Marlin takes crushing Charlotte victory.

In one of the more processional races seen on the NASCAR Winston Cup tour this season Sterling Marlin (pictured in 2000) scored his second victory of the season for the Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge outfit in crushing fashion as he beat race long nemesis Tony Stewart by more than six and a half seconds at the Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Exciting to watch it may not have been but one cannot help but marvel at the fashion with in Sterling Marlin wrapped up his second victory of the 2001 season in Sunday's UAW-GM Quality 500 at the Lowe's Motor Speedway for on no less than three occasions he hunted down and passed the fleeing Tony Stewart and eventually broke the rest of the Winston Cup field over the final 70 laps leaving just five other cars within 20 seconds of him at the flag.

From 13th on the grid, Marlin's No.40 Coors Light Dodge was a constant presence at the top of the leaderboard throughout the race's 334-lap duration eventually leading a total of 135 laps including all but one from lap 265 onwards. Benefiting from a 101 lap green flag run to the finish Marlin, who was by far the strongest car on the track on long runs, was able to undertake his final fuel and tyre stop under green and cruise home with 6.775 seconds to spare over the Joe Gibbs owned Pontiac of Stewart.

Stewart, who was stronger in shorter bursts, was the only other car capable of matching Marlin and led for a total of 130 laps after starting sixth. The Home Depot sponsored driver first tried to stamp his authority on the event shortly after the second of eight caution periods on lap 50 and was able to pull out a three second advantage over the field before Marlin pegged him back and eventually took the point on lap 95.

The seven caution periods inside the opening 165 laps enabled Stewart to stay in touch with Marlin and just after the field went green on lap 155 following Jimmie Johnson's crash, Stewart once again made a break for it and again moved out to a three second lead before Marlin gradually pegged him back and passed him on lap 200. Despite being on an uneven playing field as far as they were concerned, Stewart's crew did their utmost to keep their driver in contention and a speedy pit stop under the eighth and final caution of the day on lap 228 catapulted the No.20 Pontiac back into the lead.

Almost to script, Stewart pulled away from the field when the green flag fell on lap 233 but couldn't break the magic barrier of three seconds before, steadily and inexorably, Marlin moved in and swept into the lead. This time however Marlin's wish for an extended green flag run was granted and he was able to pull away almost at will, losing a couple of seconds during the final round of stops but not enough to cause any concern.

Knowing the futility of the chase, Stewart still gave it his best shot and was in turn almost ten seconds ahead of third place finisher Ward Burton at the chequered flag in a final segment that mirrored the understand muted atmosphere on a day when the first retaliatory strikes following the tragedies of September 11th were confirmed.

Burton made it two Dodge's in the top three on a day where the front spoiler extension granted to the marque earlier this year was felt to be a major help while Dale Earnhardt Jr passed Jeff Burton on the final lap to take fourth.

On a day that belonged solely to Marlin and Stewart, many performances went unnoticed such as the sixth place run by a beaten up Dale Jarrett although Rusty Wallace's ride to seventh garnered far more attention after he lost a lap following a collision with Ricky Rudd (accidental for sure this time) and Stacy Compton. Dropping as low as 38th on lap 100, Wallace finally clawed his lap back and then rose admirably back into the top ten late in the race.

Kevin Harvick was another semi-invisible performer en route to eighth while Mark Martin enjoyed a rare trouble free and competitive run to ninth overall. Bobby Labonte was a consistent presence in the top ten throughout the day but never found that extra edge to take him to the front and had to settle for tenth position, a massive 26 seconds behind Marlin at the flag.

Pole sitter Jimmy Spencer led in the early stages but eventually fell to eleventh overall while Matt Kenseth was the only other driver on the same lap as the leader at races end.

In a race where there were several unfamiliar faces and several different names on several different cars, Kevin Lepage was the best of those playing musical chairs at the moment as he brought the No.7 Ultra Motorsports Ford home in a creditable 13th. What is it with Ultra Motorsports and relief drivers?

Ryan Newman ran at the very front of the field from the word go but was forced onto the grass inside turn four when NWC debutant Jimmie Johnson spun in front of him on lap 191 and lost a lap. He would eventually finish two laps down in 19th. Johnson too was a revelation as Hendrick Motorsports unveiled the brand new No.48 Lowe's sponsored Chevrolet Johnson will drive full time next season and was heavily involved in the leading battle over the opening 50 laps before said crash ended his day prematurely while he was still on the lead lap. He was eventually classified 39th.

Perennial underdog Carl Long enjoyed a largely trouble free seasonal debut in the No.85 Petty Enterprises prepared Mansion Motorsports Dodge and finished in 29th position, six laps down while Morgan McClure's newest recruit, Bobby Hamilton Jr also drove well until a mechanical problem sidelined him on lap 296 resulting in a 33rd place finish. ARCA regular Stuart Kirby also had an abbreviated NWC debut in Bob Schacht's ultra low budget Ford after he was the innocent party in a lap 45 crash involving Jason Leffler and Ricky Craven and finished 42nd.

By far the most impressive of the recent movers and shakers was Mike Wallace in the No.12 Mobil 1 Penske Racing Ford for after qualifying 39th he rose swiftly and decisively to the front of the field and was running in tandem with teammate and older brother Rusty in the top five when he developed an engine problem on lap 281 and was forced to retire. 34th position overall did not do justice.

The race was also tough on both points leader Jeff Gordon and his main rival Ricky Rudd encountering trouble in the pitlane with untimely caution periods. Rudd was never a contender after his collision with Wallace, R. and Compton on pit road, an incident which both blamed on Compton, and fell three laps of the pace to 21st overall while on two separate occasions Gordon chose to pit under green and then get caught out when the yellow flag fell. Fighting for his position on the lead lap from as early as lap 110, Gordon persevered for 16th place at the finish and actually extended his points lead by 15 over Rudd to 237.

Now if that isn't Championship luck then I don't know what is.