Coyote Ugly ; Charlotte Motor Speedway's-oops, Lowe's-fall race was less than NASCAR perfect. Except to Sterling Marlin.(car racing)(Brief Article)

Charlotte was a full-bodied mess. No way around it, the UAW-GM Quality 500 weekend was ugly. It began with Thursday night's death of Blaise Alexander (see page 36), included a spat between NBC and track operator Humpy Wheeler, extended through the humdrum race, and ended with NASCAR's ham-handed decision to stop Sterling Marlin's flag-carrying victory lap. The crowd was sparse, perhaps 30,000 fewer than the 130,000 listed in most speedway estimates. Many among them seemed uncommonly somber; understandable given the military strikes launched

in Afghanistan Sunday. In truth, the picture-perfect fall afternoon offered precious few reasons to smile.

Marlin and his Ganassi/Sabates Dodge ruled. After loitering top-10 for the first 350 miles, he took control and easily scored his first Lowe's win. Tony Stewart was a distant second followed by Ward Burton. It was mostly a Marlin-Stewart show; they combined to lead 285 laps. The winning pass came at lap 265, when Marlin passed Stewart exiting Turn Four. Other than when he pitted at lap 295, Marlin led to the finish.

There are normally several ways around the 1.5-mile Lowe's Motor Speedway oval. But not this 500. Drivers and crew chiefs blamed the poor show on everything from Goodyear's hard tires to ...