STERLING MARLIN AGAIN SUBS FOR J.J. YELEY IN MEMPHIS RACE; LAP 128 SPIN CAUSES WRECK AND FOILS TOP 10 RUN EFFORT

Veteran Sterling Marlin was again called upon to substitute for driver J.J. Yeley for the running of Saturday’s Sam’s Town 250 NASCAR Busch Series race at the Memphis Motorsports Park in Tennessee. In what appeared to be a solid shot at a top 10 finish was dashed by a multi-car incident on lap 128.

Marlin had come out of the pits first after making a routine pit stop under yellow flag conditions on lap 119 but was showing 11th on the scoreboard behind a host of cars that elected not to pit at that juncture.

The cars driven by Brian Keselowski and Ron Young got together coming out of the fourth turn on nine laps later and spun, covering the race track in smoke. Marlin’s #1 Miccosukee Resort & Gaming/Northeastern Supply Company Chevrolet was amongst the host of cars behind the wreck trying to slow down to avoid contact, but Marlin’s machine was hit from behind and spun, coming to a stop by the start-finish line with the nose of his car pointed against the outside retaining wall.

The cars driven by soon-to-be-crowned Series champion Carl Edwards and rookie Matt Carter had no where to go and drove into the right side of Marlin’s car, knocking out Carter from the race and inflicting damage to the Marlin and Edwards’ machines.

Marlin found himself well back in the pack as a result of the incident, one that forced NASCAR to bring out the red flag to stop the race and clean up the fluid that was dropped on the race track by Carter’s damaged mount. Sterling was showing in the 36th position when the race was finally re-started but his chances at that top 10 finish were gone.

Sterling was able to avoid some of the many more accidents that took place over the final 70 laps that were responsible for much of the race’s record 25 cautions for the 253-lap event. It ended under a green-white-checkered format with David Reutimann claiming his first career NASCAR victory and the first for team owner Michael Waltrip.

Marlin, who earned a seventh place starting position and who ran within the top 10 through the first 119 laps before that pit stop and accident, was credited with a 26th finish.

“It was one of the craziest races that I had ever driven in,” Marlin said. “We had a decent car, one certainly capable of getting a top 10 finish, but with the way everyone was wrecking each other, it was only a matter of time when it was going to get us. We deserved better,” he added.

Yeley, who drives full-time for Joe Gibbs Racing on the NASCAR Nextel Cup circuit, was called upon by his boss to drive its #20 Chevrolet in the Memphis Busch race and came away with an 11th place finish.

Yeley will return to the #1 Miccosukee/Northeastern Supply Chevy next Saturday afternoon when racing action moves to the Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, TX for the running of the O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge 300. That race is set to take the green flag at 3 p.m. EDT and will again be televised live on ESPN2.