Sterling Marlin
Encyclopedia
Sterling Marlin is a retired NASCAR
Sprint Cup Series driver. He is the son of late NASCAR driver Coo Coo Marlin
. He is married to Paula and has a daughter, Sutherlin, and a son, Steadman
, who sometimes races in the Nationwide Series.
failure early in the race. He made two more starts in 1978, finishing ninth at World 600 and twenty-fifth at Nashville for Cunningham. He ran Nashville again in 1979, finishing seventeenth. In 1980, he posted two top-tens, eighth in the Daytona 500
for Cunningham, and seventh at Nashville for D.K. Ulrich. From 1980 to 1982,Marlin was a three time track champion at the historic Nashville Speedway USA.
In 1983, Marlin was hired by Roger Hamby to drive his #17 Hesco Exhaust Chevrolet
. He posted a tenth-place finish at Dover International Speedway
and finished 19th in the standings, clinching the Rookie of the Year award. Despite finishing 15th in the 1984 Daytona 500
for Hamby, Marlin spent most of the season running for Sadler Brothers Racing, posting two top-ten finishes. He also competed in one race for Jimmy Means
and Dick Bahre respectively. Marlin only made eight starts in 1985, seven of them coming for Sadler, his best finish being 12th at Talladega Superspeedway
. He ended his season at Charlotte Motor Speedway
in the Miller High Life 500
, driving the Helen Rae Special. He finished 29th, after suffering flywheel failure.
Marlin moved over to the #1 Bull's Eye Barbecue Sauce car owned by Hoss Ellington
in 1986. His best finish that season came at the Firecracker 400
, where he finished second. Marlin received a full-time ride in 1987, when he was hired by Billy Hagan
to drive the #44 Piedmont Airlines
Oldsmobile
. He had four top-fives and finished 11th in points. The following season, he had seven finishes of eighth or better in the first ten races and finished tenth in the standings. In 1989, the team received sponsorship from Sunoco
and switched to the number 94. He tied a career-best 13 top-ten finishes but dropped to 12th in the final standings. He left the team at the end of the 1990 season. During the 1990 season, he won his first career Busch Series
race at Charlotte, driving the #48 Diamond Ridge Chevrolet owned by Fred Turner.
Marlin signed to drive the #22 Maxwell House
Ford Thunderbird
for Junior Johnson
in 1991. He had a second-place finish at Daytona to start the season and won two poles at Talladega Superspeedway
and the Firecracker 400, finishing seventh in the standings. The next season, he won an additional five poles and had six top-five finishes. Despite his career-high pole total, Marlin departed to drive the #8 Raybestos
Ford for Stavola Brothers Racing
. He had just one top-five finish and fell to fourteenth in the standings.
Marlin's first career win came in his 279th career start at the 1994 Daytona 500 driving for Morgan-McClure Motorsports
in the #4 Kodak car. He went on to win the 500 again in the following year, becoming only one of three drivers to win consecutive Daytona 500s. The other two men that have accomplished that feat were Richard Petty
and Cale Yarborough
. He also became the only driver to have his first two career wins at the Daytona 500. Marlin won two more times during the 1995 season and finished a career high third in the point standings, during a four-year run with Morgan-McClure Motorsports. In 1997, he did not return to victory lane but dropped to twenty-fifth in the final standings. He left the #4 team at year's end.
Chevrolet. He opened the season by winning the Gatorade 125, a qualifying race for the Daytona 500, but three weeks later, he failed to qualify for the Primestar 500
, the first race he had missed since 1986. He finished in the top-ten six times and had a thirteenth-place points finish. In 1999, he won his first pole since 1995 at Pocono Raceway
, but dropped down to sixteenth in the standings. In 2000, he won his second career Busch Series race, driving SABCO's #82 entry at Bristol Motor Speedway
. During the season, he lost teammate Kenny Irwin, Jr.
in a practice crash at New Hampshire International Speedway
. After finishing in the top-ten seven times, he fell back to nineteenth in the overall standings.
