 | | Sterling Marlin starts third in Saturday's Sharpie 500 Credit: Autostock |
By Ryan Smithson, NASCAR.COM
August 28, 2004
10:45 AM EDT (14:45 GMT)
BRISTOL, Tenn. -- It probably wouldn't shock Tennesseans -- or anybody else, for that matter -- to learn that a win at Bristol would mean more to Sterling Marlin than a win at Indianapolis. Marlin has never won a short track race in his long Nextel Cup career. Sure, he's been close a bunch of times, and Saturday's Sharpie 500 is undoubtedly going to be one of Marlin's final chances to get it done.  |  | STERLING MARLIN | |
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Marlin qualified third for the event -- his best starting spot this season and his best at Bristol since 2001. "We ran race runs all day. We changed a few things before qualifying and it all worked out. It was a good run," Marlin said. "It's always good to start up toward the front here at Bristol." He could have won here in the spring -- he led 72 laps, but he couldn't hold off Kurt Busch. This time, he might not even have to deal with Busch, who qualified a disappointing 24th. Talladega Superspeedway is a tad closer to his home in Columbia, Tenn., but Marlin has always felt at home in the hills of East Tennessee. After all, Bristol's seats are populated by a lot of the same people who might see Marlin cheering on the University of Tennessee at a Volunteers football game. |  | | Marlin led 72 laps of this year's spring race at Bristol. Credit: Autostock |
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"Everybody wants to win this night race," Marlin said. "It's got a real nice trophy. We got a lot of fans from Columbia coming up here this week." Marlin's fourth-place run this spring was just his third top-five finish at Bristol, but his record here isn't all that checkered. In 2000, he won the spring Busch Series event at Bristol. But it's the Cup win that he wants. "I mean, (Indy) would pay a little more, but still, it's Bristol," Marlin said. "Like I said, it's my home state and it's really important to do well." "It's my home state. I always try to do real good here." | 
