Sterling Marlin

Sterling Marlin
Marlin in 1996
Born	Sterling Burton Marlin (1957-06-30) June 30, 1957 Columbia, Tennessee, U.S.
Achievements	1994, 1995 Daytona 500 winner 1996 Winston 500 winner 1980–1982 Nashville Speedway USA Track Champion
Awards	1983 Winston Cup Series Rookie of the Year 1995, 1996 Tennessee Professional Athlete of the Year 2002 Tennessee Professional Athlete of the Year Nominee Fairgrounds Speedway Hall of Fame (2009) Named one of NASCAR's 75 Greatest Drivers (2023)
NASCAR Cup Series career
748 races run over 33 years
Best finish	3rd (1995, 2001)
First race	1976 Music City USA 420 (Nashville)
Last race	2009 TUMS Fast Relief 500 (Martinsville)
First win	1994 Daytona 500 (Daytona)
Last win	2002 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 (Darlington)
Wins Top tens Poles 10 216 11
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
77 races run over 17 years
Best finish	29th (2005)
First race	1986 Winn-Dixie 300 (Charlotte)
Last race	2008 Pepsi 300 (Nashville)
First win	1990 All Pro 300 (Charlotte)
Last win	2000 Cheez-It 250 (Bristol)
Wins Top tens Poles 2 22 1

Sterling Burton Marlin (born June 30, 1957) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed in the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour. He formerly competed in the NASCAR Cup Series, winning the Daytona 500 in 1994 and 1995. He is the son of late NASCAR driver Coo Coo Marlin. He is married to Paula and has a daughter, Sutherlin, a son, Steadman, a former NASCAR Xfinity Series driver, and a grandson Stirlin who races for Sterling in Sterling’s No. 114 Super Late Model. Marlin is a member of the NASCAR 75 Greatest Driver’s List.

Early Career

Marlin attended Spring Hill High School, where he played basketball and football, earning the captain status his senior year while he played quarterback and linebacker. He began his collection of American Civil War artifacts shortly after high school. In 1976, he made his NASCAR debut at Nashville Speedway, filling in for his injured father in the No. 14 H.B. Cunningham Chevrolet. He started 30th and finished 29th after suffering oil pump 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.

NASCAR career

1983–1990

1983 Rookie of the Year

In 1983, Marlin was hired by Roger Hamby to drive his No. 17 Hesco Exhaust-sponsored 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 No. 1 Bull's Eye Barbecue Sauce-sponsored car owned by Hoss Ellington in 1986. His best finish that season came at the Firecracker 400, where he finished second. Marlin got a full-time ride in 1987, when he was hired by Billy Hagan to drive the No. 44 Piedmont Airlines-sponsored 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 No. 48 Diamond Ridge-sponsored Chevrolet owned by Fred Turner.

1991–1997

1997 car at Pocono

Marlin signed to drive the No. 22 Maxwell House-sponsored 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, and had a total of 7 top fives and 16 top tens, finishing 7th in the standings. The next season, he had 6 top fives, 13 top tens and 5 poles, finishing 10th in the standings. Marlin departed to drive the No. 8 Raybestos-sponsored Ford for Stavola Brothers Racing. In 1993, he had just 1 top five and 8 top tens and fell to 15th 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 No. 4 Kodak-sponsored Chevrolet, the most starts for a driver before his first win before Michael Waltrip's win at the 2001 Daytona 500. In 1994, he had 1 win, 5 top fives and 11 top tens, and rose slightly to 14th in the standings. He went on to win the 500 again in the following year, becoming only one of four drivers to win consecutive Daytona 500s. The other three men that have accomplished that feat were Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough and Denny Hamlin. He also became the only driver to have his first two career wins at the Daytona 500. Marlin won 2 more times during the 1995 season (at Darlington and Talladega) for a total of 3 wins, 9 top fives, 22 top tens, 472 laps led, an average finish of 9.84, and ranking a career best 3rd in the standings. In 1996, Marlin had 2 wins, 5 top fives, 10 top tens, and finished 8th in the standings. In 1997, he scored just 2 top fives and 6 top tens, and dropped to 25th in the standings, leaving the No. 4 team at year's end.

