Sterling Marlin

Sterling Marlin had to be one of the biggest surprises of the 2001 season, taking his Coors Light Dodge to a third-place finish in points. This despite the fact that he dealt with a flood of adversity for his involvement in Dale Earnhardt's fatal crash at Daytona. Marlin recently spoke with Stock Car Racing about the highs and lows, and his obvious goals for 2002.

SCR: Looking back at this time last year, you were getting a lot of criticism for the last lap wreck with Dale Earnhardt in the Daytona 500. How does being involved in something like that affect you?

Marlin: I just knew I didn't do anything wrong. There were people criticizing me right after it happened, but I think once everybody stopped and took a look at the tape of the wreck and saw what happened, they had a change of heart. Dale Earnhardt Jr. stepped up and said it wasn't my fault and so did Michael Waltrip. I just think once everybody stopped and came to their senses, they realized it was just racing.

SCR: In the days following the crash, you received death threats. Did you ever ask yourself whether racing was more important than simply being safe with your wife and kids?

Marlin: I never personally received a threat. It was more of people writing letters and making calls to our shop. I've had people who have wanted to kill me since high school, but really those threats were never made directly to me.

SCR: You battled through that early adversity to one of your best seasons in Winston Cup. How satisfying was that?

Marlin: I really feel like it showed the strength of everybody we have on our race team, because we truly do have some quality guys working on these cars. Having good equipment and people, plus a good manufacturer behind you, that's all a driver can ask for to be able to be competitive. I felt like we were going to be good before the season ever started because we had improved so much over the winter. There were a lot of people who didn't give our team much of a chance, and that helped to light a fire in us to show them how good we really were.

SCR: What do you consider your biggest accomplishment in 2001, getting the first win for Dodge or finishing third in the final point standings?

Marlin: Without question it would have to be winning at Michigan. We were so close to winning earlier in the year, it got kind of frustrating. Before I won Michigan, I'd been getting out of the car saying we should have won because we'd been so close. When we went back to Michigan, I was on a mission because we would have won the first race there if a late caution didn't come out. Everybody knew we were going to win, and sure enough when we got back to Michigan for the second time we had a pretty good old hot rod and finally got to pull into Victory Lane.

SCR: What do you consider the low point of the 2001 season?

Marlin: We finished 30th or worse five times last year. I know there are a lot of "ifs" in racing, but I have to believe if you take three of those finishes out then we would have been right up there battling for the championship with Jeff Gordon. That is if nothing had happened to us and we didn't have those problems. I think that's something this team is going to build off of because we know every track we go to we have one of the best cars. We were third last year in the points, and if we can eliminate those mistakes in 2002 we're going to be right there this year battling for the championship.

SCR: Perhaps your two most impressive feats last year were winning two races and having such a strong finish in the point standings with a new team owner, Chip Ganassi. Wouldn't you agree?

Marlin: Yes, I would agree with that. But then again, if you take a look at Chip's resume, he's really dedicated to racing. He lives for racing, and so do I. That's the exact same philosophy I've always had because since I was 12 or 13 years old the first thing I think about when I wake up in the morning is racing. Chip wants to win and so do I, plus all the guys at the shop are cut from the same mold and have a winning instinct. Chip has done a tremendous job in the short time he's been involved in Winston Cup racing.

SCR: The 2001 season was Ganassi's first venture into NASCAR. What did he bring to the table to improve a team that finished 19th in the final 2000 standings to third last year?

Marlin: When Felix Sabates owned the entire team, I don't think he had that many people who really took him seriously. The manufacturers didn't take him seriously so he was told a lot of stuff that wasn't true that hurt the race team. Basically, Felix was getting run over until Chip came in and bought the team. Chip knows what's right and what's wrong because it's hard to fool a guy who's been involved in racing all his life. Chip definitely knows what's going on. Another thing that obviously helped us was the fact Dodge came on board and really supported us. We'd hardly ever seen a wind tunnel until Dodge came along. Plus we had a veteran like Ernie Elliott building our motors. We also started hanging all our bodies in-house. Before that, if a change had to be made, the manufactures would take two weeks to get us what we needed. Now if something needs to be changed, we can do it at our own shop in a day and have it done. All those factors played a part in our improvement.

SCR: Do you think it's possible we might be talking about Sterling Marlin late this season as a championship contender?

Marlin: I don't know. We'll just go racing and let the chips fall where they may. I feel like the team's ready to win a championship based on what we did last year. If Jeff Gordon runs like he did last year, he's going to be hard to beat. Every driver out there would love to win a championship, and so would I because I've been in this business a long time. Since my dad raced, that would make it even more special to me. I think I'm finally with a team now that has all the resources I need to win a championship.

SCR: How would a Winston Cup title stack up with your two wins in the Daytona 500?

Marlin: It would rank right up there with Daytona, and to be honest, a championship would probably mean more to me.

SCR: What do you feel like was the biggest asset your race team had going into the 2002 season?

Marlin: We had a full season of racing under our belts and we learned a whole lot last year. I feel like our engine department is continuing to learn new things that will help us a lot. Another thing I think is the veteran drivers are going to be at an advantage with the new rule that we can only use one engine per week instead of having qualifying and race motors. It's really going to be important having that experience of how the car feels after only five or 10 laps into practice. Now if something isn't right after three or four laps of practice, we want to come in and get the car fixed instead of staying out on the track and putting 40 laps on the engine. It's very important to know what you're looking for pretty much as soon as you get in the car.

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.

SCR: It looks like there might be a third Marlin generation in Winston Cup. How thrilling is it to have your son, Steadman, racing in the Busch Series and wanting to follow you into the sport?

Marlin: It would be pretty neat if Steadman could move up the ladder into the Winston Cup Series. I think he's shown a lot of promise in the Busch Series because he was good at a lot of tracks he'd never been to before. It's going to take a lot of hard work and desire to make it. I've told him that you just don't snap your fingers and become a Winston Cup driver. I try to help him out as much as I can because it takes a lot of help to make it in this sport.

SCR: How much longer do you think you'll race?

Marlin: I will get out of the car when I feel like I'm not competitive anymore. When I look at last year, I see I'm still competitive because of the equipment I had to work with. If I can stay with Chip in good cars, I can see racing another five years. I look at Harry Gant because he was winning races when he was 52 years old. To me, the 2001 season was the most fun I've ever had in racing. I feel really good and very fortunate to be with the caliber of team I'm with now.