SCR: On the other hand, what area does the No. 40 team need to improve upon to move up the Winston Cup ladder a couple of positions?Marlin: I guess it would have to be our short-track program, even though it wasn't all that bad last year. We were leading at Richmond before we broke a transmission, plus we had some other good races we just didn't capitalize on as much as we should have. I do think we probably need to get our road course stuff just a little bit better, but then again, when it comes to road racing it's probably my fault because I don't like the damn things to start with. If we improve in a few areas here and there, I think we can be right up there with the best of them.
SCR: I know one of your passions is University of Tennessee football. How did you become a Volunteers fan? Marlin: If you're born in Tennessee, you really don't have much of a choice. Over the years I've gotten to know some of the coaches, and they've invited me to go up there to the games and stand on the sidelines with them. Even when we're at the racetrack, I have a satellite on my motorhome so I can keep up with the Tennessee games.
SCR: You're a former standout high school football quarterback and linebacker. If it wasn't for racing, do you think you might have turned out as a professional football player? If not, what would Sterling Marlin likely be doing if he weren't a Winston Cup driver?Marlin: I wouldn't have turned out to be a football player, and I've never really thought about what I'd be doing if I weren't in racing. I did enjoy football, but I would have never been good enough to play on down the road. I don't know, maybe I'd have ended up as a football coach or something of that nature.
SCR: You're a collector of Civil War artifacts, and actually look for items yourself when you have the time. How did that start as a hobby?Marlin: From where I live, I can drive a couple of miles down the road and find some relics like old bullets and buttons off the uniforms. I guess all that got started back in high school because I was always real interested in history. Plus, being from the Tennessee area helped me learn a lot about it. When I was growing up my mother always talked to me about the Civil War and what all that went on at that time. So I'd always liked that kind of stuff. Then one day a buddy of mine invited me to go hunting old relics with him. To make a long story short, that day we found a couple of bullets and I got hooked on it.
SCR: Do any fans ever send you Civil War items to add to your collection?Marlin: Actually they do. They've sent me old buttons and bullets, things of that nature. I was in Dover one time and a fan of mine walked up to me and gave me an old Civil War sword. That's pretty wild to have fans that think enough about you to send in things like that.
SCR: Talk about the relationship you have with your father, former Winston Cup driver Coo Coo Marlin. How much of an asset has he been to your racing career?Marlin: I got into racing because I worked on dad's race car while he was out trying to make a living at farming. He would basically leave me at the shop to put his car together. Then when I'd go to the tracks on the weekend to watch him race, I learned a whole lot from him as far as the basics. Dad didn't have the money to give me to get going in racing. I saved all the money I made from working to buy my first race car. That's when he really helped me out as far as the knowledge of setting the car up and things like that.