Dodge Motorsports Weekend Results

 
Elliott, Petty Lead The Way for Dodge at Michigan;
Marlin Finishes 21st, Maintains 110-Point Advantage

BROOKLYN, Mich. (June 16, 2002) - Bill Elliott started fourth Sunday in the Sirius Satellite Radio 400 at Michigan International Speedway, but the 46-year-old driver from Dawsonville, Ga., led the way by the end of the first lap at the two-mile oval in the Irish Hills of Michigan.

Elliott has won seven races and led more than 1,000 laps at MIS, and he led 31 of the first 46 laps Sunday. Elliott elected to stay on the track for the final three-lap shootout and ended up 11th in the 43-car field.

He gained one spot in the NASCAR Winston Cup Standings and now holds 10th place after 15 starts in 2002. He's only 149 points behind race winner Matt Kenseth, who ranks fifth.

Series points leader Sterling Marlin finished 21st Sunday in his No. 40 Coors Original  Dodge. It was Marlin's worse finish of the season, and he dropped 26 points to second place. Teammates Jeff Gordon and rookie Jimmie Johnson are now tied for second, 110 points behind Marlin.

Kyle Petty continued his consistent finishes in the No. 45 Sprint Dodge Intrepid R/T. Petty finished 12th Sunday and moved up another spot in the standings to 18th. Petty has climbed 20 spots in the standings in the past 12 races since his 30th place finish at Las Vegas. Petty hasn't finished lower than 23rd in the past dozen events.

Other Dodge finishers on Sunday were:

	*	Hut Stricklin (No. 23 Hills Bros Coffee Dodge Intrepid R/T) 17th
	*	John Andretti (No. 43 Cheerios Dodge Intrepid R/T) 23rd.
	*	Jimmy Spencer (No. 41 Target Dodge Intrepid R/T) 28th
	*	Jeremy Mayfield (No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Intrepid R/T) 36th
	*	Casey Atwood (No. 7 Sirius Dodge Intrepid R/T) 39th
	*	Steve Grissom (No. 44 Georgia Pacific Dodge Intrepid R/T) 40th
	*	Jason Small (No. 59 Key West Aloe Dodge Intrepid R/T) 41st
	*	Ward Burton (No. 22 Caterpillar Dodge Intrepid R/T) 42nd.

ARCA Re/Max Series

Chad Blount, a 22-year-old rookie on the ARCA Re/Max Series, drove his No. 77 Dodge Intrepid R/T to victory on Saturday in the Flagstar 200 at MIS.

In only his second ARCA start at MIS, the Walkerton, Ind., resident led 73 of 100 laps and scored a .884-second victory over Damon Lusk. Lusk continues to lead the series standings by just 30 points over Blount.

NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series

Darrell Alderman, who pilots the the Hemi-powered Mopar Parts Dodge Neon R/T, made his third final of the season before falling to Greg Anderson on Sunday in NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series action at National Trail Raceway in Hebron, Ohio.

The three-time POWERade Pro Stock World Champion grabbed a starting-line advantage on Anderson (.452-.464), but something in the transmission gave way. Anderson cruised to victory with a 6.924 second elapsed time at 199.05 mph.

"I started to shift into second and it just locked up," Alderman said. "We had a great weekend from a points perspective and ran pretty well. We qualified in the top half for the first time this season and that's a positive step."

Alderman advanced to the semifinals with a decisive victory over George Marnell in round one (6.914-6.958 seconds). Then the 28-time national event winner beat Allen Johnson in round two. Johnson broke at the 10-foot mark.

Alderman matched up with Mark Whisnant in the semifinals, and the duo performed a classic burn down. Alderman outfoxed Whisnant on the starting line and took an easy victory. The Morehead, Ky., resident ran his best elapsed time of eliminations with a 6.926-second elapsed time at 199.73 mph.

The final-round appearance vaulted from the eighth to fourth in the POWERade Pro Stock points chase.
 
Dean Skuza and the Mopar Parts Dodge Stratus R/T left on Tommy Johnson, Jr., but a slick right lane was too much to overcome in the second round. Johnson clocked at 4.940-second lap at 299.40 mph as Skuza ran a 5.053-second elapsed time at 296.76 mph.

"It felt slow out there," Skuza said. "We slid around out there and it cost us. We got out on him, and I thought we could have gotten him."

Skuza beat then points leader Gary Densham in the first round with a solid 5.007-second elapsed time at 295.66 mph. Densham shut off early.

Larry Morgan fell to No. 1 qualifier Jim Yates in the first round of eliminations Sunday. The blue Mopar Parts Dodge Neon R/T of Morgan lapped his hometown quarter mile in 6.967 seconds at 196.62 mph, but Yates ran a 6.879-second elapsed time at 199.43 mph.

"We qualified this weekend," said the Newark, Ohio resident. "And it seems like 90 percent of those people who want to qualify at their own event don't ever make it. It was really a good thing that we made it. We really didn't make too good of a run in that first round. The lane was so bad and water was coming up through the cracks."


Pennzoil World of Outlaws

Pennzoil World of Outlaws 97 Country Nationals was rained out Saturday night at O'Reilly Auto Parts Motor Speedway in Topeka, Kan. Action has been rescheduled at the 3/8-mile track for June 24.

In Friday night's feature at Topeka, series points leader Danny Lasoski scored a close victory over Donny Schatz. Mark Kinser drove his Mopar-powered Maxim to a fifth-place finish and remains third in the Outlaw standings.

Lasoski leads the way with 4,267 points. Steve Kinser is second with 4,233 and Mark Kinser has 4,107 points, 160 behind the leader.