Conversation: Sterling Marlin

FORT WORTH, Texas -- A year ago Sterling Marlin and Chip Ganassi Racing were in the thick of the NASCAR Winston Cup championship race.

Seven races into the 2002 season Marlin had won twice and was in the midst of a streak that would see him lead the standings for 25 straight weeks. A year later, Marlin has only two top-10 finishes and has struggled to stay in the top 20 in points.

Before the Samsung/RadioShack 500 at Texas Motor Speedway last weekend, Marlin sat down with NASCAR.com's Dave Rodman to talk about media coverage of the war in Iraq, the difference a year makes in competition and hunting for Civil War relics, among many other topics.

AUDIO CLIPS Listen to the Conversation -- / 10:37 Listen

Q: What's your opinion on the media's role in the war in Iraq?

Sterling Marlin: I think it's too much coverage. With the technology we have today they can just beam it right back over here and it's happening live. It's good in one way and it's bad in one way. But I think for the families that have got people over there they can halfway keep up with what's going on, so that's good.

I talked with a guy at an autograph session yesterday and his son is over there. He said he's been watching it 24 hours a day. So I guess if you want to you can do that and keep up with what's going on. Then again, it looks like that's all anybody's watching. I don't know -- it's just 24 hours a day.

Q: A year ago at this point you were leading the points and had won twice. What can you say to make people understand you're not really doing anything different in 2003 than you did last year?

For the past two years we were more competitive on the get-go. We really got a good shot out of the gate. If you look at any Dodge -- none of the Dodges have been competitive. Rusty (Wallace) led Rockingham, that's one of his best tracks. We got up to second there before we blew up. But if you look at it, out of the first five races we should have got four top-fives.

	Credit: Turner Network Television

We got a black flag at Daytona and there's no doubt in my mind we'd'a been top-five there. At Rockingham if we hadn't have blown up we'd'a been top-five. At Vegas we drove from 34th to third and ended up running eighth and at Atlanta we just got stomped, run 14th. We come back to Darlington and had a real good car and just got stuffed in the fence, so it's just a lot of bad luck early.

We've qualified good and we've qualified bad. We've either been top-10 or 34th. I think we've just got to work on our stuff a little bit more. We need to work on our bodies and get them tuned up a little bit more. We had to cut all the bodies off our cars and I don't think we've got the downforce back to where we needed to be last year.

The motor guys just keep trying from week to week to get more horsepower, so it's just a few tenths here and there and we're back in business. We've run good, but we ain't been the dominant car like we have been the last two years. Two years ago we led just about every race we come into but times change and the rules change and you've just got to adjust to what's going on.

Q: How does the 2003 Dodge compare to the 2002 car, from your seat?

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You know, I can't tell any difference in it. People ask how the Chevrolet compares to the Dodge -- but it's hard to tell, unless you can get right out of one and into the other. You can't wait six months to get out of one and into the other or sure, it's going to feel like it did last year or not much different.

Q: Has Chip been pretty patient with the team, and how does his management style compare to when Felix Sabates was the primary owner of the team?

With Chip, all he's done is raced. He probably knows we're off in a couple areas, and right now we're trying to get it fixed. Like I said, none of the Dodges has been real good. Ryan Newman qualifies like a ball of fire but in the race, we usually out-run him or are right with him. But no Dodges have been super-competitive.

I talked to Chip this week and he said, 'we're gonna fix it. Just hang with us and we're gonna fix it.' That's the thing about us the last two years. We really started off good. Last year we hit a little slump and was coming back and that's when I got hurt (at Richmond and Kansas City). In this business you've got to not be afraid to roll your sleeves up and go to work and try different stuff if you have to.

Q: Is something other than aero matching -- or whatever they want to call it -- affecting the results we've seen on the race track so far this season?

I don't know -- circumstances could be part of it. You get some tracks that are so hard to pass on. Like Texas, you run so hard into the corners and the tires don't fall off much -- very little. So you see a lot of no-tire stops, or two-tire stops to try to get track position. It's so tough to pass you have to be aware of making decisions like that.

And if you go into the pits eighth or 10th and come out the same, then you have a restart you're really starting 20th -- because of the lapped cars on the inside. Those cars you've lapped are good cars and it takes so long to weed your way back through them that the leader is coming off Turn 4 and you're in Turn 2 by the time you get through traffic.

