Sterling Burton Marlin (born June 30, 1957) is an American former professional stock car racing driver.

He began his collection of American Civil War artifacts shortly after high school.

From 1980 to 1982, Marlin was a three-time track champion at the historic Nashville Speedway USA.

He ended his season at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the Miller High Life 500, driving the Helen Rae Special.

The other three men that have accomplished that feat were Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough and Denny Hamlin.

During the season, he lost teammate Kenny Irwin Jr. in a fatal practice crash at New Hampshire International Speedway.

In 2001, SABCO's majority ownership stake was purchased by CART & IndyCar championship owner Chip Ganassi and the team switched to Dodge Intrepids.

Three days later at the Daytona 500, on the final lap, Dale Earnhardt's rear bumper made contact with Marlin in turn 4, causing Earnhardt to crash into the turn 4 wall, an impact that would kill him instantly.

In the following days after the race, Marlin and his family received hate mail and death threats from angry fans of Earnhardt as well as the sport in general who felt that Marlin was responsible for Earnhardt's death.

He was eventually publicly defended by two of Earnhardt's drivers, his son and race winner Michael Waltrip, and was also cleared of any wrongdoing by NASCAR's investigation into the accident.

He won Dodge's first race in its return to NASCAR at Michigan International Speedway, as well as winning the UAW-GM Quality 500 at Charlotte.

NASCAR had then red-flagged the race so it would not finish under caution, and stopped the field momentarily on the backstretch.

As working on the car is prohibited during red flag conditions under NASCAR regulations, Marlin was sent to the tail end of the field for the restart.

Marlin followed this 2nd-place finish with a win at the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but not without controversy: During the race, Marlin spun while making late race pit stop, causing him to break the pit road speed limit.

The week after that, he won the Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 at Darlington Raceway, which would be the final win of his Cup career.

With a series of strong finishes (seventh at Texas, fifth at Talladega, seventh at California, fourth in June at Pocono, third at Daytona, third at the second Pocono race, sixth at Michigan in August, seventh at Bristol, and fourth at Darlington in the fall), Marlin was still 91 points ahead of second place entering the Chevy Monte Carlo 400 in September.

Marlin was replaced by Busch Series driver Jamie McMurray, who had recently been signed by Chip Ganassi Racing to drive for the team in the 2003 season.

Marlin controlled the race early and mid-way and appeared to have victory in his hands until he was wrecked by Kurt Busch with less than 150 laps to go.

Sterling Marlin however was not pleased with Busch in post-race ceremonies, stating "What a bone-headed move.

07 Jack Daniels-sponsored Chevrolet, However, Marlin honored his contract with Ganassi and finished out the 2005 season.

Road ringer Scott Pruett replaced Sterling in the 40 and finished fourth in the race.

In March 2009, Marlin participated in and won the Saturday Night Special, a charity event at Bristol Motor Speedway which included NASCAR Legends.

He led the entire event in a car painted similar to the one he drove with Morgan McClure Motorsports, and wearing an older-style Coors Light uniform from his days while driving for Chip Ganassi.

For the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Marlin continued to run a limited schedule in the No.

An announcement was made preceding the Cup Series finale weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway that Marlin would attempt the race in the No.

[6] He has undergone deep brain stimulation surgical procedures at Vanderbilt University Medical Center as part of his treatment.

[7] In late 2011, Marlin helped form Tennessee Racing Association, LLC, along with several other drivers (including Chad Chaffin and Mike Alexander) and businessmen, in an effort to preserve Fairgrounds Speedway and allow the track to remain active in the racing community.

[8] He is fully retired from NASCAR competition, as well as the Pro Late Model Division at Fairgrounds Speedway.

Sterling Marlin was one of the drivers who appeared in an episode, along with some crew members from the Coors team.

Marlin played against fellow driver Elliott Sadler and the #38 Robert Yates team, winning the game.