He started last and used patience, not the gas pedal, to methodically work his way through traffic around the egg-shaped 1.366-mile speedway. His ability to be calm and calculating was paramount in an afternoon where two leaders crashed and one-third of the field finished with significant damage or on a wrecker's hook.

Being relegated to the back of the starting lineup after his Chip Ganassi Racing team changed an engine Saturday wasn't much of a penalty. If anything, it was a blessing.

"We knew (Saturday) that we had a good car in the last practice," Marlin said after winning for the second time in five races this year. "The motor had a bad (valve) lifter in it and we tried not to take a chance. We put another motor in and went to the rear.

"We knew that if we took our time we could work our way back up through there. If you have a good car, you don't have to be in a hurry."

By the 20th lap, he was up to 27th. By Lap 40, he was up to 17th. By the 100th lap, he was in the top-10 and he never dropped back any further than sixth in the final 200 miles.

While his patience helped him carve through traffic, his lightning-quick reflexes proved to be just as important. He steered through an 11-car crash in the second turn with 66 laps to go that knocked out Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart.

Stewart was pulling away to a 40-yard lead when Buckshot Jones' car swerved in the middle of the corner. Stewart slammed into Jones and triggered a pileup that sent Stewart to a local hospital for an examination for lower back pain and numbness in his left foot.

All tests were negative for his head, chest, abdomen and pelvis, according to Dr. Tony Cutry, but the driver was held overnight for observation with a sore back.

Gordon, who led a race-best 157 laps, ran into Stewart while running second and third-place Marlin drove through the smoke and debris without a scratch.

"I saw the 20 (Stewart) and 44 (Jones) get together," Marlin said. "Gordon is pretty good about missing those wrecks, so I just followed him through the smoke. He apparently hit the 20 and turned the 20 back across the track. I had to swerve to miss him. We were really kind of fortunate to miss that."

Gordon salvaged a ninth-place finish with tape holding most of his front bumper together, but it was little solace.

"He (Stewart) was coming back down (after hitting the outside wall) and I tried to go through the gap but there was nothing but smoke," Gordon said. "I didn't even know where he was until I clipped him with the right-front headlight."

Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the race off pit road during the caution period that followed, but he was no match for Marlin who easily took the lead for the final 43 laps and he wound up with a 50-yard cushion over Elliott Sadler.

"Sterling and them guys got their stuff together," Sadler said. "I tried to catch him, but I got scared I'd burn up the right-front tire."

Kevin Harvick finished third, followed by Earnhardt Jr. in fourth.

Marlin, who averaged 126.070 mph, earned $190,442. He also extended his lead in the Winston Cup Series point standings to 99 points over Newman.

The game plan was set into motion late Saturday when crew chief Lee McCall found the faulty part and got permission to change the motor.

"We couldn't take a chance," he said. "We felt like a fresh motor and Sterling working his way up was better than taking a chance with the old motor."

Marlin said he started gearing down for the race when he woke up.

"I got up at 5:30 (a.m.) and the first thing on my mind was patience," he said. "I was a little concerned about starting in the back, but we felt like if we could dodge all the traffic early in the race, we'd be all right. Actually, starting back there wasn't all that bad because you've got to race the race track, not other cars, no matter where you are."

The series moves to the half-mile Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway next week.

Reach Don Coble at doncoble@bellsouth.net.