In 2001, SABCO's majority ownership stake was purchased by CART
(now IRL) championship owner Chip Ganassi
and the team switched to Dodge Intrepid
s. In his first race with the new team, Marlin won the Gatorade 125 qualifying race at Daytona. Three days later at the Daytona 500, Marlin appeared to make contact with Dale Earnhardt
, causing Earnhardt to crash
into the Turn 4 wall, an impact that would kill him. In the following days, Marlin and his family received hate mail
and death threats from angry fans who wrongly felt that Marlin was responsible for Earnhardt's death. He was eventually publicly defended by two of Earnhardt's drivers, Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
and Michael Waltrip
, and was also cleared of any wrongdoing by NASCAR's investigation into the accident. He won Dodge's first race in its return to NASCAR at Michigan International Speedway
, as well as winning the UAW-GM Quality 500. He tied his career best points finish of third that season. Had the current Chase for the Sprint Cup points system been in place in 2001, Sterling Marlin would have been the 2001 NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion.
Marlin scored two victories early in the 2002 season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
and Darlington Raceway
(the latter being his last career win to date). He led the 2002 Daytona 500
with six laps remaining until a red flag
caution caused all drivers to have to stop and hold their positions. While waiting for the race to resume, Marlin climbed out of his car to look at the right front fender on his car. The fender was rubbing on the tire, and he pulled on it. Under NASCAR rules, no work of any kind is allowed to be performed on any car during a red flag
caution period. Marlin was ordered to move back in the pack for his penalty. Ward Burton
would go on to win, and Marlin finished eighth.
Marlin took the points lead after the second race of the season and did not let it go for the following 24 weeks. For most of that time he held a comfortable lead, which reached triple digits several times and was still 91 points ahead of second place entering the Chevy Monte Carlo 400 in September. However, Marlin finished that race in last place after an early accident and saw his points lead all but evaporate as Mark Martin
, who had entered the race 125 points behind Marlin, gained 116 points and moved into second place in the points as Marlin's lead shrunk to nine points (Jeff Gordon
, who had leapfrogged Martin for second place in the standings with a win the week before, also gained on Marlin but dropped to fourth due to the strong finishes from both Martin and rookie Jimmie Johnson
, who gained 95 points on Marlin to move into third). At the New Hampshire 300
the next week Marlin lost the points lead as Martin finished four places ahead of him, gaining 15 points. The next week Marlin dropped to fourth in the standings after a 21st place finish at Dover.
One week later, at the Protection One 400 at Kansas, Marlin crashed hard after 147 laps and finished 33rd. Due to the crash, he was later diagnosed with a cracked vertebra in his neck and would be forced to miss the remaining seven races. Marlin was replaced by Busch Series driver Jamie McMurray
, who had recently been signed by Chip Ganassi Racing to drive for the team in the 2003 season. McMurray won the UAW-GM Quality 500 in his second start in Marlin's car, and Marlin telephoned McMurray during the post-race festivities to congratulate him. Marlin finished eighteenth in the final season points with eight top fives and ten top tens.
Marlin did not finish in the top-five in 2003, but had 11 top-tens and matched his previous year's finish of eighteenth in points. Despite three top-fives in 2004, he fell to 21st in points. During the 2005 season
, Ganassi announced Marlin would be replaced by David Stremme
for the 2006 season in order to attract the younger male demographic.
Marlin joined MB2 Motorsports
for 2006 to drive the Waste Management Chevy, running with the #14 in tribute to his father, Coo Coo Marlin, who died during the 2005 season. Marlin's only Top 10 finish in 2006 was ninth place finish at Richmond. His 2006 season was shadowed by bad luck and #14 finished 36th in owner points.
#14 team was the only team out of the top 35 from 2006 to do this. Marlin's run in the #14 ended on July 17, 2007, when Ginn Racing announced Regan Smith
, who had been splitting time with Mark Martin in Ginn's U.S. Army-sponsored #01 car, would replace him beginning at the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard
at Indianapolis. He attempted to qualify for two races in 2007, but he failed to qualify for either. He tried to make the Sharpie 500
at Bristol in the #78 car as a replacement for Kenny Wallace
, and the UAW-Ford 500 at Talladega, replacing Mike Wallace
in the #09 car. However in November he managed to qualify the #09 and drove at Phoenix for a 25th place finish, and a week later at Homestead finishing 33rd.
Marlin failed to qualify for the 2008 Daytona 500 in the #09 car, but qualified at Talladega and the following week at Richmond as well. For Darlington, Marlin raced in his old #40 car and qualified 14th, and also at the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway
in the #40, still in for the injured Dario Franchitti
. He finished out the rest of the season driving for Phoenix Racing. In March 2009, Marlin participated in and won the Saturday Night Special, a charity event at Bristol Motor Speedway which included NASCAR Legends. He led the entire event in a car painted similar to the one he drove with Morgan McClure Motorsports, and wearing an older-style Coors Light uniform from his days while driving for Chip Ganassi. He will continue to drive part-time in the Sprint Cup Series for Phoenix.
