Elliott’s Win at Pocono Completes Dodge Grand Slam; Atwood, Pressley, Parker Jr. Also Park Dodges in Victory Lane

LONG POND, Pa. (July 28, 2002) - Bill Elliott rolled to a 1.72-second victory over Kurt Busch on Sunday in the Pennsylvania 500 NASCAR Winston Cup race at Pocono Raceway, completing a weekend grand slam for Dodge Motorsports.

Dodge teams also won this weekend in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series with Robert Pressley in the No. 18 Square D Dodge Ram at Michigan International Speedway, Casey Atwood in the No. 19 Dodge Intrepid R/T in the Pepsi ARCA 200 at Pocono Raceway, and Hank Parker Jr. in the No. 36 GNC Live Well Dodge Intrepid R/T in the NetZero 250 Busch Grand National race at Pikes Peak.

NASCAR Winston Cup

Elliott’s No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Intrepid R/T took the lead from Dodge driver Sterling Marlin with 19 laps remaining and held on to score his fifth career victory at Pocono’s 2.5-mile triangular track. Elliott started on the pole and led twice for 35 laps.

Marlin led the most laps in the rain-shortened event. The No. 40 Coors Light Dodge Intrepid R/T driver led four times for 106 of 175 laps and held on for a third-place finish. He gained 51 points on Mark Martin and now leads Martin in the series standings by 106 points after 20 events.

Elliott’s victory was his first of the season and the fifth Cup win for Dodge in 2002. Ford continues to lead the manufacturers standings with seven wins and 133 points, followed by Chevrolet with five wins and 114 points. Dodge has five wins and 104 points, followed by Pontiac with three wins and 89 points.

Moving up to ninth in the series standings, Elliott now trails Marlin by 308 points with 16 races remaining. He’s only 69 points out of fifth place. Elliott recorded his 42nd career victory in start No. 679. He last won at Pocono in 1989, and it was the first victory for Dodge at Pocono since Richard Petty won the Purolator 500 in 1976.

Other Dodge finishers on Sunday at Pocono were:
· Ward Burton (No. 22 Caterpillar Dodge Intrepid R/T) 14th
· John Andretti (No. 43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge Intrepid R/T) 23rd
· Kyle Petty (No. 45 Sprint Dodge Intrepid R/T) 27th
· Casey Atwood (No. 7 Sirius Satellite Radio Dodge Intrepid R/T) 28th
· Hut Stricklin (No. 23 Hills Bros Coffee Dodge Intrepid R/T) 31st
· Jimmy Spencer (No. 41 Target Dodge Intrepid R/T) 32nd
· Jerry Nadeau (No. 44 Georgia Pacific/Brawny Dodge Intrepid R/T) 36th
· Jeremy Mayfield (No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Intrepid R/T) 38th

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series

Robert Pressley’s No. 18 Square D Dodge Ram led 74 of 100 laps en route to a truck-length victory over Jason Leffler’s No. 2 Team ASE/Carquest Dodge Ram on Saturday in the Michigan 200 at Michigan International Speedway.

Pressley’s victory deadlocked the manufacturers standings for Dodge. Dodge and Chevrolet each have 87 points and five victories after 13 of 23 NASCAR Craftsman Trucks Series races in 2002. Ford is third with 73 points and three wins.

Pressley, who also won the season opener at Daytona, gained one spot in the driver standings. He moved to seventh and trails leader Mike Bliss by 105 points.

Ted Musgrave entered Saturday’s race with a 35-point advantage over second-place in the standings. Musgrave started on the pole after qualifying was postponed but a blown engine in his No. 1 Mopar Performance Parts Dodge Ram resulted in a 32nd-place finish for Musgrave. He dropped to third in the standings, 58 points behind the leader.

Leffler scored his fourth runner-up finish of the season and ranks sixth in the standings, 86 points behind Bliss.

Bill Lester took Raybestos Rookie of the Year honors in his No. 8 Dodge Motorsports Dodge Ram with a 15th-place finish. He moved up two spots to 16th in the standings. Dodge rookie Brendan Gaughan finished 18th in his No. 62 NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Ram and remained 11th in the standings.

Carlos Contreras finished 17th in the No. 43 Hot Wheels Ram and moved up two spots to 14th in the standings.

Other Dodge Ram finishers in Saturday’s race were:
· Jerry Hill (No. 179 RDS Racing Engines Dodge Ram) 21st
· Brian Rose (No. 4 Perry Connection.com Dodge Ram) 23rd
· Randy Briggs (No. 51 Motor City Dodge Dealers Dodge Ram) 26th
· Jason Hedlesky (No. 5 Ware Racing Enterprises Dodge Ram) 31st

Busch Grand National and ARCA

Hank Parker Jr. gambled on fuel mileage and led the final 17 laps to take the checkered flag. He finished 11 seconds ahead of runner-up Greg Biffle at Pikes Peak in Fountain, Colo.

Casey Atwood scored a .749-second victory over Jason Jarrett in the Pepsi ARCA 200 at Pocono Raceway. Atwood started from the pole and led 56 of 80 laps, including the final nine.