1998–2006

In 1998, he joined SABCO Racing to drive the No. 40 Coors Light-sponsored 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 10 six times and had a 13th-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 No. 82 entry at Bristol Motor Speedway. During the season, he lost teammate Kenny Irwin Jr. in a fatal practice crash at New Hampshire International Speedway. After finishing in the Top 10 seven times, he fell back to 19th in the overall standings.

In 2001, SABCO's majority ownership stake was purchased by CART & IndyCar championship owner Chip Ganassi and the team switched to Dodge Intrepids. In his first race with the new team, Marlin won the Gatorade 125 qualifying race at Daytona. Three days later at the Daytona 500, on the final lap, Dale Earnhardt's rear bumper made contact with Marlin in turn 4, causing Earnhardt to crash into the turn 4 wall, an impact that would kill him instantly. In the following days after the race, Marlin and his family received hate mail and death threats from angry fans of Earnhardt as well as the sport in general who felt that Marlin was responsible for Earnhardt's death. He was eventually publicly defended by two of Earnhardt's drivers, his son and race winner 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 at Charlotte. He tied his career best points finish of third that season. Had the 2004-2013 NASCAR Playoffs points system been in place in 2001, Marlin would have been the 2001 champion. In 2002, Marlin had a strong car at the Daytona 500, and towards the end was battling Jeff Gordon for the lead when they made contact, sending Gordon spinning. NASCAR had then red-flagged the race so it would not finish under caution, and stopped the field momentarily on the backstretch. Concerned about a damaged right front fender, Marlin jumped out of his car and started pulling the fender away from the tire. As working on the car is prohibited during red flag conditions under NASCAR regulations, Marlin was sent to the tail end of the field for the restart. Marlin would finish in 8th.

The following week, Marlin finished second in Rockingham to Matt Kenseth. Marlin took the points lead 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. Marlin followed this 2nd-place finish with a win at the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but not without controversy: During the race, Marlin spun while making late race pit stop, causing him to break the pit road speed limit. NASCAR's penalty for being too fast entering pit road was to hold the car in its pit stall for an additional 15 seconds, but the official at Marlin's pit stall was not informed of the penalty until after the crew had released the car. NASCAR determined that they had no precedent for forcing Marlin to return to the pits as his early release was their mistake (and they could not order him to return for a stop and go penalty). Following the incident, NASCAR changed the rule so that all speeding violations are enforced with a drive through penalty (forcing the driver to travel the length of pit road at the speed limit).

After this win, Marlin finished 9th the following week at Atlanta. The week after that, he won the Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 at Darlington Raceway, which would be the final win of his Cup career.

No. 14 Marlin battles No. 55 Michael Waltrip at the 2006 spring Bristol race.

With a series of strong finishes (seventh at Texas, fifth at Talladega, seventh at California, fourth in June at Pocono, third at Daytona, third at the second Pocono race, sixth at Michigan in August, seventh at Bristol, and fourth at Darlington in the fall), Marlin 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 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 4th in the standings after a 21st-place finish at Dover.

One week later, at the Protection One 400 at Kansas, Marlin had a hard crash after 147 laps and finished 33rd. He was 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 with Marlin's car, and Marlin telephoned McMurray during the post-race festivities to congratulate him. Marlin ultimately finished 18th in the final season points with eight Top 5s and ten Top 10s. Marlin's injury was the beginning of a struggle for Chip Ganassi Racing to win races on a regular basis - a slump that would last from 2002 towards 2010.

Marlin did not finish in the Top 5 in 2003, but had 11 Top 10 finishes and matched his previous year's finish of 18th in points. He did however come close to a win at the 2003 Sharpie 500 at his hometown in Bristol Tennessee. Marlin controlled the race early and mid-way and appeared to have victory in his hands until he was wrecked by Kurt Busch with less than 150 laps to go. Kurt Busch went on to win the race but apologized in victory lane. Sterling Marlin however was not pleased with Busch in post-race ceremonies, stating "What a bone-headed move. I guess Spencer didn't punch him hard enough.", as a reference to Kurt Busch and Jimmy Spencer's altercation the previous week. Busch would later say in a post-race interview, and later in a 2020 podcast with Dale Earnhardt Jr. that he offered to buy Marlin a six-pack of Coors as a peace offering, but was turned down.

