Daytona notes at 250 miles

Racing news page item

Engine, accidents eliminate Marlin, Gordon and Irvan

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Sterling Marlin's quest to win three straight Daytona 500s ended after 79 laps -- while he was leading - - when the engine in his Kodak Film Chevrolet failed. Marlin ran an exploratory lap after pitting on lap 80 and retired after 81 laps. "Something broke in the motor," said a disappointed Marlin. "It started smoking real bad and lost about 400 rpms. I got the lead and I thought I was where we needed to be and then the engine broke on us." Meanwhile, defending NASCAR Winston champion Jeff Gordon was the victim of some close racing on lap 10 when he was bumped and hit the wall coming through turn four. Ernie Irvan, the 1991 Daytona 500 winner who is beginning his first full NASCAR Winston Cup season since 1993, hit the wall while running in traffic and lost any chance of contending for the win.