Marlin sterling in Bristol legends race
Legends Reunite At Saturday Night Special
All times Eastern
6:56 p.m.
Sterling Marlin says everything worked perfectly and he thanked Goodyear for the tires. Then he says the late-model car worked better than his Cup car.
Cale Yarborough, who finished ninth, is sitting in a director's chair in front of his car signing autographs. This is what this night really is about.
"I had fun," says Yarborough, who's nursing a sore ankle and wrist. "The car was great. I just couldn't do it justice."
Ottinger says he had a blast.
"Second time I have been in a car in 15 years. It came right back to me," he says. "I'd like to see [this race] again. This was great.'
6:47 p.m.
They come to the checkered and it is ... Sterling Marlin. Maybe he can carry this momentum into Sunday's Cup race. How did he get to be a legend?
The rest of the top five: Rusty Wallace, 70-year-old L.D. Ottinger, Terry Labonte and Jimmy Spencer.
The best of the rest: Harry Gant, Phil Parsons, Jack Ingram, Cale Yarborough, David Green and Junior Johnson.
For winning, Marlin gets to donate $25,000 to the charity of his choice.
6:45 p.m.
They restart for the final 15 laps. Sterling Marlin jumps three car lengths ahead of Rusty Wallace. The other No. 2 of L.D. Ottinger charges to third. Now there is a 2 in second and third.
6:40 p.m.
Mandatory competition caution on Lap 20. Sterling Marlin first, followed by Rusty Wallace, Terry Labonte and Jimmy Spencer. Advantage so far to younger legends.
6:37 p.m.
Sterling Marlin is starting to lap cars. He has blown past two of the three 11s.
6:36 p.m.
Back under green. A shuffle in the back as Larry Pearson gets on the apron. Rusty Wallace almost turns Terry Labonte around for second.
6:33 p.m.
Looks like about two-thirds of the Nationwide crowd hung around for this. Still under caution on Lap 7. Harry Gant is riding around without a hood now. A four-second stop to rip it off.
6:32 p.m.
Three No. 11s. So confusing. Sterling Marlin stretches the lead to three car lengths by Lap 6. Harry Gant is still in second. ... Wait! Gant's on pit road with a buckled hood on the No. 33. Quick stop and he's back out. The crowd cheers. Terry Labonte is second to Marlin.
6:28 p.m.
The green flag falls. Harry Gant jumps to the lead, but Sterling Marlin blows by before they get out of Turn 1.
6:27 p.m.
The field tightens up for the start. Harry Gant pulls inside to the pole position with Sterling Marlin on the outside.
6:24 p.m.
The cars come around behind the pace car. Junior Johnson falls in at the back of the field.
6:23 p.m.
David Pearson is at the start-finish line ready for the "start your engines" call. Pearson would be in a car were it not for a bad back.
6:22 p.m.
The wait for the start of the main event is taking forever. Some of these old-timers will be up past their bedtimes. Maybe they are stalling to give Junior Johnson time to get his car fixed. Roger Penske is anxiously waiting with Ray Evernham. ... Oh, wait. Here comes Junior. He is in the field. The crowd goes wild.
6:16 p.m.
The legends are getting ready for prerace introductions. Here's how they're lined up on the grid:
Sterling Marlin, Jack Ingram, Rusty Wallace, Jimmy Spencer, Phil Parsons, Harry Gant, Terry Labonte, David Green, Cale Yarborough, L.D. Ottinger and Larry Pearson.
6:11 p.m.
The winner of the other heat? Philadelphia Eagles kicker David Akers ... we think. Word was out that the first heat was called off because there were so many wrecks on the warm-up laps. Regardless, the main event will start anyway. Junior Johnson's crew is working hard to fix his wrecked car for the show. Stay tuned.
5:48 p.m.
Said Andy Petree on his win: "It doesn't get any better than this." On Ray Evernham crashing behind him: "It was probably the only way I was going to win it. He was all over me."