Despite three Top 5s 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. It was also said that Richard Childress Racing had offered Marlin a deal to drive the No. 07 Jack Daniels-sponsored Chevrolet, However, Marlin honored his contract with Ganassi and finished out the 2005 season. He did however miss one race-the 2005 Sirius at the Glen to attend the funeral of his father Coo Coo Marlin who died of lung cancer one day before the race. Road ringer Scott Pruett replaced Sterling in the 40 and finished fourth in the race.

He reached as high as 6th in the points standings, but would later fall to 30th in the final standings.

Marlin joined MB2 Motorsports for 2006 to drive the Waste Management Chevy, running with the No. 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 at Richmond. His 2006 season was shadowed by bad luck and No. 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 Boys No. 14 team was the only team out of the top 35 from 2006 to do this. Marlin's run in the No. 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 No. 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 No. 78 car as a replacement for Kenny Wallace, and the UAW-Ford 500 at Talladega, replacing Mike Wallace in the No. 09 car. However, in November he managed to qualify the No. 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 No. 09 car, but qualified at Talladega and the following week at Richmond as well. For Darlington, Marlin raced in his old No. 40 car and qualified 14th, and also at the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in the No. 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.

No. 09 Cup racecar in 2008

For the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Marlin continued to run a limited schedule in the No. 09 Phoenix Racing Miccosukee Resort & Gaming Chevrolet. His best finish for the 2009 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 No. 70 Chevrolet for TRG Motorsports, though Marlin later denied it.

Retirement

Marlin announced his retirement from racing on March 18, 2010, and formerly owned a Chevrolet dealership in Ashland City, Tennessee and a Dodge dealership in Dickson, Tennessee. In 2012, Marlin publicly revealed that he had been diagnosed with Parkinsonism. He has undergone deep brain stimulation surgical procedures at Vanderbilt University Medical Center as part of his treatment.

Presently

In late 2011, Marlin helped form Tennessee Racing Association, LLC, along with several other drivers (including Chad Chaffin and Mike Alexander) and businessmen, in an effort to preserve Fairgrounds Speedway and allow the track to remain active in the racing community. He is fully retired from NASCAR competition, as well as the Pro Late Model Division at Fairgrounds Speedway.

Television appearances

In 2003, game show Family Feud hosted a NASCAR special with help from then-Family Feud host Richard Karn. Sterling Marlin was one of the drivers who appeared in an episode, along with some crew members from the Coors team. Marlin played against fellow driver Elliott Sadler and the #38 Robert Yates team, winning the game.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Sprint Cup Series

