Marlin finds silver lining despite losing his Cup ride
Looking for new team, but wants to race a competitive car
By Bill Weber, NASCAR.COM
I saw Sterling Marlin from the opposite end of the garage on Saturday at Indianapolis. He was walking down the middle of the area where the haulers were parked behind the garage. He wasn't walking in the shadows along the back of the haulers or out of sight along the front of the rigs. There he was, in the middle of the garage, smiling and waving. And everyone was waving back.
It was like that movie where the guy loses his job but at the end of the movie comes back to work as the hero and everyone can't wait to say hello. I can't remember the movie, Wally [Dallenbach] is the expert on that. But there was Sterling, strolling through the garage just days after getting punted on a fourth and long by Ginn Racing. According to some people in the garage, it was fourth and real long.
NASCAR on TNT
But Sterling was still smiling. I'm pretty sure he saw me coming from the other end of the garage. I don't know why but I'm certain he did. I have to admit, I was keeping an eye out for him. I kind of thought he might be at Indy. I didn't know what to expect if I did see him, but when I did, I got what I should have expected. A smile. A handshake. A question asking how I was doing. I was doing OK -- I still had a job, unless he knew something I didn't!
We talked for a minute and then I asked him if he was in a hurry to get somewhere. Sterling? In a hurry? That has never happened, unless it was sometime between the green flag and the checkered flag.
We sat down. I asked a question. It was worse than the first question I asked in a mock interview when I was a freshman in college in Indianapolis, but the answer was crisp, passionate and pure Sterling.
How do you feel?
"Well, I mean, naturally disappointed," said Marlin with his trademark accent.
"This is the second biggest race of the year for us and I've always loved running here at Indy. Business is business but it's disappointing not being in the seat where you've always been. I guess they kind of got in a financial strain, sponsors were supposed to be on the car and contracts were signed but the money never came through and it just forced them to shut down and they made the sale to DEI [Dale Earnhardt Incorporated]."
What he said next almost knocked me out of my chair.
"But, that's racing, been through a lot of it so, no problem."
This coming from one of the few guys who started all 13 Nextel Cup races at Indianapolis. Here he was, in the garage, with his smile, but without a ride. That's Sterling. That's racing.
The fan reaction to the Sterling Shuffle has been predictable. I'm not talking about the Internet, I'm talking about fans that come up to you and ask, "What happened to Sterling?" "Why did they do that to Sterling?" The rear windows of the Chevy Tahoe I saw driving around Indianapolis when I arrived on Wednesday: "Save Sterling from Ginn Racing ... the last resort", a shot at another business interest of car owner Bobby Ginn.
Marlin, make that Sterling -- it's hard to call Sterling by his last name -- knows all about the fan response.
"Yeah, I heard the Web site stuff was crammed full and I guess the Ginn Web site got blasted, I don't know, but I want to thank all the fans for all the years and it's been great. The fans are what make it all go 'round so I want to thank them all for supporting me all the years."
I talked with a few people I respect in the garage area at Indianapolis about the situation with Sterling. There are a variety of opinions. Maybe Sterling should have delivered better finishes. Maybe he should have been more aware of the situation at Ginn Racing, laying off people, not being able to make purchases from suppliers because of past due bills. Maybe Sterling should not have been such a nice guy. Maybe he shouldn't have been a believer.
Interviewing 101 kicked-in. Did you see it coming?
"Take Kasey Kahne. We probably out ran him 80 percent of the time this year. But it's all sponsor driven. You've got to have sponsors and I guess the sponsors might want younger guys."
Sterling Marlin"I knew early in the year, in mid-year, you hear the rumors, ya know, they're short on money. I didn't ask any questions, just drive the car and figured if they needed to talk to me they would talk to me. I never saw it coming. I went to Chicago [the race before Indianapolis and, as it turns out, his last race with Ginn], everything was fine but I did know they might be having some trouble getting sponsors and keeping sponsors."
Sterling said most of the legal issues -- meaning contract and money -- have been worked out, so he can look for a ride. He said he doesn't have one.
"I can drive if I want to," Marlin said.
"Next year I was going to cut back anyway, wasn't gonna plan on running the full deal, unless a really good car come along to run. I was gonna cut back to 15 or 20 races, and if that didn't come off it didn't. So maybe I would run a few Busch races just to keep your hand in it, have a good time. You enjoy racing so if I don't do that we'll drive a Late Model at Nashville."
So at least we can watch him race there! I'm hoping we'll see him somewhere else before that, but, maybe not.
