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Help from above Marlin, Dodge end droughts at rain-shortened Pepsi 400
Updated: Monday August 20, 2001 1:45 AM
By Jeff Lam, CNNSI.com BROOKLYN, Mich. -- The wait is finally over -- for Dodge and for Sterling Marlin. The irony is that it took rain to end their drought. After 23 races this year and an almost two-hour rain delay Sunday, Dodge won their first Winston Cup race since 1977. Following a long rain delay, Marlin passed fellow Dodge Bill Elliott on lap 145 and was in the lead when a caution came out 10 laps later due to more rain. After seven caution laps, the race was called and Marlin took the checkered flag on lap 162 to win the Pepsi 400 at Michigan International Speedway. The victory was Marlin's seventh career Winston Cup win and first since July, 1996 when he won the Pepsi 400 at Daytona, a span of 170 races. "We've been real close all year," said Marlin. "We just needed a break. I knew it was coming eventually. The good Lord looked out for us today."
Marlin started from the 15th position and led the last 18 laps. He negotiated the two-mile oval at 140.513 mph. Pole-sitter Ricky Craven finished second and Elliott was third. Matt Kenseth and Johnny Benson rounded out the top five. "It was a lot of fun," Craven said on his best Winston Cup finish ever. "I should be really excited because we finished second, but I could smell victory, I could see it coming and we just ran out of time." Craven scored his fifth top-10 finish this season and his third in the past four races, moving up six spots in the point standings to 23rd. It was fitting that Marlin was the first Dodge to win this year. Of all the Dodges, he has had the most dominating car all year, having seven top fives and 12 top 10s with only two DNFs (did not finish). He is the only driver to be ranked in the top 10 in the Winston Cup standings all year. Marlin's victory kept him in fourth place, 381 points behind leader Jeff Gordon. This was Dodge's first victory at Michigan since Richard Petty won here in 1975 and it was Dodge's first win on the Winston Cup circuit since Neil Bonnett won in 1977.
"It means a whole lot," said Marlin, referring to Dodge's first win in their return to Winston Cup racing. "I felt in my heart I could still drive a race car as good as anybody." For a while, it looked like Mark Martin might spoil Dodge's day and win his first race of the year. Rain brought out the first caution on lap 97 and the race was stopped three laps later with Martin in the lead. Because the race was officially halfway over, Martin would have won if the race had been canceled. Instead, the race resumed after a 1-hour, 45-minute delay. With the race still under yellow, Martin pitted on the first lap and dropped back to 18th. He finished eighth. "I was shocked how fast we ran [following the pit stop]," said Martin. "We restarted in about 18th and drove up to seventh there. The car felt like a real race car, that last run and it was kinda fun." Gordon finished seventh and increased his points lead dramatically. His closest competitor, Ricky Rudd, looked strong early, leading 51 laps before the rain delay, but blew his motor on lap 122 and finished 42nd. Rudd remains second in the standings, but trails Gordon by 298 points.
Dale Jarrett, third in the standings, cut a left rear tire and hit the wall on lap 144, dropping him from ninth to 37th. He trails Gordon by 354 points. "It's really disappointing," Rudd said of his mechanical problems. You never break stuff when you're running poorly on an average day. It always happens when you're having a great day and [we] were running excellent." Rudd practically conceded the points championship to Gordon. "[The motor failure] is really going to hurt us in the points," he said. "I've been saying it would be awful tough to catch Gordon at this point anyway. I guess it just wasn't meant to be." Marlin became the 14th different race winner in 2001, tying the modern era record for a single season. This was the third Winston Cup race to be shortened by rain at Michigan International Speedway. The inaugural Yankee 600 in 1969 was stopped after 165 laps with David Pearson taking the win. In June 2000, Tony Stewart won the Kmart 400 after a mid-race delay and a second shower ended the race after 194 laps.
Notes: The Pepsi 400 marked Kyle Petty's 600th career Winston Cup start. ... Every driver except Stewart and Jimmy Spencer were wearing some type of head and neck restraint. ... Marlin won after starting from the 15th position, only the 10th time out of 65 races at Michigan someone starting outside the top 10 has won. ... Bill Elliott led 57 of the 162 laps raced, the first time he has led the most laps in a race this year. ... Chevrolet failed to lead a lap for the first time this season. ... Casey Atwood finished 10th, making him the highest finishing rookie for the fourth time this year.
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