It wasn’t the finish Sterling Marlin was looking for in his first race behind the wheel of his Panasonic Chevrolet. But when he cut a left-rear tire on Lap 54 of 250 and made hard contact with the outside wall, his chance for a strong finish vanished.
“What an unlucky break, ” said a frustrated Marlin. “We had just come in for a green-flag pit stop and when I returned to the track and put the Panasonic Chevy in high gear it suddenly hooked right and headed into the fence. I had no warning at all. “
Marlin’s car struck the outside wall before spinning down the race track and coming to a stop in the infield grass. He managed to restart the machine and drove it to the garage area where his Ginn Racing team began to work on the damage. He returned to the track on Lap 107.
“We struggled with the handling of the car all weekend but it was coming around, ” said Marlin, who was credited with a 35th-place finish. “We had a pretty good run going and were making good adjustments. I just hate it for the Panasonic team. We can’t seem to find any luck. “
Speaking of bad luck, Marlin was scheduled to start the Nextel Cup event from the 27th-position, but was forced to drop to the rear of the field prior to the start as a result of the team changing the car’s transmission earlier in the weekend.
“Seems like bad luck follows this team around, ” Marlin continued. “But that’s part of racing. Some things you just can’t control and this was one of them. We have to sweep it under the rug, keep our heads up, and start focusing on the next race. “
The Nextel Cup series will enjoy a weekend off before heading to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the March 11 UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400.
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