Sterling Marlin is 50 years old and that is old by modern day "racing standards," especially if you're a sponsor. Marlin has 10 career wins, is a two-time Daytona 500 champion and has three wins at Daytona. He has made 730 career starts. It would be hard to accept the fact he has made his last start. However, the fact is, older owners want younger drivers, even if the older drivers are schooling the younger drivers. The older the driver, the harder the race is, not just on the track, but also for sponsorship. Guys that have won have to work harder to prove they can still be a winner, on and off the track.
"Probably do," Marlin said. "I still work hard. Take Kasey Kahne. We probably out ran him 80 percent of the time this year. But it's all sponsor driven. You've got to have sponsors and I guess the sponsors might want younger guys, I don't know. I did all the stuff you're suppose to, went to all the tests I was suppose to, but the bottom [line], they didn't have the money."
One thing you can't take from Sterling is his desire. He still wants to race, and he wants to be competitive.
"Yeah, I do. We had some good runs this year, just didn't have the finishes to show for it," Marlin said. " I think that we had a car that could've won Charlotte, led at Talladega, had some top-10s going then something messes up but I was up to 24th in points, wasn't far out of 20th, and was one of the only teams that made it in all five races [at the start of the season] when we had to make [the starting field] on time.
"I think that says a lot about the race team and what we had going but you have to have money to make it all happen and I guess it just ran out."
I couldn't help but think back to the 2002 season. Sterling led the point race for 25 weeks, taking the top spot after the second race at Rockingham and holding it until after the 27th race at New Hampshire, when he fell to second, six points behind Mark Martin.
Marlin was fourth in points heading into Kansas a couple of weeks later. He was in a vicious crash that day and finished 33rd, falling to fifth in points. He was just 121 points out of the lead.
We had already set up a feature shoot with Sterling for the following week. We paid a visit to his home in Tennessee. He was sore but still upbeat. He showed us around the town, took our crew to lunch (he paid), made a day of it for us. We left in mid-afternoon just before Sterling got a telephone call from his doctor. He had a broken bone in his neck; his season and his shot at the 2002 championship were over. Now his fans hope it's not over, for real.
"Yeah, I still want to run, still want to finish this year out and thought I was going to finish this year out but it wasn't to be," Marlin said. "The deal is you don't want to drive anything that's on the borderline of making the race and going home and all that stuff. You want a competitive car, crew and team when you do find something. But if it don't happen, it don't happen. I'm happy where I'm at right now."
Hopefully Marlin will get that chance to finish out this season, and leave all of us a smile and one more Sterling performance.
The opinions expressed are those solely of the writer.
Looking for new team, but wants to race a competitive car
By Bill Weber, NASCAR.COM
I saw Sterling Marlin from the opposite end of the garage on Saturday at Indianapolis. He was walking down the middle of the area where the haulers were parked behind the garage. He wasn't walking in the shadows along the back of the haulers or out of sight along the front of the rigs. There he was, in the middle of the garage, smiling and waving. And everyone was waving back.
It was like that movie where the guy loses his job but at the end of the movie comes back to work as the hero and everyone can't wait to say hello. I can't remember the movie, Wally [Dallenbach] is the expert on that. But there was Sterling, strolling through the garage just days after getting punted on a fourth and long by Ginn Racing. According to some people in the garage, it was fourth and real long.
NASCAR on TNT
But Sterling was still smiling. I'm pretty sure he saw me coming from the other end of the garage. I don't know why but I'm certain he did. I have to admit, I was keeping an eye out for him. I kind of thought he might be at Indy. I didn't know what to expect if I did see him, but when I did, I got what I should have expected. A smile. A handshake. A question asking how I was doing. I was doing OK -- I still had a job, unless he knew something I didn't!
We talked for a minute and then I asked him if he was in a hurry to get somewhere. Sterling? In a hurry? That has never happened, unless it was sometime between the green flag and the checkered flag.
We sat down. I asked a question. It was worse than the first question I asked in a mock interview when I was a freshman in college in Indianapolis, but the answer was crisp, passionate and pure Sterling.
How do you feel?
"Well, I mean, naturally disappointed," said Marlin with his trademark accent.
"This is the second biggest race of the year for us and I've always loved running here at Indy. Business is business but it's disappointing not being in the seat where you've always been. I guess they kind of got in a financial strain, sponsors were supposed to be on the car and contracts were signed but the money never came through and it just forced them to shut down and they made the sale to DEI [Dale Earnhardt Incorporated]."
What he said next almost knocked me out of my chair.
"But, that's racing, been through a lot of it so, no problem."
This coming from one of the few guys who started all 13 Nextel Cup races at Indianapolis. Here he was, in the garage, with his smile, but without a ride. That's Sterling. That's racing.