For the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Marlin continued to run a limited schedule in the #09 Phoenix racing Miccosukee Resort & Gaming Chevrolet. His best finish for the '09 season was 35th at Martinsville, which also proved the last of his 748 career starts.
An announcement was made preceding the Cup Series finale weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway
that Marlin would attempt the race in the #70 Chevrolet for TRG Motorsports. He announced that it would be his final race and that he would be retiring shortly afterwards. These plans were later denied by Marlin. They are not true and he has no plans to drive at Homestead at all.
On March 18, 2010, it was announced that Marlin said that he is done racing in the Sprint Cup Series.
Marlin owns a Dodge dealership in Dickson, Tennessee
.
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
Sprint Cup Series driver. He is the son of late NASCAR driver Coo Coo Marlin
Coo Coo Marlin
Clifton "Coo Coo" Marlin was a NASCAR Winston Cup driver who spent 14 years in the series.-Local track history:...
. He is married to Paula and has a daughter, Sutherlin, and a son, Steadman
Steadman Marlin
Steadman Marlin is a part-time NASCAR driver. He currently drives the #95 Sadler Brothers Dodge in select races in the Busch Series. Marlin, the son of Sterling Marlin and grandson of the late Coo Coo Marlin, was born in Columbia, Tennessee on October 29, 1980. He made his NASCAR debut in 2000...
, who sometimes races in the Nationwide Series.
Beginnings
While he attended Spring Hill High School, Marlin played high school basketball and football, earning the captain status his senior year while he played quarterback and linebacker. He began his collection of civil war artifacts shortly after highschool. In 1976, he made his NASCAR debut at Nashville Speedway, filling in for his injured father in the #14 H.B. Cunningham Chevrolet. He started 30th and finished 29th after suffering oil pumpOil pump (internal combustion engine)
The oil pump in an internal combustion engine circulates engine oil under pressure to the rotating bearings, the sliding pistons and the camshaft of the engine...
failure early in the race. He made two more starts in 1978, finishing ninth at World 600 and twenty-fifth at Nashville for Cunningham. He ran Nashville again in 1979, finishing seventeenth. In 1980, he posted two top-tens, eighth in the Daytona 500
Daytona 500
The Daytona 500 is a -long NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held annually at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is one of four restrictor plate races on the Cup schedule....
for Cunningham, and seventh at Nashville for D.K. Ulrich. From 1980 to 1982,Marlin was a three time track champion at the historic Nashville Speedway USA.
1983–1990
Chevrolet
Chevrolet , also known as Chevy , is a brand of vehicle produced by General Motors Company . Founded by Louis Chevrolet and ousted GM founder William C. Durant on November 3, 1911, General Motors acquired Chevrolet in 1918...
. He posted a tenth-place finish at Dover International Speedway
Dover International Speedway
Dover International Speedway is a NASCAR-sanctioned race track located in Dover, Delaware, owned by, and serving as the corporate headquarters of, Dover Motorsports, Inc. It is co-located with a harness racing track, Dover Downs, and shares the complex with Dover Downs Hotel & Casino...
and finished 19th in the standings, clinching the Rookie of the Year award. Despite finishing 15th in the 1984 Daytona 500
1984 Daytona 500
In 1984, Cale Yarborough completed a lap of , officially breaking the barrier at Daytona. He won the race for the second year in a row, and fourth time in his career, with the identical last-lap pass, this time victimizing Darrell Waltrip who would later go on to win the same race in...
for Hamby, Marlin spent most of the season running for Sadler Brothers Racing, posting two top-ten finishes. He also competed in one race for Jimmy Means
Jimmy Means
James "Jimmy" Means is a former Winston Cup/Nextel Cup owner/driver. Currently, he is an adviser for Front Row Motorsports and owns his own team, Means Racing. He competed in NASCAR for eighteen years in mostly his own equipment, posting seventeen career top-tens...
and Dick Bahre respectively. Marlin only made eight starts in 1985, seven of them coming for Sadler, his best finish being 12th at Talladega Superspeedway
Talladega Superspeedway
Talladega Superspeedway is a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama, United States. It is located on the former Anniston Air Force Base just outside the small city of Lincoln. It was constructed by International Speedway Corporation, a business controlled by the France Family, in...