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	NSCC	Pts	Ref
1976	Cunningham-Kelley Racing	14	Chevy	RSD	DAY	CAR	RCH	BRI	ATL	NWS	DAR	MAR	TAL	NSV 29	DOV	CLT	RSD	MCH	DAY	NSV	POC	TAL	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	ATL	ONT							101st	76
1978	Cunningham-Kelley Racing	14	Chevy	RSD	DAY	RCH	CAR	ATL	BRI	DAR	NWS	MAR	TAL	DOV	CLT 9	NSV	RSD	MCH	DAY	NSV 25	POC	TAL	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	ATL	ONT							69th	226
1979				RSD	DAY	CAR	RCH	ATL	NWS	BRI	DAR	MAR	TAL	NSV	DOV	CLT	TWS	RSD	MCH	DAY	NSV 15	POC	TAL	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	CLT	NWS	CAR	ATL	ONT						86th	123
1980				RSD	DAY 8																										CLT 36	CAR	ATL	ONT						49th	387
	Jim Stacy Racing	5	Olds		DAY DNQ	RCH	CAR	ATL	BRI	DAR 11	NWS	MAR	TAL	NSV	DOV	CLT 16	TWS	RSD	MCH	DAY
	Ulrich Racing	40	Chevy																		NSV 7	POC	TAL	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	NWS	MAR
1981		99	Buick	RSD	DAY	RCH	CAR	ATL	BRI	NWS	DAR	MAR	TAL	NSV	DOV	CLT	TWS	RSD	MCH	DAY	NSV 26	POC	TAL	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS										93rd
	Marlin Racing	14	Chevy																												CLT 28	CAR	ATL	RSD
1982	Billy Matthews Racing	41	Olds	DAY DNQ	RCH	BRI	ATL	CAR	DAR	NWS	MAR	TAL	NSV	DOV	CLT	POC	RSD	MCH	DAY	NSV	POC	TAL	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	NWS	CLT 23	MAR	CAR	ATL	RSD							NA	0
1983	Hamby Racing	17	Chevy	DAY 34			ATL 31	DAR 11			TAL 41				CLT 19				DAY 16			TAL 21	MCH 29							CLT 40		ATL 16								19th	2980
			Pontiac		RCH 18	CAR 13			NWS 22	MAR 12		NSV 11	DOV 10	BRI 18		RSD 25	POC 29	MCH 20		NSV 15	POC 18			BRI 15	DAR 24	RCH 26	DOV 27	MAR 27	NWS 17		CAR 15		RSD 17
1984		10	Chevy	DAY 15	RCH																																			37th	1207
	Bahre Racing	23	Buick			CAR 35	ATL	BRI	NWS	DAR	MAR
	Sadler Brothers Racing	95	Chevy									TAL 12	NSV 18	DOV	CLT 29	RSD	POC 33	MCH	DAY 33			TAL 32	MCH 32		DAR 39	RCH	DOV	MAR	CLT 35	NWS	CAR	ATL 9	RSD
	Jimmy Means Racing	52	Pontiac																	NSV 30	POC
	Sadler Brothers Racing	95	Olds																					BRI 8
1985			Chevy	DAY 16	RCH	CAR	ATL 25	BRI 22	DAR	NWS	MAR	TAL 25	DOV	CLT 34	RSD	POC	MCH	DAY 33	POC	TAL 12	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS													37th	645
	Helen Rae Motorsports	00	Chevy																									CLT 29	CAR	ATL	RSD
1986	Ellington Racing	1	Chevy	DAY 9	RCH	CAR	ATL 32	BRI	DAR 33	NWS	MAR	TAL 39	DOV	CLT 7	RSD	POC	MCH	DAY 2	POC	TAL 4	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR 37	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT 33	CAR	ATL 32	RSD								36th	989
1987	Hagan Racing	44	Olds	DAY 30	CAR 19	RCH 21	ATL 13	DAR 4	NWS 17	BRI 24	MAR 19	TAL 14	CLT 32	DOV 10	POC 15	RSD 9	MCH 18	DAY 16	POC 25	TAL 14	GLN 32	MCH 15	BRI 20	DAR 4	RCH 22	DOV 5	MAR 7	NWS 20	CLT 3	CAR 11	RSD 24	ATL 9								11th	3381
