Catching Up With Sterling Marlin
Sterling Marlin, not one to strut comfortably in the
limelight, was suddenly thrust center stage recently with the horrific accident
that claimed the life of his SABCO teammate, Kenny Irwin. Attending two separate
funerals in as many months, which included the untimely death of young Adam
Petty, is nearly too much for even the most seasoned driver to comprehend.
Drivers seemingly distance themselves from the details of
such devastating accidents, almost if to say, "If I don’t discuss it,
then maybe it didn’t really happen." But, unfortunately it did happen,
twice, at the same track in New Hampshire.
Marlin, the Winston Cup driver of the #40 Coors Light
Chevrolet, has not only had to contend with the death of a teammate, but with
numerous team changes. One major change has been the shift of controlling
ownership from Felix Sabates to Chip Ganassi, but several other distracting
internal team issues as well.
TB: The racing community and the Irwin family lost a great
person in Kenny Irwin. Is there anything further you’d like to say on that
subject?
SM: No, not really. I don’t really have anything to add to
the official statement issued by SABCO right after the accident occurred. I had,
what seems like a hundred reporter’s coming at me, so an announcement was made
for all of us. I don’t really want to discuss it any more than I have to.
TB: So, you’re going to finish out the Busch schedule for
the BellSouth car?
SM: Yep. After Kenny’s deal in New Hampshire, the team
really needed a driver to step in, so I told them I’d be glad to do it. I look
forward to it.
TB: That’s great!
SM: I think so too.
TB: I recently read on the Internet that a big announcement
is planned for Indy for team SABCO, what’s up with that?
SM: (Laughs). Well, first, you shouldn’t believe everything
printed on the Internet! I don’t know a thing about a major announcement
concerning the two teams, Ganassi, or the 2001 deal. As far as I know, they’re
waiting to get all the sponsor’s tied in and on the cars before any major
announcement. That’s all I know. With the deal with Kenny happening, they want
to get another full-time driver named, probably at Charlotte, I guess, but don’t
really know that either. I just know that I was told the other day not to expect
any major announcements anytime soon.
TB: Is Coors going to continue sponsorship with your team in
2001?
SM: I don’t know. I know Coors is in the final two
companies we’re talking to.
TB: Who’s the second?
SM: Not at liberty to say.
TB: Target, maybe??
SM: Maybe. I think Target will be on both cars. Somebody else
may also be on board too. Don’t know who though.
TB: So you still don’t know who your full-time teammate
will be in 2001?
SM: No. Maybe Ted Musgrave. I like Ted, he’s a neat guy and
a good driver, but again, it’s not officially done yet.
TB: You’re changing to Dodge cars in 2001, right?
SM: Don’t know. It’s not official yet.
TB: Ok, hypothetically let’s say you run a Dodge next year,
why not a Chevy?
SM: I know that Chip Ganassi has talked to Dodge, but he’s
also talked to Chevy, so I could end up back in a Chevy next season. We’ll
see.
TB: Has your engine program improved much lately?
SM: Well, we’ve lost four engines. To contend for a
championship, you can hardly lose but one engine per year, maybe two, we’ve
lost four.
TB: Because?
SM: I don’t know. I don’t build them.
TB: Is Ernie Elliott going to be your engine builder next
season?
SM: I think Ernie is going to build them, it’s not official
though, but they’re all talking like it might happen. Again, we’ll see.
TB: I guess you finally got your new contract signed?
SM: Not yet.
TB: No?
SM: Nope. I think I may try and sign it in Indy, maybe, but
it’s not signed yet.
TB: A three-year deal?
SM: Two year, three year, I guess. I just know I haven’t
signed anything yet.
TB: The rumors are floating around that Ganassi is changing a
lot of personnel. Do you know the status on Tony Glover and Scott Eggleston?
SM: Tony’s definitely staying as more or less the team
manager for the 42/01 car. He’ll have a crew chief on the 01 car as well.
Scott will be my crew chief and Andy Graves will be my team manager. They’ll
be around.
TB: Should NASCAR mandate that all cars be equipped with the
emergency kill switch in the floorboard in case a throttle sticks wide open?
SM: My cars have them now. I’d say at least 60% of the cars
now have them, with more adding to it everyday after Kenny and Adam. I think
they should be mandatory.
TB: Your fans over at your official web site, www.sterlingmarlin.net
want you to come over for a chat session soon.
SM: Great, ok, I will. I don’t know exactly when though.
Maybe after everything settles down, is signed and official, then we’ll chat
away! It’ll be fun.
TB: What are your chances of winning in Indy this weekend?
SM: (Sighs) The car is going to have to handle a lot better
than it is now, it’s way too tight. The 01 car tested in Indy and found a few
helpful things for us to use. We tested recently in Indy, but Kenny’s funeral
was the same week and that was our main focus. We didn’t get to learn much
about the car. It was a mandatory test, so we had to go anyway. We made a few
laps. NASCAR had us a little confused. They came out one day and told us one
thing and came back the next day and told us something else. Between everything
going on that week, we didn’t really have but a couple of hours actually on
the track. Sometimes other stuff is just more important.