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Wednesday, January 9

Sterling Marlin
By Jerry Bonkowski
ESPN.com

Team: Chip Ganassi Racing
Car/sponsor/make: No. 40 Coors Light Dodge

Sterling Marlin
Marlin

STATS

Year
Rank
Wins
Top 5
Top 10
Best finish

2001 3 2 13 21 First, Twice

Career 8 60 130 First, 8 times

2001 recap
The good: There was some concern following Chip Ganassi's purchase of the majority of the team from Felix Sabates at the end of the 2000 season that Marlin would not be retained as driver of the No. 40. But Ganassi eventually kept Marlin, and the veteran showed his appreciation by paying back his new boss some outstanding dividends. Those included a third-place finish in the standings and Marlin's first two wins since 1996. Marlin also became the first driver to give Dodge a victory in its much-heralded return to Winston Cup competition. While much has been said about how 2001 was Jeff Gordon's rebound season, the true comeback of the year has to be Marlin, who bounced back from 19th the previous season to tie his highest-ever finish (he was also third in 1995 with Morgan-McClure Motorsports).

Season highlight: Without question, Marlin's win at Michigan in August would receive top billing on his season highlight film. Not only was it his first win since 1996, it also was Dodge's first victory since returning to Winston Cup racing. It also cemented Marlin's comeback from some fairly lean years, and laid the groundwork for a bonafide championship push in 2002.

The bad: No matter how good of a season he had, Marlin will always be remembered as the driver who last touched fenders with the late Dale Earnhardt, sending The Intimidator spinning into the wall and ultimately to his death. While the crash was nothing more than an unfortunate accident -- Earnhardt actually moved down on the track and squeezed Marlin, leaving Marlin with nowhere to go -- Marlin endured numerous death threats and accusations that he was in some way responsible for Earnhardt's death, when he did everything he could to avoid Earnhardt.

Season lowlight: Marlin appeared on the way to winning his first race of the season in the Pepsi 400 at Daytona in July. He began the race by starting from the pole, but chalked up his worst finish of year when he ended up 39th.

Marlin
After winning in Michigan, Sterling Marlin was in fourth place in the Cup standings

Key stat: Twenty top-10 finishes out of 36 starts (tied for fourth overall with Bobby Labonte) was impressive, not only because Marlin struggled so much in recent years, but because he, crew chief Lee McCall and team owner Ganassi were able to get so much out of the new Dodge. While other teams, such as Petty Enterprises, never could get a handle on the Intrepid, Marlin took to his new ride like a duck to water. In addition, logging two runner-up efforts and a fifth-place run in the last three races of 2001 bodes well for Marlin to have a good start in 2002. Also, he qualified in the top-10 for nearly half of the season's races, and usually used the strong starts to end up with good finishes.

2002 outlook
What needs to be done: Ganassi is a proven winner with four CART championships. With one season under the team's collective belt in the Intrepid, and with Ganassi's penchant for excellence, little will be spared in terms of investment or energy spent to put Marlin in the champion's spot by the end of the season. This is one of the few teams that really doesn't have to change anything for the new year. Status quo will go a long way towards equal -- if not more -- success in 2002.

Prediction: Based upon the strength of his performance in 2001, as well as the strong nucleus he has, Marlin is on target not only to finish in the top-5, but is also a bonafide threat to win the championship in 2002.

Your take
How will Marlin fare in 2002? What did you think of Marlin in 2001? Check out your thoughts.

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