1988				DAY 8	RCH 5	CAR 3	ATL 20	DAR 5	BRI 8	NWS 16	MAR 2	TAL 6	CLT 27	DOV 11	RSD 9	POC 28	MCH 37	DAY 34	POC 14	TAL 6	GLN 8	MCH 11	BRI 12	DAR 5	RCH 16	DOV 23	MAR 26	CLT 5	NWS 14	CAR 34	PHO 10	ATL 12								10th	3621
1989		94		DAY 11	CAR 7	ATL 5	RCH 8	DAR 5	BRI 15	NWS 26	MAR 8	TAL 14	CLT 2	DOV 26	SON 40	POC 6	MCH 8	DAY 7	POC 36	TAL 28	GLN 7	MCH 34	BRI 18	DAR 10	RCH 28	DOV 17	MAR 20	CLT 7	NWS 19	CAR 23	PHO 30	ATL 3								12th	3422
1990				DAY 19	RCH 13	CAR 4	ATL 10	DAR 28	BRI 7	NWS 31	MAR 32	TAL 26	CLT 35	DOV 5	SON 6	POC 9	MCH 18	DAY 5	POC 30	TAL 3	GLN 15	MCH 20	BRI 5	DAR 18	RCH 24	DOV 12	MAR 12	NWS 13	CLT 16	CAR 6	PHO 16	ATL 38								14th	3387
1991	Junior Johnson & Associates	22	Ford	DAY 2	RCH 9	CAR 33	ATL 7	DAR 10	BRI 27	NWS 22	MAR 28	TAL 4	CLT 11	DOV 15	SON 26	POC 8	MCH 13	DAY 8	POC 5	TAL 5	GLN 12	MCH 12	BRI 2	DAR 6	RCH 10	DOV 17	MAR 14	NWS 13	CLT 5	CAR 8	PHO 3	ATL 7								7th	3839
1992				DAY 35	CAR 15	RCH 7	ATL 17	DAR 22	BRI 32	NWS 8	MAR 2	TAL 4	CLT 22	DOV 14	SON 16	POC 7	MCH 32	DAY 2	POC 11	TAL 2	GLN 16	MCH 7	BRI 15	DAR 28	RCH 21	DOV 33	MAR 7	NWS 5	CLT 16	CAR 5	PHO 9	ATL 7								10th	3603
1993	Stavola Brothers Racing	8	Ford	DAY 9	CAR 28	RCH 31	ATL 12	DAR 21	BRI 20	NWS 9*	MAR 21	TAL 24	SON 12	CLT 24	DOV 33	POC 8	MCH 8	DAY 2	NHA 6*	POC 7	TAL 27	GLN 6	MCH 17	BRI 23	DAR 31	RCH 24	DOV 11	MAR 30	NWS 19	CLT 17	CAR 12	PHO 30	ATL 17							15th	3355
1994	Morgan-McClure Motorsports	4	Chevy	DAY 1	CAR 2	RCH 19	ATL 25	DAR 34	BRI 8	NWS 17	MAR 27	TAL 8	SON 29	CLT 15	DOV 8	POC 38	MCH 34	DAY 28	NHA 10	POC 12	TAL 5	IND 14	GLN 26	MCH 34	BRI 6	DAR 5	RCH 13	DOV 30	MAR 7	NWS 31	CLT 36	CAR 14	PHO 3	ATL 40						14th	3443
1995				DAY 1*	CAR 12	RCH 5	ATL 7	DAR 1	BRI 9	NWS 7	MAR 13	TAL 39	SON 7	CLT 4	DOV 7	POC 4	MCH 7	DAY 2*	NHA 9	POC 18	TAL 1	IND 7	GLN 21	MCH 4	BRI 7	DAR 10	RCH 33	DOV 6	MAR 23	NWS 15	CLT 6	CAR 6	PHO 12	ATL 2						3rd	4361
1996				DAY 40	CAR 6	RCH 11	ATL 13	DAR 11	BRI 18	NWS 5	MAR 10	TAL 1*	SON 15	CLT 6	DOV 41	POC 11	MCH 3*	DAY 1*	NHA 29	POC 6	TAL 29	IND 39	GLN 11	MCH 33	BRI 18	DAR 8	RCH 21	DOV 17	MAR 31	NWS 11	CLT 4	CAR 13	PHO 27	ATL 15						8th	3682
1997				DAY 5	CAR 20	RCH 19	ATL 23	DAR 32	TEX 8	BRI 20	MAR 21	SON 26	TAL 39	CLT 40	DOV 10	POC 15	MCH 17	CAL 36	DAY 3	NHA 22	POC 20	IND 43	GLN 13	MCH 43	BRI 10	DAR 40	RCH 39	NHA 39	DOV 27	MAR 39	CLT 20	TAL 38	CAR 9	PHO 27	ATL 11					25th	2954
1998	Team SABCO	40	Chevy	DAY 22	CAR 25	LVS 24	ATL DNQ	DAR 14	BRI 40	TEX 14	MAR 36	TAL 9	CAL 14	CLT 15	DOV 19	RCH 10	MCH 18	POC 9	SON 7	NHA 35	POC 11	IND 11	GLN 7	MCH 15	BRI 21	NHA 17	DAR 8	RCH 15	DOV 16	MAR 18*	CLT 30	TAL 14	DAY 18	PHO 12	CAR 13	ATL 42				13th	3530
1999				DAY 32	CAR 37	LVS 15	ATL 18	DAR 16	TEX 9	BRI 14	MAR 13	TAL 25	CAL 16	RCH 18	CLT 40	DOV 29	MCH 22	POC 4	SON 25	DAY 12	NHA 34	POC 28	IND 16	GLN 33	MCH 15	BRI 7	DAR 40	RCH 4	NHA 21	DOV 38	MAR 11	CLT 29	TAL 22	CAR 8	PHO 40	HOM 17	ATL 31			16th	3397
