Sterling Marlin

He finished 29th, after suffering flywheel failure.

He started 30th and finished 29th after suffering oil pump failure early in the race.

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.

Sterling Burton Marlin (born June 30, 1957) is an American retired professional stock car racing driver.

He last competed in the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour.

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 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 No. 17 Hesco Exhaust-sponsored Chevrolet.

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.

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.

In 1989, the team received sponsorship from Sunoco and switched to the number 94.

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.

Marlin signed to drive the No. 22 Maxwell House-sponsored Ford Thunderbird for Junior Johnson in 1991.

In 1993, he had just 1 top five and 8 top tens and fell to 15th in the standings.

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.

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.

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.

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.

He tied a career-best 13 top-ten finishes but dropped to 12th in the final 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.

He posted a tenth-place finish at Dover International Speedway and finished 19th in the standings, clinching the Rookie of the Year award.