Denver detour: Marlin takes time out for fans

Denver trip shows Marlin's way with fans, sponsor

DENVER -- By most appearances, Sterling Marlin isn't the prototypical 21st-century driver. He's not young and hot, and his Tennessee twang might draw snickers in most Fortune 500 boardrooms.

But the Coors folks love him, from Chairman Peter Coors on down.

"I have six kids, and they're all younger guys and ladies," said Coors, the great-grandson of brewery founder Adolph Coors. "They think Sterling is wonderful."

	Marlin greets a fan in a Denver nightclub. Credit: Lee Montgomery

A lot of fans feel the same way. Marlin, who turns 47 in June, interacts well with a corporate executive like Coors. The same Southern charm works well with fans, too.

The Coors folks recently had Marlin drop in for a visit to their Colorado brewery and for the Colorado Rockies' home opener -- at Coors Field. But for a NASCAR driver, there is no such thing as a simple visit. "Appearances" are what they're called, and that means autographs.

For Marlin, the "appearance" started with a private flight to Denver with his two pilots, two representatives with Hollywood Productions -- a company that does promotions for Coors, a Chip Ganassi Racing public relations representative and one of his good buddies.

Marlin's group -- you wouldn't call them an entourage or a posse -- arrives at the Bash nightclub, located a block from Coors Field. For baseball fans, Opening Day is a rite of spring, but for Coors, it's a chance to party.

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Inside the dark club -- even though it's not quite noon in Denver -- music is blaring from the speakers even though there's not much dancing. A couple of bikini-clad, spray-painted women stand on separate stages, and later the "Molson Girls" pose for pictures.

A level up, Marlin is sitting in a corner, underneath a neon Sterling Marlin sign, of course, signing hero cards for the select Coors folks let in the club.

"How's it going?" he asks to a young boy who appears to either be too young or too scared to speak. His father does the talking, and the boy does the smiling. Wearing a Coors Light hat that is way too big for him, the boy poses beside Marlin.

Between sips of Coors Light, Marlin easily signs autographs and chit-chats with fans. The line isn't outrageous, but fans don't spend a lot of time with Marlin. Most just pick up an autograph and walk away -- smiling.

"It's 'To Jane,'" said one blonde woman, apparently named Jane.

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"Ohhh," her brunette friend said. "To Jane, from Sterling."

Seems Dale Earnhardt Jr. isn't the only one with female fans.

Another woman walks up for an autograph. She's younger, perhaps in her 20s, and is wearing a North Carolina hat. That's taboo for Marlin, who loves the Tennessee Volunteers almost as much as he loves Coors Light. Marlin points to the hat and tells her he'll sign something, even if she is wearing that dreaded hat.

	Marlin posed with pictures and signed autographs during his Denver appearance. Credit: Lee Montgomery

That is the kind of charm Coors loves about Marlin. He may not be Jeff Gordon or Dale Jr. or Jimmie Johnson, but that's OK.

"He just has such warmth," Coors said. "He's always smiling and he's always got time for people. The fact that he's a grandpa now -- I'm a grandpa -- and can still hand with him is really inspirational to people. As far as I'm concerned, he's the perfect representative for Coors."

The brewery is deep into a beer war with Anheuser-Busch and Miller, and it is a shooting match. Steve Saunders, a marketing executive with Coors, calls it a "brutal" war.

For Coors, NASCAR is more "about the stores," Saunders said. In racing since signing on with Bill Elliott in 1983, Coors uses NASCAR to sell its product. And most of those sales are in grocery stores or warehouse stores.

"For us, it's more important to have a top, identifiable name," Saunders said. "When we go to Wal-Mart, Winn Dixie or something, they're saying, 'You bet. Put up your display.'"

Marlin's name has carried Coors, he said. Johnny Rookie couldn't do that. And many other drivers couldn't either. There isn't the stigma attached with beer like there is with cigarettes, but "beer sponsorship is not for everybody" Saunders said.

""We've told this to lots and lots of people who call us," Saunders said. "We're harder on them. You're going to go out and go to a Hooters and sign autographs, and there are drivers who don't want to do that."