2000				DAY 24	CAR 15	LVS 18	ATL 12	DAR 21	BRI 10	TEX 34	MAR 24	TAL 8	CAL 32	RCH 29	CLT 19	DOV 31	MCH 10	POC 22	SON 2	DAY 25	NHA 25	POC 42	IND 30	GLN 30	MCH 15	BRI 8	DAR 17	RCH 20	NHA 22	DOV 37	MAR 9	CLT 31	TAL 41	CAR 33	PHO 15	HOM 26	ATL 8			19th	3363
2001	Chip Ganassi Racing		Dodge	DAY 7	CAR 8	LVS 3	ATL 35	DAR 5	BRI 12	TEX 34	MAR 5	TAL 23*	CAL 9	RCH 11	CLT 15	DOV 6	MCH 3	POC 4	SON 28	DAY 39	CHI 9	NHA 17	POC 16	IND 2	GLN 25	MCH 1	BRI 9	DAR 16	RCH 32	DOV 8	KAN 5	CLT 1*	MAR 10	TAL 17	PHO 34	CAR 11	HOM 5	ATL 2	NHA 2	3rd	4741
2002				DAY 8*	CAR 2	LVS 1	ATL 9	DAR 1	BRI 19	TEX 7	MAR 12	TAL 5	CAL 7	RCH 11	CLT 11	DOV 13	POC 4	MCH 21	SON 43	DAY 3	CHI 16	NHA 14	POC 3*	IND 27	GLN 30	MCH 6	BRI 7	DAR 4	RCH 43	NHA 21	DOV 21	KAN 33	TAL	CLT	MAR	ATL	CAR	PHO	HOM	18th	3703
2003				DAY 17	CAR 40	LVS 8	ATL 14	DAR 39	BRI 6	TEX 29	TAL 6	MAR 7	CAL 10	RCH 13	CLT 7	DOV 35	POC 6*	MCH 6*	SON 18	DAY 19	CHI 21	NHA 39	POC 10	IND 34	GLN 43	MCH 19	BRI 17	DAR 31	RCH 22	NHA 29	DOV 13	TAL 39	KAN 34	CLT 15	MAR 43	ATL 16	PHO 11	CAR 10	HOM 10	18th	3745
2004				DAY 37	CAR 4	LVS 18	ATL 16	DAR 14	BRI 4	TEX 26	MAR 9	TAL 31	CAL 27	RCH 15	CLT 39	DOV 29	POC 31	MCH 6	SON 21	DAY 20	CHI 7	NHA 21	POC 15	IND 33	GLN 36	MCH 15	BRI 6	CAL 26	RCH 14	NHA 12	DOV 15	TAL 34	KAN 34	CLT 12	MAR 4	ATL 19	PHO 25	DAR 12	HOM 16	21st	3857
2005				DAY 8	CAL 15	LVS 35	ATL 16	BRI 11	MAR 6	TEX 5	PHO 26	TAL 34	DAR 41	RCH 23	CLT 39	DOV 32	POC 16	MCH 40	SON 26	DAY 22	CHI 32	NHA 34	POC 28	IND 9	GLN	MCH 21	BRI 29	CAL 19	RCH 41	NHA 11	DOV 41	TAL 7	KAN 13	CLT 40	MAR 38	ATL 20	TEX 23	PHO 34	HOM 26	30th	3183
2006	MB2 Motorsports	14	Chevy	DAY 34	CAL 32	LVS 36	ATL 34	BRI 17	MAR 14	TEX 30	PHO 12	TAL 37	RCH 9	DAR 28	CLT 28	DOV 31	POC 42	MCH 24	SON 42	DAY 24	CHI 26	NHA 16	POC 30	IND 31	GLN 39	MCH 29	BRI 32	CAL 29	RCH 30	NHA 25	DOV 31	KAN 20	TAL 40	CLT 11	MAR 21	ATL 20	TEX 40	PHO 36	HOM 37	34th	2854
2007	Ginn Racing			DAY 17	CAL 35	LVS 34	ATL 24	BRI 30	MAR 21	TEX 34	PHO 27	TAL 16	RCH 23	DAR 13	CLT 33	DOV 16	POC 31	MCH 20	SON 43	NHA 24	DAY 40	CHI 23	IND	POC	GLN	MCH														40th	1752
	Furniture Row Racing	78	Chevy																								BRI DNQ	CAL	RCH	NHA	DOV	KAN
	Phoenix Racing	09	Chevy																														TAL DNQ	CLT	MAR	ATL	TEX	PHO 25	HOM 33
2008				DAY DNQ	CAL	LVS	ATL	BRI	MAR	TEX	PHO	TAL 22	RCH 25								DAY 41	CHI	IND	POC	GLN	MCH	BRI 43	CAL	RCH DNQ	NHA	DOV	KAN	TAL 42	CLT	MAR DNQ	ATL	TEX	PHO 32	HOM 29	51st	482
	Chip Ganassi Racing	40	Dodge											DAR 34	CLT 31	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	NHA
2009	Phoenix Racing	09	Dodge	DAY	CAL DNQ	LVS DNQ	ATL	BRI 40	MAR DNQ	TEX	PHO 40	TAL	RCH	DAR 42	CLT	DOV	POC 39	MCH 41	SON	NHA	DAY	CHI	IND DNQ	POC 38	GLN	MCH	BRI	ATL	RCH	NHA	DOV	KAN	CAL	CLT DNQ	MAR 35	TAL	TEX	PHO	HOM	53rd	316