. He ended his season at Charlotte Motor Speedway
Charlotte Motor Speedway
Charlotte Motor Speedway is a motorsports complex located in Concord, North Carolina, United States 13 miles from Charlotte, North Carolina. The complex features a quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including the prestigious Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend and the Sprint All-Star Race...
in the Miller High Life 500
Bank of America 500
The Bank of America 500 is a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race that is hosted annually at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, United States. The race is usually held in the month of October, as part of the Chase for the Sprint Cup and is 500 miles long...
, driving the Helen Rae Special. He finished 29th, after suffering flywheel failure.
Marlin moved over to the #1 Bull's Eye Barbecue Sauce car owned by Hoss Ellington
Hoss Ellington
Hoss Ellington is a retired NASCAR driver and team owner. He made 31 starts as a driver between 1968 and 1970 in the Grand National ., finishing in the top 10 four times, all in 1969. He later became a successful team owner, with five wins, four of them by Donnie Allison and the other one by David...
in 1986. His best finish that season came at the Firecracker 400
Coke Zero 400
The Coke Zero 400 powered by Coca-Cola at Daytona is a 160 lap, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held annually, beginning in 1959, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida; the second major stock car event held at Daytona on the Sprint Cup circuit...
, where he finished second. Marlin received a full-time ride in 1987, when he was hired by Billy Hagan
Billy Hagan
Billy Joe Hagan was a NASCAR driver/owner from Lillie, Louisiana, USA.-Career:He made three starts in NASCAR's Grand National/Winston Cup division, finishing eighth in his first start, the inaugural Talladega 500 in a self-owned 1968 Mercury Cyclone. He did not field another car until 1975,...
to drive the #44 Piedmont Airlines
Piedmont Airlines
Piedmont Airlines is an American regional airline operating for US Airways Express. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of the US Airways Group, headquartered in unincorporated Wicomico County, Maryland, near the city of Salisbury, it conducts flight operations using De Havilland Canada Dash 8 aircraft...
Oldsmobile
Oldsmobile
Oldsmobile was a brand of American automobile produced for most of its existence by General Motors. It was founded by Ransom E. Olds in 1897. In its 107-year history, it produced 35.2 million cars, including at least 14 million built at its Lansing, Michigan factory...
. He had four top-fives and finished 11th in points. The following season, he had seven finishes of eighth or better in the first ten races and finished tenth in the standings. In 1989, the team received sponsorship from Sunoco
Sunoco
Sunoco Inc. is an American petroleum and petrochemical manufacturer headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, formerly known as Sun Company Inc. and Sun Oil Co. ....
and switched to the number 94. He tied a career-best 13 top-ten finishes but dropped to 12th in the final standings. He left the team at the end of the 1990 season. During the 1990 season, he won his first career Busch Series
Busch Series
The NASCAR Nationwide Series is a stock car racing series owned and operated by the National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing. It is promoted as NASCAR's "minor league" circuit, and is a proving ground for drivers who wish to step up to the organization's "big leagues"; the Sprint Cup circuit...
race at Charlotte, driving the #48 Diamond Ridge Chevrolet owned by Fred Turner.
1991–1997
Maxwell House
Maxwell House is a brand of coffee manufactured by a like-named division of Kraft Foods. Introduced in 1892, it is named in honor of the Maxwell House Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee. For many years until the late 1980s it was the largest-selling coffee in the U.S. and is currently second behind...
Ford Thunderbird
Ford Thunderbird
The Thunderbird , is an automobile manufactured by the Ford Motor Company in the United States over eleven model generations from 1955 through 2005...
for Junior Johnson
Junior Johnson
Robert Glenn Johnson, Jr. , better known as Junior Johnson, is a retired moonshiner in the rural South who became one of the early superstars of NASCAR in the 1950s and 1960s. He won 50 NASCAR races in his career before retiring in 1966...
in 1991. He had a second-place finish at Daytona to start the season and won two poles at Talladega Superspeedway
Talladega Superspeedway
Talladega Superspeedway is a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama, United States. It is located on the former Anniston Air Force Base just outside the small city of Lincoln. It was constructed by International Speedway Corporation, a business controlled by the France Family, in...
and the Firecracker 400, finishing seventh in the standings. The next season, he won an additional five poles and had six top-five finishes. Despite his career-high pole total, Marlin departed to drive the #8 Raybestos
Raybestos
Raybestos is a brand of automotive brakes begun in 1902 by Arthur H. Raymond and Arthur F. Law of Bridgeport, Connecticut. In 1906 Raymond and Law invented the woven brake lining, an important innovation in automotive brakes. From 1919-1989 Raybestos brand was manufactured by Raymark Industries,...
