The Coors Light Dodge overheats and finishes 39th at Talladega Superspeedway

TALLADEGA, Ala. (September 28, 2003) --- As the season heats up so did
Sterling Marlin's engine this past weekend at Talladega Superspeedway.
The Coors Light Dodge was able to run in the top-17 all day until smoke
began to pour out of the hood on lap 103 of the EA Sports 500.

 

Marlin qualified for the race in the fourth position and by the second
lap was running second to his teammate Jamie McMurray.  The two were
able to work together and ride one and two for the next 15 laps.  The
Coors Light Dodge was shuffled around and was able to run anywhere from
second to 17th depending on the draft.   

 

The Coors Light crew made two quick pit stops under green on laps 51 and
86 for tires and fuel and was able to stay in the front of the field.
On lap 103 though, Marlin reported smoke and brought the car down pit
road for assessment.  The team took the Coors Light Dodge behind the
wall and determined that there was nothing they could do to fix the car
and return to the race.

 

"We busted our radiator," Marlin said.  "We got hot yesterday, and we
kind of kept hot all day today - around 240-250 degrees. When we got in
that big pack of cars we got up over 250, and at about 260 we split the
radiator.  You hate it for all of the guys.  The guys at the fab shop
really built a fine car to come down here and qualify fourth right out
of the box.  Ernie's (Elliott, engine builder) motor guys have done a
good job.  We had a good car.  We were just riding, making laps and
getting where we needed to be towards the end here."

 

Marlin dropped to 18th place in the Winston Cup championship points.
Ganassi teammates Jamie McMurray and Casey Mears finished 16th and 37th
respectively.

 

The Coors Light team races at Kansas Speedway next weekend.  The race
will be broadcast live on NBC television and MRN radio on Sunday,
October 5th at 12:00 CT.