A Sterling Drive at Daytona : Auto racing: Marlin holds off charge by Earnhardt to win for the second year in a row.

For the 17th time, Dale Earnhardt failed to win the Daytona 500, but his dramatic charge through the field Sunday in a futile pursuit of Sterling Marlin helped make the 37th annual stock car race one of the most memorable.

Earnhardt, seven-time Winston Cup champion but still looking for his first Daytona 500 victory, finished second for the third time.

The race, which opened NASCAR’s premier series at Daytona International Speedway, was delayed nearly two hours because of light showers, but the long wait on a dreary day was worth it.

At the end, Marlin had too much power in his yellow Tony Glover-prepared Chevrolet Monte Carlo, but from the moment Earnhardt pulled in behind him with four laps remaining, most of the more than 150,000 spectators were on their feet, expecting him to make one of his patented passes to win.

Earnhardt already had won the Busch Clash, a Twin 125 heat race--Marlin won the other--and the International Race of Champions during the week.

Marlin, who held off Ernie Irvan at the finish last year, became only the third driver in 37 years to win two Daytona 500s in a row. The others were Richard Petty, 1973-74, and Cale Yarborough, 1983-84.

The two Daytona 500s are the only races the Columbia, Tenn., driver has won in 310 Winston Cup starts.

After the two Monte Carlos came three Fords, driven by Mark Martin, Ted Musgrave and pole-sitter Dale Jarrett, and the Pontiac of Michael Waltrip.

During the last of 10 caution periods, on Lap 187, Earnhardt was running third when he pitted for new tires. None of the other leaders, bunched at the head of a 22-car train, came in.

When he returned to the track, Earnhardt was 14th. Eleven laps remained.

Earnhardt picked off five cars in one lap, then four more on the second time around before powering, one by one, around Musgrave, Jarrett and Martin into second place.

“He’s coming,” crew chief Glover radioed Marlin, who said he didn’t need to be told because he had seen Earnhardt pass Martin in his mirrors.

“I’d like to see a tape of Dale coming up through those guys,” Marlin said. “It must have been something to see.”

Four laps remained, but try as he might--even with fresher tires--Earnhardt could not pull abreast of Marlin. Several times he appeared to be making a challenging move, but each time Marlin kept his yellow Chevy glued to the inside in a 190-m.p.h. shootout.

“I has hanging on for dear life, but my car ran stout, real stout,” Marlin said. “It was pretty much wide open between us. I just wanted to get through (turns) one and two without messing up on that last lap. I’d been having some trouble there earlier, but once we got going down the back straight I felt better because my car had run real good all day in (turns) three and four.”

Earnhardt’s presence gave the race all the tension and drama of a heavyweight championship fight, but Marlin dominated the day.

“I reckon the best car won,” Earnhardt acknowledged. “If we had some help from somebody out there, we could maybe have got him.

“But this is the Daytona 500. I’m not supposed to win the damn thing, I reckon. I didn’t win, so yeah, I’m disappointed, but we’ll be at Rockingham (N.C.) next week, looking to win.”

Marlin led 105 of the 200 laps, including the important last 20. He took the lead for the last time in a dramatic pass in the third turn when Earnhardt went high.

“I wasn’t really looking to pass him then, but when he got up on top of the banking, I decided I might as well get him there,” Marlin said. “You never know with Dale when you’ll get another chance.”

Marlin and the Morgan-McClure team earned $300,460.

The 10 caution periods for 71 laps kept the speed down to 141.710 m.p.h., the slowest Daytona 500 since 1988.

“Daytona’s always been special for me, even when I didn’t win,” Marlin said. “Of course, winning here is better than winning anywhere else. I first remember coming here when I was 10 and my daddy (Clifton “Coo Coo” Marlin) was racing. I sat right about where Victory Lane is now.

“When daddy won a 125 (qualifying race) in ‘73, I was working on the crew. I was only 15 and wasn’t supposed to be in the pits, but no one bothered me.”

Although he was credited with only a 22nd-place finish, the third-best car on the track may have been Jeff Gordon’s Chevrolet. The 23-year-old led 61 laps and ran in a lead pack most of the day with Marlin and Earnhardt until a bad pit stop dropped him out of contention.

Gordon was leading when he came in for fuel and tires on Lap 96, but after the crew dropped the car off the jack and damaged the suspension, he came out 16th and never again was with the leaders.

When Dave Marcis started his 28th Daytona 500--he finished 36th--he passed Richard Petty for most starts. Petty’s reaction:

“My records are disappearing all the time. Just a couple of days ago, Junior Johnson broke my record for having the biggest fine in NASCAR.”

Johnson was docked $45,000 for an illegal motor. Petty had the old record of $35,000 for a 1983 infraction.