Ford for Stavola Brothers Racing
Stavola Brothers Racing
8--98.194.31.156 16:33, 27 November 2011 Stavola Brothers Racing was a NASCAR racing team, owned by Bill and Mickey Stavola, and operating NASCAR Winston Cup and Busch Series teams from 1984 through 1998. The team won the 1988 Daytona 500 with Bobby Allison behind the wheel of the #12 Miller High...
. He had just one top-five finish and fell to fourteenth in the standings.
Marlin's first career win came in his 279th career start at the 1994 Daytona 500 driving for Morgan-McClure Motorsports
Morgan-McClure Motorsports
Morgan-McClure Motorsports is an American auto racing team that competed in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series full time until 2007 and now occasionally attempts races. It has been in operation for 27 years, starting in 1982. The team is most notable for running the #4 from 1983 to 2009.-Starting...
in the #4 Kodak car. He went on to win the 500 again in the following year, becoming only one of three drivers to win consecutive Daytona 500s. The other two men that have accomplished that feat were Richard Petty
Richard Petty
Richard Lee Petty is a former NASCAR driver who raced in the Strictly Stock/Grand National Era and the NASCAR Winston Cup Series...
and Cale Yarborough
Cale Yarborough
William Caleb "Cale" Yarborough , is a farmer, businessman and former NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver and owner. He is one of only two drivers in NASCAR history to win three consecutive championships...
. He also became the only driver to have his first two career wins at the Daytona 500. Marlin won two more times during the 1995 season and finished a career high third in the point standings, during a four-year run with Morgan-McClure Motorsports. In 1997, he did not return to victory lane but dropped to twenty-fifth in the final standings. He left the #4 team at year's end.
1998–2006
In 1998, he joined SABCO Racing to drive the #40 Coors LightCoors Light
Coors Light is a light beer produced by the Coors Brewing Company. It was first produced in 1978.The beer has a "Cold Certified" label which turns the mountains on the label from white to blue when the beer's temperature is lowered to 4 degrees Celsius .- Promotions :In 2008, Coors Light became...
Chevrolet. He opened the season by winning the Gatorade 125, a qualifying race for the Daytona 500, but three weeks later, he failed to qualify for the Primestar 500
Golden Corral 500
The Atlanta 500 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup stock car race that was run every March at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia from 1960 until 2010...
, the first race he had missed since 1986. He finished in the top-ten six times and had a thirteenth-place points finish. In 1999, he won his first pole since 1995 at Pocono Raceway
Pocono Raceway
Pocono Raceway also known as the Tricky Triangle, is a superspeedway located in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania at Long Pond...
, but dropped down to sixteenth in the standings. In 2000, he won his second career Busch Series race, driving SABCO's #82 entry at Bristol Motor Speedway
Bristol Motor Speedway
Bristol Motor Speedway, formerly known as Bristol International Raceway and Bristol Raceway is a NASCAR short track venue located in Bristol, Tennessee. Constructed in 1960, it held its first NASCAR race on July 30, 1961...
. During the season, he lost teammate Kenny Irwin, Jr.
Kenny Irwin, Jr.
Kenneth Dale Irwin, Jr. was a NASCAR stock car driver. He had driven in all three major of forms of NASCAR and had two total victories. Before that, he raced in the United States Auto Club against Tony Stewart, who was one of his fiercest rivals...
in a practice crash at New Hampshire International Speedway
New Hampshire International Speedway
New Hampshire Motor Speedway is a oval speedway located in Loudon, New Hampshire which has hosted NASCAR racing annually since the early 1990s, as well as an IndyCar weekend and the oldest motorcycle race in North America, the Loudon Classic...
. After finishing in the top-ten seven times, he fell back to nineteenth in the overall standings.
In 2001, SABCO's majority ownership stake was purchased by CART
Champ Car
Champ Car was the name for a class and specification of open wheel cars used in American Championship Car Racing for many decades, primarily for use in the Indianapolis 500 auto race...