The fan reaction to the Sterling Shuffle has been predictable. I'm not talking about the Internet, I'm talking about fans that come up to you and ask, "What happened to Sterling?" "Why did they do that to Sterling?" The rear windows of the Chevy Tahoe I saw driving around Indianapolis when I arrived on Wednesday: "Save Sterling from Ginn Racing ... the last resort", a shot at another business interest of car owner Bobby Ginn.
Marlin, make that Sterling -- it's hard to call Sterling by his last name -- knows all about the fan response.
"Yeah, I heard the Web site stuff was crammed full and I guess the Ginn Web site got blasted, I don't know, but I want to thank all the fans for all the years and it's been great. The fans are what make it all go 'round so I want to thank them all for supporting me all the years."
I talked with a few people I respect in the garage area at Indianapolis about the situation with Sterling. There are a variety of opinions. Maybe Sterling should have delivered better finishes. Maybe he should have been more aware of the situation at Ginn Racing, laying off people, not being able to make purchases from suppliers because of past due bills. Maybe Sterling should not have been such a nice guy. Maybe he shouldn't have been a believer.
Interviewing 101 kicked-in. Did you see it coming?
"Take Kasey Kahne. We probably out ran him 80 percent of the time this year. But it's all sponsor driven. You've got to have sponsors and I guess the sponsors might want younger guys."
Sterling Marlin"I knew early in the year, in mid-year, you hear the rumors, ya know, they're short on money. I didn't ask any questions, just drive the car and figured if they needed to talk to me they would talk to me. I never saw it coming. I went to Chicago [the race before Indianapolis and, as it turns out, his last race with Ginn], everything was fine but I did know they might be having some trouble getting sponsors and keeping sponsors."
Sterling said most of the legal issues -- meaning contract and money -- have been worked out, so he can look for a ride. He said he doesn't have one.
"I can drive if I want to," Marlin said.
"Next year I was going to cut back anyway, wasn't gonna plan on running the full deal, unless a really good car come along to run. I was gonna cut back to 15 or 20 races, and if that didn't come off it didn't. So maybe I would run a few Busch races just to keep your hand in it, have a good time. You enjoy racing so if I don't do that we'll drive a Late Model at Nashville."
So at least we can watch him race there! I'm hoping we'll see him somewhere else before that, but, maybe not.
Sterling Marlin is 50 years old and that is old by modern day "racing standards," especially if you're a sponsor. Marlin has 10 career wins, is a two-time Daytona 500 champion and has three wins at Daytona. He has made 730 career starts. It would be hard to accept the fact he has made his last start. However, the fact is, older owners want younger drivers, even if the older drivers are schooling the younger drivers. The older the driver, the harder the race is, not just on the track, but also for sponsorship. Guys that have won have to work harder to prove they can still be a winner, on and off the track.
"Probably do," Marlin said. "I still work hard. Take Kasey Kahne. We probably out ran him 80 percent of the time this year. But it's all sponsor driven. You've got to have sponsors and I guess the sponsors might want younger guys, I don't know. I did all the stuff you're suppose to, went to all the tests I was suppose to, but the bottom [line], they didn't have the money."
One thing you can't take from Sterling is his desire. He still wants to race, and he wants to be competitive.
"Yeah, I do. We had some good runs this year, just didn't have the finishes to show for it," Marlin said. " I think that we had a car that could've won Charlotte, led at Talladega, had some top-10s going then something messes up but I was up to 24th in points, wasn't far out of 20th, and was one of the only teams that made it in all five races [at the start of the season] when we had to make [the starting field] on time.
"I think that says a lot about the race team and what we had going but you have to have money to make it all happen and I guess it just ran out."
I couldn't help but think back to the 2002 season. Sterling led the point race for 25 weeks, taking the top spot after the second race at Rockingham and holding it until after the 27th race at New Hampshire, when he fell to second, six points behind Mark Martin.
Marlin was fourth in points heading into Kansas a couple of weeks later. He was in a vicious crash that day and finished 33rd, falling to fifth in points. He was just 121 points out of the lead.
We had already set up a feature shoot with Sterling for the following week. We paid a visit to his home in Tennessee. He was sore but still upbeat. He showed us around the town, took our crew to lunch (he paid), made a day of it for us. We left in mid-afternoon just before Sterling got a telephone call from his doctor. He had a broken bone in his neck; his season and his shot at the 2002 championship were over. Now his fans hope it's not over, for real.
"Yeah, I still want to run, still want to finish this year out and thought I was going to finish this year out but it wasn't to be," Marlin said. "The deal is you don't want to drive anything that's on the borderline of making the race and going home and all that stuff. You want a competitive car, crew and team when you do find something. But if it don't happen, it don't happen. I'm happy where I'm at right now."
Hopefully Marlin will get that chance to finish out this season, and leave all of us a smile and one more Sterling performance.
The opinions expressed are those solely of the writer.