THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 7, 1996 TAG: 9607070286
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. LENGTH: 79 lines
The rain-soaked Pepsi 400 started three hours late and ended about 100 miles early Saturday. But wet or dry, this race was another Tennessee waltz for Sterling Marlin.
Marlin crossed the finish line a car length ahead of Terry Labonte when the yellow flag flew on lap 117 as rain began pelting the track. Less than an hour later, with a wall of rain showing on the weather radar, NASCAR called the race.
``This particular car has won the Daytona 500 and it's won both races at each track (Daytona and Talladega),'' Marlin said. ``It's an old car, but she sure runs good.''
Marlin's foes don't doubt it.
``I don't think I could have beat him if we had 40 more laps,'' Labonte said.
Jeff Gordon was third, followed by Dale Earnhardt as Chevrolets took the top four spots. Ernie Irvan was fifth, follwed by Dale Jarrett, Michael Waltrip, Ken Schrader, Brett Bodine and Jimmy Spencer.
The start of the race was delayed three hours by rain. And it ended 43 laps and 107.5 miles short of its scheduled length. But it wouldn't have mattered whether this race was 100 miles long or 1,000 - Marlin had the field covered, just as he did at Talladega in April.
And like at Talladega, the only other Winston Cup track where carburetor restrictor plates are mandated, Marlin had a chance to really show his stuff not only at the front, but also from the back of the pack.
At Talladega, Marlin had dropped to the rear of the field after topping off his gas tank. At Daytona on Saturday, a temporary ignition problem had the same effect.
Marlin was in front on lap 66, and had been leading for 33 consecutive tours around this 2.5-mile oval, when he suddenly slowed and half the field went flying past.
``I thought that the engine let go,'' Marlin said. ``We had left the fan on in the car for pit stops to keep it cool, and I guess something shorted out. It happened coming out of turn 2, and I coasted all the way to three. It was kind of a sickening feeling.''
Marlin's engine had blown in this year's Daytona 500, and he said to himself, ``Well, we done it again.''
But then he thought about the ignition. Marlin's car, like every other Winston Cup car, has two ignitions in case one fails. The switch for the second ignition sometimes is on the left of the dashboard and sometimes on the right.
``I needed to look for the ignition switch,'' Marlin said. ``I was lookin' all over the dash and finally found it and flipped it over. So I just threw the car back into third gear and dumped the clutch and it fired back up.''
By then, he was back in 16th place. But it was not a case of whether he would come back through the field. It was simply a question of how long it would take.
Four laps after the slowdown, Marlin was in 13th. On lap 80, 14 laps later, he was in sixth. And on lap 87, Marlin passed Michael Waltrip in turn 2 to retake the lead.
He led the final 31 laps before the rain returned and the race was flagged.
And there wasn't even a hint of a pass when the end came, even though all three Rick Hendrick cars and Earnhardt were lurking just behind Marlin.
``I was really concerned about it because they had really broken off from the sixth-place guys,'' Marlin said.
But the also-rans said they didn't have a chance.
``He must click in the turbocharger when it comes to the race, I don't know,'' Gordon said.
``That 4 car is really in a class by itself,'' Earnhardt said. ``If the (Hendrick cars) couldn't hook up and draft by him, I don't think anybody can.''
Marlin now has won five of the last 11 restrictor-plate races at Daytona and Talladega. It is widely acknowledged that the engines built by Runt Pittman have been the key.
Marlin said he doesn't pester Pittman for his engine secrets.
``I don't ask,'' Marlin said. ``I just ask him if they're pretty good. He says, `Yeah.' And they usually are.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Sterling Martin recovered from ignition failure to win the
rain-shortened Pepsi 400. It was his third career victory at
Daytona. by CNB