(now IRL) championship owner Chip Ganassi
Chip Ganassi
Floyd "Chip" Ganassi, Jr is a former American racecar driver and current racecar owner.He is currently the owner and president of Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates which operates teams on the IndyCar, NASCAR and Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series circuit...
and the team switched to Dodge Intrepid
Dodge Intrepid
The Dodge Intrepid is a large four-door, full-size, front-wheel drive sedan car model that was produced for model years 1993 to 2004. It was mechanically related to the Chrysler Concorde, Chrysler LHS, Chrysler New Yorker, Eagle Vision, and also the 300M sedans...
s. In his first race with the new team, Marlin won the Gatorade 125 qualifying race at Daytona. Three days later at the Daytona 500, Marlin appeared to make contact with Dale Earnhardt
Dale Earnhardt
Ralph Dale Earnhardt, Sr. was an American race car driver, best known for his involvement in stock car racing for NASCAR...
, causing Earnhardt to crash
Death of Dale Earnhardt
Dale Earnhardt was an American race car driver who gained fame driving stock cars for NASCAR and winning seven championships. He was involved in a car accident during the last lap of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 18, 2001. He was taken to Halifax Medical Center,...
into the Turn 4 wall, an impact that would kill him. In the following days, Marlin and his family received hate mail
Hate mail
Hate mail is a form of harassment, usually consisting of invective and potentially intimidating or threatening comments towards the recipient...
and death threats from angry fans who wrongly felt that Marlin was responsible for Earnhardt's death. He was eventually publicly defended by two of Earnhardt's drivers, Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
* NOTE: References to "Earnhardt", "he", and "him" refer to the subject of this article, unless otherwise specified. References to his father will include "Sr."...
and Michael Waltrip
Michael Waltrip
Michael Curtis Waltrip is a semi-former professional race car driver, co-owner of Michael Waltrip Racing, and a published author. He is the younger brother of three-time NASCAR champion and racing commentator Darrell Waltrip. Waltrip is a two-time winner of the Daytona 500; having won the race in...
, and was also cleared of any wrongdoing by NASCAR's investigation into the accident. He won Dodge's first race in its return to NASCAR at Michigan International Speedway
Michigan International Speedway
Michigan International Speedway is a two-mile moderate-banked D-shaped superspeedway located off U.S. Highway 12 on more than in Brooklyn, in the scenic Irish Hills area of southeastern Michigan. The track is used primarily for NASCAR events. It is sometimes known as a "sister track" to Texas...
, as well as winning the UAW-GM Quality 500. He tied his career best points finish of third that season. Had the current Chase for the Sprint Cup points system been in place in 2001, Sterling Marlin would have been the 2001 NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion.
Marlin scored two victories early in the 2002 season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Las Vegas Motor Speedway, located in Clark County, Nevada near Las Vegas, is a complex of multiple tracks for automobile racing. The complex is owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., which is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.-History:...
and Darlington Raceway
Darlington Raceway
Darlington Raceway is a race track built for NASCAR racing located near Darlington, South Carolina. It is nicknamed the "Lady in Black" and "The Track Too Tough to Tame" by many NASCAR fans and drivers and advertised as "A NASCAR Tradition"...
(the latter being his last career win to date). He led the 2002 Daytona 500
2002 Daytona 500
The 2002 Daytona 500 was held on February 17 at Daytona International Speedway. The race was won by Ward Burton. Rookie Jimmie Johnson won the pole, with fellow Daytona 500 rookie Kevin Harvick qualifying second, the first time the field would be led by two rookies...
with six laps remaining until a red flag
Red flag
In politics, a red flag is a symbol of Socialism, or Communism, or sometimes left-wing politics in general. It has been associated with left-wing politics since the French Revolution. Socialists adopted the symbol during the Revolutions of 1848 and it became a symbol of communism as a result of its...
caution caused all drivers to have to stop and hold their positions. While waiting for the race to resume, Marlin climbed out of his car to look at the right front fender on his car. The fender was rubbing on the tire, and he pulled on it. Under NASCAR rules, no work of any kind is allowed to be performed on any car during a red flag
Red flag
In politics, a red flag is a symbol of Socialism, or Communism, or sometimes left-wing politics in general. It has been associated with left-wing politics since the French Revolution. Socialists adopted the symbol during the Revolutions of 1848 and it became a symbol of communism as a result of its...
caution period. Marlin was ordered to move back in the pack for his penalty. Ward Burton
Ward Burton
John Edward Burton III is an American NASCAR auto racer, who has a total of five career Sprint Cup wins. He last drove the #4 State Water Heaters Chevrolet Impala SS for Morgan-McClure Motorsports in 2007. He is the older brother of fellow NASCAR driver Jeff Burton, against whom he first...
would go on to win, and Marlin finished eighth.
