Sterling Marlin

Sterling Marlin made his NASCAR NEXTEL Cup debut in 1976, replacing his father Coo Coo after a crash broke the elder Marlin's shoulder. Since then, he has garnered 10 victories, including two Daytona 500 victories in 1994-95 and All-Star Open wins in 1988-89, 1993 and 2004.

While he is perhaps best known as only the third driver in Cup history to win back-to-back Daytona 500s, joining Richard Petty and Cale Yarborough, Marlin also has a successful short track background, including Nashville Speedway USA championships in 1980-82.

His recent run of good fortune began in 2001 when Marlin was hired by Chip Ganassi to drive his No. 40 Coors Light Dodge. The union resulted in his first top-10 points finish in five years, when he finished third.

Beginning with Speedweeks 2001, where Marlin won Gatorade 125 qualifying race for the Daytona 500 and then finished seventh in the "Great American Race," Marlin's team was the only one to remain in the top 10 in the standings for the entire year, ultimately tying his career high.

Marlin scored Dodge's first victory in its return to Cup racing after a two-decade absence as he won at Michigan International Speedway in August. He scored another victory, at Lowe's Motor Speedway and had 12 top-fives and 20 top-10s, which added up to a career high in money won, $4,517,634.

The entrance of Ganassi, who bought a majority stake in the Felix Sabates team and the return of Dodge provided a huge resurgence for Marlin. Marlin struggled in 2000, with one top-five finish and seven top-10s en route to a 19th place finish in the final point standings. Perhaps telling the tale of his odd and frustrating season was that his best race was a runner-up finish to Jeff Gordon on the road course at Sears Point.

The run continued in 2002, as Marlin scored victories at Las Vegas and Darlington and held the Winston Cup points lead for 25 weeks. However, a late-season crash at Kansas ended his hopes of a first Cup title. Still, he scored 14 top-10 finishes and six top-10 qualifying efforts in 29 starts. He started from the Bud Pole twice -- at Pocono in June and Darlington in early September.

Marlin, who finished 18th, 21st and 30th, respectively, in the standings from 2003-2005, was a football standout at Columbia High in Tennessee and was named Tennessee Professional Athlete of the Year in 1995-96. He also played basketball in high school and continues to be a huge University of Tennessee Volunteers fan.

In 2006, Marlin left Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates and joined Ginn Racing, driving the No. 13 Waste Management Chevrolet, a number he chose to honor his father – Clifton “Coo Coo” Marlin, Marlin, who drove the No. 14 while competing in NASCAR in the 1960s and 1970s. Mr. Marlin passed away in August, 2005.

Marlin finished 2006 in 34th place in the championship standings on the back of one top-10 finish.