5:44 p.m.
No green-white-checkered finish. Andy Petree wins under yellow.
5:43 p.m.
Ray Evernham spins out in Turn 1 trying to make a move on Lap 10. He looks OK. Just injured his pride. He crawls out of the car with a huge smile. Now he gets an ambulance ride.
5:39 p.m.
Andy Petree leads the first lap in his heat race. Ray Evernham is all over Petree on Lap 6. Amazingly there is no wreck.
5:32 p.m.
Clint Bowyer didn't even change out of his fire suit after the Nationwide race to get to pit road for the start of this race. "They're all my favorites," he said of tonight's competitors.
5:30 p.m.
Mr. Excitement Jimmy Spencer nicked the wall during warm-ups. Junior Johnson spun out. Could be a long race. These guys are the pros and are supposed to know what they are doing.
5:27 p.m.
Brad Daugherty literally is a backseat driver. At 7 feet tall, Daugherty's seat is a few inches inside the back window. Everybody else's is about a foot ahead of that. And I have never seen a driver's suit that large.
5:16 p.m.
Bobby Allison had just finished dinner Friday at one of the few restaurants in nearby Johnson City, Tenn., that has white tablecloths and doesn't serve food in a basket when he walked by our table.
I couldn't help but ask why he wasn't competing in Saturday night's legends race at Bristol Motor Speedway. The "Saturday Night Special," as track promoters call it.
"The boss lady wouldn't let me," he said. "I'm driving the pace car."
That seems to be a common theme, or excuse, for why many legends aren't participating. Seven-time champion Richard Petty apparently was sidelined by his wife, Lynda.
"She's a smart lady," Petty had said. "She saved my life -- again."
Apparently Allison's wife was so persistent that she threatened to take away some of his household privileges.
Rusty Wallace did get permission and believes he should be considered the favorite. No surprise there. He does have nine Sprint Cup wins and 22 top-5s in 44 Bristol starts, although he's never driven on the new surface.
"I built a brand-new race car," Wallace said. "I'm taking this thing serious."
Here's a look at the pairings for the race (6 p.m. ET, ESPN2). The celebrity (mentioned first below) will drive 15 laps to determine where his legend partner (mentioned second) starts for the 35-lap showdown:
Terry Bowden and L.D. Ottinger, Ray Evernham and Rusty Wallace, Bill Jordan and Terry Labonte, Frank Beamer and Cale Yarborough, Brad Daugherty and Junior Johnson, Ron Capps and Jack Ingram, Doug Herbert and Larry Pearson, Riki Rachtman and Jimmy Spencer, David Akers and Harry Gant, Andy Petree and Sterling Marlin, Greg Anderson and David Green, Mike Compton and Phil Parsons.
"A lot of people are telling me to keep an eye on Jack Ingram," Wallace said.
Ingram, if you're handicapping the race, has one top-10 in three starts at Bristol. He lost an engine in two of the starts.
And he's 72!
Wallace is 52.
Greg Anderson came around Turn 4 during a midday practice Saturday and slapped the wall. NHRA star Doug Herbert, in the No. 77 he is sharing with Larry Pearson, turns hard to the left to avoid a collision, goes into a spin and slaps the inside retainer. Hard. Very hard. So hard the sound reverberated through the stands of this half-mile track.
Herbert climbed out of the car, apparently OK. "He can talk," said a member of the safety crew after dropping Herbert off at the infield care center.
The crash sent a buzz to Cup drivers on pit road waiting for their second and final practice. Jeff Burton walked to the end of pit road to see who was involved.
Richard Petty jokingly told Kasey Kahne they were looking for drivers to ride shotgun with the celebrities and asked if he would volunteer. Kahne gave him one of those "are you kidding?" looks.
Further proof that Lynda Petty is a smart lady.
David Newton covers NASCAR for ESPN.com. He can be reached at dnewtonespn@aol.com.