Marlin took the points lead after the second race of the season and did not let it go for the following 24 weeks. For most of that time he held a comfortable lead, which reached triple digits several times and was still 91 points ahead of second place entering the Chevy Monte Carlo 400 in September. However, Marlin finished that race in last place after an early accident and saw his points lead all but evaporate as Mark Martin
Mark Martin (NASCAR)
Mark Anthony Martin is an American stock car driver currently competing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. As of 2012, Martin will drive for Michael Waltrip Racing, moving on from successful organizations such as Hendrick Motorsports and Roush Fenway Racing. He has the second most wins in the NASCAR...
, who had entered the race 125 points behind Marlin, gained 116 points and moved into second place in the points as Marlin's lead shrunk to nine points (Jeff Gordon
Jeff Gordon
Jeffery Michael "Jeff" Gordon is a professional NASCAR driver. He is the driver of the #24 Drive to End Hunger/DuPont/Pepsi Chevrolet Impala. He is a four-time Sprint Cup Series champion and a three-time Daytona 500 winner. He is third on the all-time wins list, with 85 career wins, and has the...
, who had leapfrogged Martin for second place in the standings with a win the week before, also gained on Marlin but dropped to fourth due to the strong finishes from both Martin and rookie Jimmie Johnson
Jimmie Johnson
Jimmie Kenneth Johnson is an American NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race car driver. He currently drives the No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports....
, who gained 95 points on Marlin to move into third). At the New Hampshire 300
Sylvania 300
The Sylvania 300 is a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire.The Sylvania 300 has traditionally held in mid-September, however, the race has been rescheduled once in its history...
the next week Marlin lost the points lead as Martin finished four places ahead of him, gaining 15 points. The next week Marlin dropped to fourth in the standings after a 21st place finish at Dover.
One week later, at the Protection One 400 at Kansas, Marlin crashed hard after 147 laps and finished 33rd. Due to the crash, he was later diagnosed with a cracked vertebra in his neck and would be forced to miss the remaining seven races. Marlin was replaced by Busch Series driver Jamie McMurray
Jamie McMurray
James Christopher "Jamie" McMurray is a professional American race car driver. McMurray is best known for winning the 2002 UAW-GM Quality 500 as a substitute driver in his second Winston Cup start, and is one of three drivers to win both the Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 in the same year...
, who had recently been signed by Chip Ganassi Racing to drive for the team in the 2003 season. McMurray won the UAW-GM Quality 500 in his second start in Marlin's car, and Marlin telephoned McMurray during the post-race festivities to congratulate him. Marlin finished eighteenth in the final season points with eight top fives and ten top tens.
Marlin did not finish in the top-five in 2003, but had 11 top-tens and matched his previous year's finish of eighteenth in points. Despite three top-fives in 2004, he fell to 21st in points. During the 2005 season
2005 in NASCAR
The 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series began on Saturday, February 12. The ten race Chase for the Nextel Cup started with the Sylvania 300 on Sunday, September 18, and ended on Sunday, November 20, with the Ford 400....
, Ganassi announced Marlin would be replaced by David Stremme
David Stremme
David Andrew Stremme is an American stock car driver. He is most notable as the 2003 NASCAR Nationwide Series Rookie of the Year, winning the award while running a part time for several different teams. He currently drives the #30 Chevrolet Impala for Inception Motorsports.-Early life:Stremme was...
for the 2006 season in order to attract the younger male demographic.
MB2 Motorsports
Ginn Racing was a NASCAR Nextel Cup Series team based in Mooresville, North Carolina, which is near Charlotte. Its principal owners in its final season, 2007, were 80% Bobby Ginn and 20% Jay Frye. The Valvoline corporation co-owned the #10 car with the principal owners from 2001 to 2005...
for 2006 to drive the Waste Management Chevy, running with the #14 in tribute to his father, Coo Coo Marlin, who died during the 2005 season. Marlin's only Top 10 finish in 2006 was ninth place finish at Richmond. His 2006 season was shadowed by bad luck and #14 finished 36th in owner points.
