40 Coors Light Martinsville race report

MARLIN SALVAGES TOP-15 FINISH IN VIRGINIA 500
 
MARTINSVILLE, Va. (April 14, 2002) - Sterling Marlin drove the Coors Light Dodge Intrepid R/T to a 12th place finish in the Virginia 500 at Martinsville Speedway.  Marlin remains the leader in the NASCAR Winston Cup championship points standings; he leads Matt Kenseth by 27 points.  
 
The Coors Light Dodge started towards the back of the field in 29th position for the 500-lap event.  For the first 100 laps of the race, Marlin and the Coors Light team worked to get the car up to 15th position.  During laps 100-200, Marlin stated that the car was loose and raced in the 20th to 23rd positions.  Air pressure and wedge adjustments were made during a pit stop on lap 175 and Marlin felt they helped as he piloted the Coors Light Dodge up to 15th position by lap 229.
 
Marlin continued to race between 15th and 18th positions until a two-tire pit stop on lap 255 put the Coors Light Dodge in ninth place for the restart on lap 270.  Unfortunately, Marlin drifted back to 17th place by lap 310.  He felt the car was neither loose nor tight it just wouldn't go.
 
Marlin stayed in the top-15 for the remainder of the race and passed two cars with three laps to go to take the checkered flag in 12th place.  This is his second finish outside of the top-10 in eight races.
 
"We just missed it," Marlin said.  "The chassis was off a little bit and the gear was off a little bit.  We were pretty good in Happy Hour yesterday, but it was cool.  We never got going right today.  Matt Kenseth had another good run.  We ran with him and Jarrett a lot today.  Everybody was so close it was hard to pass."
 
Next on the schedule for the No. 40 Coors Light team is the Talladega 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on April 21, 2002.