 | | Laughs have been few and far between for Sterling Marlin so far this season. Credit: Autostock |
By Dave Rodman, NASCAR.COM
October 20, 2004
10:55 AM EDT (14:55 GMT)
The heck with the Chase for the Nextel Cup, Sterling Marlin says. He's more concerned with getting his 2004 season back on track. Martinsville Speedway, site of Sunday's Subway 500, could be perfectly positioned for that role. Marlin's most recent top-10 came eight races ago at Bristol Motor Speedway, another concrete short track.  |  | STERLING MARLIN | |
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And before the legislative-minded get too excited, Marlin actually didn't speak so harshly of the Chase on Tuesday -- he just said his only concern is getting his own No. 40 Coors Light Dodge back near the front of the field, and back into the top-20 in the Nextel Cup standings. "We just race -- I'm racing like I raced all year," Marlin said. "I don't pay attention to the Chase guys. We just got to do our own deal with the 40 team and try to get back in the top 18 and try to win us a race. "I don't even notice (the Chase drivers). You raced them all year (so) we don't pay much attention to it. We just try to do our own deal and make it happen (win)." Marlin, whose season to date shows six top-10 finishes in 31 starts, was ninth at Martinsville in the spring -- the last race before new concrete was laid in the .526-mile oval's turns and new asphalt on its long straights. |  | | Marlin and teammate Casey Mears both tested at Martinsville earlier this season. Credit: Autostock |
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Still, Marlin has five top-10 finishes in his past seven Martinsville starts. Marlin's Chip Ganassi Racing team tested at Martinsville, which gives him even more optimism heading into Sunday's event. "All I am concerned about this weekend is going to Martinsville and trying to win a race," Marlin said. "We had a really good test in Martinsville earlier this month. The track was great -- I mean, they've redone the whole surface of the track. "The track's got a whole lot of grip. They've done a super job on it." The only concern Marlin, and a number of other competitors have is that the newly surfaced track will have a single racing groove. "I am not too sure, but I hope it's not a single-file deal," Marlin said. "We started wearing the track a little bit during the test and the Late Model Stocks ran on it too, and they had a good outside groove worked in. "So hopefully it will be like the old Martinsville, (where) you can pass on the outside or the inside." | | Nextel Cup Series | |
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Marlin, who has four top-15 finishes and three finishes of 26th or worse in his past seven races, has fallen to 21st in the series standings, eight points out of 20th. At the start of the Chase, he was 18th in the standings after a 12th-place run at New Hampshire. That might have been part of the reason why the Ganassi hierarchy made a change this week, moving four-year crew chief Lee McCall into a shop-bound position preparing racecars and putting long-time Marlin sidekick Tony Glover back in his crew chief's role. "Me and Tony has been friends a long time (and) me and Lee's been good friends since he was brought on board as crew chief," Marlin said. "In 2001, 2002, (we) couldn't do anything wrong (but) I don't know what happened -- lots of bad luck. "Looking back at 2003, we could have won a couple races. This year we had a good shot to win Michigan, and didn't. Had a good shot to win Talladega on fuel mileage, (and) got wrecked. "I don't know. It's just something that you think during the week, 'how are we going to get better?' You just work as hard as you can and try to work through it." |  | | Marlin has suffered nine DNFs so far this season. Credit: Autostock |
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Despite his travails the past few weeks, Marlin is still only 38 points behind 18th-place Rusty Wallace. Marlin, who grew up racing at the roughhouse Nashville Fairgrounds short track, actually has top-10s in 33 percent of his 36 starts at Martinsville but his best, a second, came 12 years ago. Everyone sees the team's performance at Charlotte as a start, where Marlin had to dodge a couple wrecks, suffered damage and still came away with his 14th top-15 finish of the season, in 12th. "Lee will stay at the shop, getting things organized (and) getting things done (there)," Marlin said. "Like I said, it's no big deal for Glover to step back to the crew chief role, (and) Steve Boyer, who has been on board since 2001 with us, he's the engineer, and we've kind of done it at Charlotte. "Everybody has kind of put their heads together, come up with a pretty good plan. I think you'll see some pretty good things towards the end of the year here." | 