2007–2010
Marlin was able to qualify via speed for each of the first five races of the 2007 season, his Pep BoysPep Boys
The Pep Boys — Manny, Moe & Jack , branded as Pep Boys Auto and commonly abbreviated as Pep Boys, is a full-service and tire automotive aftermarket chain....
#14 team was the only team out of the top 35 from 2006 to do this. Marlin's run in the #14 ended on July 17, 2007, when Ginn Racing announced Regan Smith
Regan Smith
Regan Smith is a NASCAR driver. He currently drives the #78 Furniture Row Chevrolet Impala for Furniture Row Racing.-Beginnings:...
, who had been splitting time with Mark Martin in Ginn's U.S. Army-sponsored #01 car, would replace him beginning at the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard
Allstate 400 at the Brickyard
The Brickyard 400 is an annual 400-mile NASCAR Sprint Cup points race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. The event, when first held in 1994, marked the first race other than the Indianapolis 500 to be held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway since 1916...
at Indianapolis. He attempted to qualify for two races in 2007, but he failed to qualify for either. He tried to make the Sharpie 500
Sharpie 500
The Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol is a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee. It is one of two Sprint Cup races held at Bristol, the other being the Food City 500, but it is by far the more popular of the two...
at Bristol in the #78 car as a replacement for Kenny Wallace
Kenny Wallace
Kenneth Wallace is an American stock car driver who currently drives the #09 Family Farmers/University of Northwestern Ohio/Federated Auto Parts/American Ethanol/Iowa Corn/G-Oil/Marquis Energy Toyota Camry for RAB Racing in the NASCAR Nationwide Series...
, and the UAW-Ford 500 at Talladega, replacing Mike Wallace
Mike Wallace (NASCAR)
Mike Wallace is a NASCAR race car driver born in Fenton, Missouri. He currently drives the #01 Chevrolet for JD Motorsports in the Nationwide Series. He is a younger brother to Rusty Wallace, older brother to Kenny Wallace, and uncle to Steve Wallace...
in the #09 car. However in November he managed to qualify the #09 and drove at Phoenix for a 25th place finish, and a week later at Homestead finishing 33rd.
Lowe's Motor Speedway
Charlotte Motor Speedway is a motorsports complex located in Concord, North Carolina, United States 13 miles from Charlotte, North Carolina. The complex features a quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including the prestigious Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend and the Sprint All-Star Race...
in the #40, still in for the injured Dario Franchitti
Dario Franchitti
George Dario Marino Franchitti is a Scottish racing driver. He formerly competed in the CART series before switching to the IndyCar Series where he was 2007 champion, and won the rain-shortened 2007 Indianapolis 500. Franchitti is also a former NASCAR driver for Chip Ganassi Racing, competing...
. He finished out the rest of the season driving for Phoenix Racing. In March 2009, Marlin participated in and won the Saturday Night Special, a charity event at Bristol Motor Speedway which included NASCAR Legends. He led the entire event in a car painted similar to the one he drove with Morgan McClure Motorsports, and wearing an older-style Coors Light uniform from his days while driving for Chip Ganassi. He will continue to drive part-time in the Sprint Cup Series for Phoenix.
For the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Marlin continued to run a limited schedule in the #09 Phoenix racing Miccosukee Resort & Gaming Chevrolet. His best finish for the '09 season was 35th at Martinsville, which also proved the last of his 748 career starts.
An announcement was made preceding the Cup Series finale weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway
Homestead-Miami Speedway
Homestead-Miami Speedway is a race track in Homestead, Florida southwest of Miami.Since 2002 Homestead has hosted the final races of the season in all three of NASCAR's series: the Sprint Cup Series, Nationwide Series, and the Camping World Truck Series...
that Marlin would attempt the race in the #70 Chevrolet for TRG Motorsports. He announced that it would be his final race and that he would be retiring shortly afterwards. These plans were later denied by Marlin. They are not true and he has no plans to drive at Homestead at all.
On March 18, 2010, it was announced that Marlin said that he is done racing in the Sprint Cup Series.
Marlin owns a Dodge dealership in Dickson, Tennessee
Dickson, Tennessee
Dickson is a city in Dickson County, Tennessee, United States. It is part of the Nashville Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 12,244 at the 2000 census.-Demographics:...
.