Marlin, clearly, isn't one of them. You won't get a lot of conversation with him, but he's not really that way with close friends either. He'll say what's on his mind and leave it at that.

Another female fan finds that out in Bash.

"I like your accent," she says softly.

"Thank you, now," Marlin replies, turning up the accent.

Coors' distributors love Marlin, too. Whenever they need him for an appearance at a local bar or store to push some product, Marlin obliges.

"They love Sterling," Saunders said. "They'll call and say, 'Would you help us do this bar promotion?' 'You bet.' We're well beyond what we have in our contract for him. He's got a great marriage for our products, our philosophy and how we do business."

After leaving Bash, Marlin heads across the street to another club, Rise. It's crowded on the deck outside, even with the low temperatures. Seems Denver folks are used to this -- and the light snow that fell the day before. Deems May, Marlin's close friend, is simply looking for a hot dog.

The search is futile, and Marlin and his party decide to head to the ballpark.

It's sunny outside, and Marlin turns to Jennifer Powell, his PR rep. On cue, Powell hands Marlin his sunglasses. No words are spoken.

A few fans notice Marlin, who isn't incognito, despite the sunglasses.

"Hey, that's Sterling Martin," one fan says.

Mark Marlin must be around the corner.

Like the rest of the sold-out Coors Field crowd, Marlin has to wait in line to get through the gate. But no sweat. He's got a cell phone he can work.

Marlin isn't much of a baseball fan, nor is he a fan of cold weather. Gametime temperature was in the 30s, and even if the dry air made it seem a little warmer, you couldn't mistake it for a mid-summer day in Nashville.

So Marlin spent most of his time schmoozing with whomever Saunders brought in the Coors suite. And drinking a few Coors Lights.

By the seventh inning, Marlin and company had enough. But before they could go, Marlin spent a moment talking with Peter Coors. The subject wasn't NASCAR or beer or Coors' upcoming U.S. Senate campaign.

It was about grandkids. Marlin's son, Steadman, recently became a father, and Coors wanted to know how Marlin liked grandfatherdom.

	Marlin and two Coors employees pose with the Coors Light Dodge. Credit: Lee Montgomery

There was more work to be done that day, including trips to two more clubs to sign autographs. Before retiring for the night, Marlin got in a few shots during a friendly snowball fight with his buddies.

The next day at the brewery, a short limo ride from the hotel, Powell got in a shot at Marlin with what was left of the snow. Marlin caught the flimsy snowball after it left a small mark on his pants and flung it back at Powell. The Coors folks didn't seem to mind the juvenile humor, especially after Marlin has spent the better part of two hours signing autographs for brewery employees.

Coors' NASCAR program is one of the cornerstones of its marketing efforts, behind only the NFL. NASCAR isn't getting cheaper, but the sport still delivers a good return.

"It's getting tougher to justify as the price keeps going up," Saunders said. "I don't think the numbers keep going up. The ratings are fine, the TV coverage, the fan numbers are fine. The amount of stuff I'm getting from our liquor store owners, our grocery store owners are fine, but it's really not growing at the rate of the cost of sponsoring a car is going."

Saunders emphasizes that Coors won't be priced out in a few years, but you could see the company share sponsorship duties with someone else, much like DeWalt and Smirnoff split Matt Kenseth's No. 17.

But that's for another time. Today, it's all about Marlin. Two fortunate employees won chances to ride in a show car with Marlin for lunch at a nearby restaurant, one there and one back. They are escorted, of course, and Marlin later complained of too tall a gear in the car -- too tall to squeal the tires and give the employee a thrill.

Some road workers down the road got a thrill, and a laugh. Marlin and his escorts had to stop on the two-lane road while workers fixed one side of the road. The guy with the "Stop/Slow" sign heard the car's low rumble but couldn't see it. As soon as he flipped the sign around to go "Slow," the No. 40 crawled past.

A surprised smile appeared on his face.

Marlin seems to have that affect on people.

"When we're at one of the races, he's available for our distributors and our retailers," Coors said. "He's just a great guy to be around, and he's like one of the boys. He's a lot of fun."