Marlin finds silver lining despite losing his Cup ride

I saw Sterling Marlin from the opposite end of the garage on Saturday at Indianapolis. He was walking down the middle of the area where the haulers were parked behind the garage. He wasn't walking in the shadows along the back of the haulers or out of sight along the front of the rigs. There he was, in the middle of the garage, smiling and waving. And everyone was waving back.

It was like that movie where the guy loses his job but at the end of the movie comes back to work as the hero and everyone can't wait to say hello. I can't remember the movie, Wally [Dallenbach] is the expert on that. But there was Sterling, strolling through the garage just days after getting punted on a fourth and long by Ginn Racing. According to some people in the garage, it was fourth and real long.

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But Sterling was still smiling. I'm pretty sure he saw me coming from the other end of the garage. I don't know why but I'm certain he did. I have to admit, I was keeping an eye out for him. I kind of thought he might be at Indy. I didn't know what to expect if I did see him, but when I did, I got what I should have expected. A smile. A handshake. A question asking how I was doing. I was doing OK -- I still had a job, unless he knew something I didn't!

We talked for a minute and then I asked him if he was in a hurry to get somewhere. Sterling? In a hurry? That has never happened, unless it was sometime between the green flag and the checkered flag.

We sat down. I asked a question. It was worse than the first question I asked in a mock interview when I was a freshman in college in Indianapolis, but the answer was crisp, passionate and pure Sterling.

How do you feel?

"Well, I mean, naturally disappointed," said Marlin with his trademark accent.

"This is the second biggest race of the year for us and I've always loved running here at Indy. Business is business but it's disappointing not being in the seat where you've always been. I guess they kind of got in a financial strain, sponsors were supposed to be on the car and contracts were signed but the money never came through and it just forced them to shut down and they made the sale to DEI [Dale Earnhardt Incorporated]."

What he said next almost knocked me out of my chair.

"But, that's racing, been through a lot of it so, no problem."

This coming from one of the few guys who started all 13 Nextel Cup races at Indianapolis. Here he was, in the garage, with his smile, but without a ride. That's Sterling. That's racing.

The fan reaction to the Sterling Shuffle has been predictable. I'm not talking about the Internet, I'm talking about fans that come up to you and ask, "What happened to Sterling?" "Why did they do that to Sterling?" The rear windows of the Chevy Tahoe I saw driving around Indianapolis when I arrived on Wednesday: "Save Sterling from Ginn Racing ... the last resort", a shot at another business interest of car owner Bobby Ginn.

Marlin, make that Sterling -- it's hard to call Sterling by his last name -- knows all about the fan response.

"Yeah, I heard the Web site stuff was crammed full and I guess the Ginn Web site got blasted, I don't know, but I want to thank all the fans for all the years and it's been great. The fans are what make it all go 'round so I want to thank them all for supporting me all the years." (Continued)