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By MIKE READLING and PETE YOUNG
© St. Petersburg Times, published February 19, 2001
DAYTONA BEACH -- Ward Burton took the question people have been pondering for two years and answered it Sunday with an exclamation point during the Daytona 500.
Just how well will Dodge, which hadn't been in Winston Cup since 1985, fare? Look no further than Lap 163.
That was when Burton, driving the No. 22 Dodge Intrepid, let everyone know the cars with the ram stenciled on the hood meant business.
Burton was in a battle for seventh place when he suddenly jerked his car to the bottom of the track. Though nobody dropped down to draft with him, Burton powered his way past five cars and set himself up to take the lead from Dale Earnhardt Jr.
He couldn't squeeze in front of Junior but managed to sneak into third.
The place didn't matter, the point was taken. Dodge is back and, after putting three Intrepids in the top 10, they're going to be reckoned with.
Burton led nine times for 53 laps and Sterling Marlin led 11 times for 40 laps. When they weren't leading they were hovering near the front, drafting effectively with whoever was near them.
With Bill Elliott on the pole next to Stacy Compton and Marlin right behind in third, there was no question the Dodges could hold their own. The biggest concern was whether they could hold out.
The program is only 2 years old and some questioned whether or not the engine would endure an inaugural 500-mile race on a superspeedway.
"It ran perfect all day long. The engine ran great all day long," said Kyle Petty, who drove the No. 45 Dodge. "This is the first 500 miles we've put on these engines and I'm pretty excited about it.
"We could expect exactly what we got today: a good, solid run where we ran consistently all day."
After taking the green flag and leading the first lap, Elliott dropped back in the pack and was running as far back as 36th on Lap 31. But his crew fine-tuned the car during stops and he worked his way back through two wrecks to finish fifth, the most successful Dodge in the field.
It wasn't all good news for Dodge. Dave Blaney dropped out after 135 laps with engine problems, and Casey Atwood finished 20th after breaking a shock.
Perhaps Marlin put it best: "I knew I had a car that was capable of winning, but that's the way it goes. It was a good start for Dodge. I wish we could have won it for them, that would have been the way to start. But we've got 35 more chances."
MAJOR MELEE: A 19-car pileup occurred on the backstretch of Lap 174. It took out a host of contenders.
Robby Gordon, Tony Stewart and Burton were competing for position in the top five when Gordon touched Burton from behind, turning Burton into Stewart, who turned into the wall then around into Gordon.
Stewart's unstable car was lifted up in the air by Gordon's car and came down on Bobby Labonte's.
Stewart flipped three times and 15 additional cars, including Jeff Gordon, Dale Jarrett, Jeff Burton and Mark Martin, were collected in the mess.
"I was behind (Rusty Wallace), then I saw (Stewart) go airborne and everybody checked up," said Jerry Nadeau, one of the cars eliminated. "It was a big melee."
Stewart sustained the only injury, a concussion. He also was having his shoulder examined and getting a CAT scan of his head and neck. The race was red-flagged for more than 16 minutes.
HANGING ON: A day that started with bad luck for Wallace ended with two strokes of good fortune and a third-place finish.
On Lap 174, he negotiated his way through the 19-car pileup. On the restart, despite having a deep dent behind his right front tire, Wallace stayed in the lead draft.
"I knew I had some damage, but I had no idea the car had a 4-foot gash in it," Wallace said.