Daytona 500

Year	Team	Manufacturer	Start	Finish
1980	Jim Stacy Racing	Oldsmobile	DNQ
	Cunningham-Kelley Racing	Chevrolet	36	8
1982	Billy Matthews Racing	Oldsmobile	DNQ
1983	Hamby Racing	Chevrolet	33	34
1984			40	15
1985	Sadler Brothers Racing	Chevrolet	20	16
1986	Ellington Racing	Chevrolet	8	9
1987	Hagan Racing	Oldsmobile	10	30
1988			12	8
1989			6	11
1990			21	19
1991	Junior Johnson & Associates	Ford	12	2
1992			1	35
1993	Stavola Brothers Racing	Ford	14	9
1994	Morgan-McClure Motorsports	Chevrolet	4	1
1995			3	1
1996			3	40
1997			9	5
1998	Team SABCO	Chevrolet	3	22
1999			17	32
2000			38	24
2001	Chip Ganassi Racing	Dodge	3	7
2002			13	8
2003			7	17
2004			4	37
2005			18	8
2006	MB2 Motorsports	Chevrolet	39	34
2007	Ginn Racing	Chevrolet	38	17
2008	Phoenix Racing	Chevrolet	DNQ

ARCA SuperCar Series

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

ARCA SuperCar Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	ASCC	Pts	Ref
1977	Cunningham-Kelley Racing	14	Chevy	TOL	DAY	QCS	BFS	NSV	FRS	TOL	SLM	AVS	TAL 13	TOL	SND	SLM									NA	0
1978				DAY	QCS	AVS	NSV 3	IMS	LOR	FRS	TAL 21	FRS	CMS	JEF											NA	0
1979				AVS	DAY	NSV	FRS	SLM	DSP	IMS	TAL 16	FRS													NA	0
1982		4	Pontiac	NSV 34	DAY	TAL	FRS	CMS	WIN	NSV	TAT	TAL	FRS	BFS	MIL	SND									NA	0
1992	Blackstock Racing	12	Pontiac	DAY	FIF	TWS	TAL	TOL	KIL	POC	MCH	FRS	KIL	NSH 32	DEL	POC	HPT	FRS	ISF	TOL	DSF	TWS	SLM	ATL	138th	-
Results before 1979 may be incomplete.

International Race of Champions

(key) (Bold – Pole position. * – Most laps led.)

International Race of Champions results
Year	Make	1	2	3	4	Pos.	Pts	Ref
1996	Pontiac	DAY 4	TAL 4	CLT 11	MCH 6	6th	40
2002	Pontiac	DAY 8	CAL 4	CHI 7	IND 7	10th	35

External links

• Sterling Marlin driver statistics at Racing-Reference
• Sterling Marlin at The Crittenden Automotive Library