#40 Pocono race report

Contact:  Nealie Hamilton, Chip Ganassi Racing, 704/662-9642,
nhamilton@ganassi.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 28, 2002


COORS LIGHT TEAM FINISHES THIRD IN PENNSYLVANIA 500
Marlin extends Winston Cup championship points lead

LONG POND, Pa. (July 28, 2002) - Sterling Marlin drove the No. 40 Coors
Light Dodge Intrepid R/T to a third place finish in the Pennsylvania 500 at
Pocono Raceway.  For the 19th straight race (Rockingham to Pocono), Marlin
remains the leader in the NASCAR Winston Cup championship points standings.
He extended his points lead to 106 points over Mark Martin who is currently
in second place.  

The Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono could have been renamed the 24 hours of
Pocono this weekend.  An early caution involving Dale Earnhardt Jr. and
Steve Park caused the race to be red flagged for 65 minutes in order to have
track officials repair the damaged guard rail.  Twenty laps later, another
red flag for rain kept the cars on pit road for another 2 hours and 20
minutes.  

Sterling Marlin and the Coors Light team were not phased by the delays.
Marlin started the event in 13th place.  After Marlin entered the top-5
following the rain delay, he kept his car there for the remainder of the
race.  The Coors Light Dodge took the lead for the first time on lap 39 and
lead the most laps of the day (106 laps) clearly dominating the race.  

Due to time constraints, NASCAR officials cut the race short to 175 laps.
This worked well in Marlin's favor until a late race caution came out.  The
Coors Light team gave the No. 40 Dodge one final pit stop but when Marlin
went back out, the car was tighter than it was earlier in the day.  That
allowed Bill Elliott and Kurt Busch to pass Marlin with approximately 25
laps remaining, leaving Marlin with a third place finish.

"We didn't need that last caution," Marlin said after getting out of his
car.  "The track changes as you go, and it just wasn't to our favor. We led
the most laps and gained some points. I wish we could have won, but that was
all we had.  It was a good points day for us. We finally gained some on Mark
Martin (51 points). I'm looking forward to next week at Indy. It was a good
weekend for Dodge. That's the second straight win (Ward Burton won last week
at New Hampshire), so maybe we can make it three in a row next week at
Indy."

Bill Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Dodge, won the Pennsylvania 500.  Next on
the schedule for the No. 40 Coors Light team is the Brickyard 400 at
Indianapolis Motor Speedway on August 4, 2002.

###

Nealie Hamilton
Media Relations
Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates
(704) 662-9642 x1130 / office
(704) 500-6068 / cell
nhamilton@ganassi.com