Coors Original #40 Dover race report

 
 
COORS ORIGINAL DODGE SCORES TOP-15 FINISH AT DOVER 
Marlin remains first in the Winston Cup championship points race
 
DOVER, Del. (June 2, 2002) - Sterling Marlin drove the Coors Original Dodge Intrepid R/T to a 13th place finish in the MBNA Platinum 400 at Dover International Speedway.  For the twelfth straight race, Marlin remains the leader in the NASCAR Winston Cup championship points standings; he has a 136-point lead over Jimmie Johnson who is currently in second place.  This is Marlin's 12th top-15 finish in 13 races this season.
 
The Coors Original Dodge started the event in 27th position with a car that was a little tight on the exit of the corners.  While Marlin moved his way up through the pack, the Coors Original team made trackbar and wedge adjustments to improve the #40 Dodge.  Marlin entered the top-10 on lap 32 of the 400-lap event; he moved into the top-5 on lap 55.  Fourteen-second pit stops and a good handling car kept Marlin racing in the top-10 for the first 200 laps.
 
Around lap 245, Marlin's car became loose getting in the corners.  He was driving the high groove and fell back a few positions to the outside of the top-10 on lap 325.  The Coors Original team continued to improve on their pit stop times and gave Marlin adjustments to fight the ill-handling car but they were unable to make the car run better.  Marlin took the checkered flag in 13th place; his 12th top-15 finish in 13 races this season.  Marlin has finished outside of the top-15 only once this season; a 19th place finish at Bristol in March.   

"We had a good car the first 200 laps," Marlin said.  "It's been like that the past few weeks. We just can't do nothing the last half of the race. Any adjustments you make, it goes the opposite way. We made a minor adjustment and it just goes nuts. We had a top-four or top-six car early and we didn't have nothing at the end. It was real good on long runs early, but we didn't have nothing at the end. We gained a lot of points on second place, but we want to win. We want to win and get some top-fives."
 
Next on the schedule for the No. 40 Coors Light team is the Pocono 500 at Pocono Raceway on June 9, 2002.