The 2002 Daytona 500 is remembered for a few things; most famously Sterling Marlin exiting his car during a red flag and physically pulling on the fender to alleviate a tire rub.
The damage to Marlin’s car happened on the previous restart after Marlin started second behind Jeff Gordon and a wreck broke out mid-pack. While racing back to the yellow flag, Marlin went low on Gordon, who blocked, and Marlin won the race back to the flag by a nose over Ward Burton. The following red flag is where it got interesting.
RELATED: 2002 Daytona 500 race results | Daytona 500 winner history
During the break, Marlin can be seen getting out of his car (around 3:09 of the video) and pulling the fender of his No. 40 Silver Bullet Dodge away from the right front Goodyear tire. Per NASCAR rules, teams are not allowed to work on the car under the red flag so Marlin was penalized for the infraction. That handed the lead to Ward Burton.
Burton went on to win his first Daytona 500 and the fourth race of his career. He went on to win a second race in 2002 at New Hampshire.
Catch all the action from the 2002 Daytona 500 in this week’s NASCAR Full Race Replay.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsSDgeC0ni4