If you can get good track position all day and stay up front among the first two or three cars then you've got a good shot, especially late in the race. But early in the race you have to take some gambles to get up front.

Q: Have you continued with a workout program for your neck, and how has it been feeling lately? With all the crappy weather we've had, does it feel any different depending on the temperature and humidity?

Naw. That was what was weird, my neck never really hurt, after the accidents I had at Richmond and Kansas City. My chest was what was so sore because I tore all the ligaments in it. I have some weight stuff that the UT coaches (University of Tennessee) give me that I used over the winter after I healed up. I ain't done nothing to it otherwise. It hasn't hurt during the races and I don't feel anything with the weather changes, so you never know.

Q: Is Jimmy Spencer a pretty good example of how a simple chemistry change can make a huge difference in a career path?

That's (chemistry) key. Everybody has got to get along and believe in each other. He's gone over to the 7 car (at Ultra Motorsports) and really run good this year. I'm proud of him. I don't know what the deal was last year -- they just never did mesh.

A driver, the crew chief and the team manager has really got to get along good and be best friends and it never did come together last year. I don't know why. Jimmy's a great guy and he's been running good this year.

Q: Last year you didn't have much chance to indulge your hobby of hunting for Civil War relics. Have you had any chance to go souvenir hunting lately? Do you spend any time planning trips you might make, mapping locations you might want to explore?

You want to go. In advance you say you're going to do this or that, and something always comes up (laughing). You get too busy and you can't go. I've got some good spots to go and I haven't had time. Now is the time to be going because when it gets to May the grass will be too tall to hunt stuff unless somebody keeps it trimmed.

Some places we go to are pretty good. Last year in Richmond we got to go through the Confederate Museum. We got to really go through it, like down in the bottom where people don't get to see. When we're in an area like Richmond it's easy to go to places, but say you're going to Pocono. It's really hard to just stop off in a place like Chambersburg just to look at stuff.

Q: You're racing with two young teammates, Jamie McMurray and Casey Mears. Have they leaned on your experience a lot, or are they pretty independent and trying to find their own way?

	Credit: Autostock

I've got two great teammates. Of course I knew Jamie from last year, when he replaced me when I was hurt. Casey I really didn't know that good, but I'm really impressed with both of them. They come to me and say 'how do I need to do this? On green flag pit stops where do I need the car to be to get out of the pits?' They're full of questions each week and I'm impressed with both of them.

Q: In 2003 you have a hot garage versus a cold garage. How have you liked the new system six races into the season?

It's been a lot easier in the garage. Last year I looked at Little E (Dale Earnhardt Jr.) or (Jeff) Gordon and it was impossible for them to go from the truck to the race car because there'd be 20 or 30 people that would just mob them.

I think what they have to understand is that those people (who insist on getting autographs in the garage) have made it hard for the rest of the people. This is where you work and where you make your living. It would be like someone coming into your office when you're doing a business deal and sitting down on your desk and getting your mind off what you're doing. It's been a lot better this year.

Q: What's the strangest autograph request -- or episode with a fan -- which you previously had in the garage, or anywhere else?

	Credit: Autostock

I don't know -- they're all different (laughing). You get asked to sign a lot of different things. At Bristol a guy came through the autograph line with his head shaved and said to sign his head (laughing). It's great -- the fans are great and that's why I try to make time to go to the souvenir trailer once a week. The people that sit in the stands outside the track and support us -- I try to go out and meet them. There's a lot of people in the fan club that have never got to meet you and shake hands with you so it's good to go out and intermingle with them.

Q: That's a neat commercial you do with Bill Elliott and Rusty Wallace. Did Dodge give you one of those vehicles to drive after you did it?

No (laughing). They wouldn't let us drive them. That truck had a Viper motor in it and I was really wanting to drive it, but it was kind of an experimental deal. We had to cut the commercial short to get out of town and they finished it the next day. They probably would have let us drove them but I was sure wanting to drive that Dodge truck. They don't give us one of them to drive as our personal cars, but I have a three-quarter ton Dodge diesel pickup and it's a great truck.