#40 Coors Light race report

MARLIN SCORES SIXTH TOP-10 FINISH OF SEASON

FT. WORTH, Texas (April 9, 2002) - Sterling Marlin drove the Coors Light
Dodge Intrepid R/T to a seventh place finish in the Samsung/Radio Shack 500
at Texas Motor Speedway.  This was Marlin's sixth top-10 finish in seven
races.  Marlin remains the leader in the NASCAR Winston Cup championship
points standings; he leads Matt Kenseth by 70 points.  

The Coors Light Dodge started in 20th position and competed in the back part
of the top-20 for the first 100 laps of the 334-lap race.  Marlin fought a
tight racecar all day as the Coors Light crew worked during pit stops to
adjust the No. 40 Dodge to free it up.  Marlin continued to race in the
top-20 for the remainder of the race until a late-race caution on lap 307.

The Coors Light team decided to pit for four tires instead of two in order
to be quicker on the long run.  Marlin restarted in 10th position on lap 312
as the first car in line with four new tires.  From lap 312 to 334, Marlin
moved up three positions to take the checkered flag in seventh place.
Teammate Jimmy Spencer finished behind Marlin in eighth place.  Marlin and
Spencer qualified with the exact same qualifying time on Friday (28.181
seconds); they started in 20th and 21st positions.

"We were a little tight on the start," Marlin said.  "We got it freed up,
but we were still a little bit too tight. It was just one of them days. The
motor was off just a little bit. We couldn't run down the straight-aways.

"We'd won the first two races we ran with this car this year, so I guess it
wasn't as good today or it would have won again. Still, we're back in the
top 10 after that 19th at Martinsville. Congratulations to Matt Kenseth. I
guess he's going to put the heat on us. On a clean track, we were pretty
good today, but we'll just take it and go on to Martinsville next week."

Next on the schedule for the No. 40 Coors Light team is the Virginia 500 at
Martinsville Speedway on April 14, 2002.