."