Between legends—Sterling Marlin’s year in the Stavola Brothers’ #8 (1993)
Join me throughout this year as I take a look at when some of the sport’s biggest stars drove some unusual cars! (Presented in no particular order).
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Why? Early in his career Sterling Marlin was notorious for being a “bridesmaid”—posting numerous top-five finishes without securing a race win. After two years at Junior Johnson’s team didn’t produce the long-awaited victory, he left to race for superspeedway specialists the Stavola Brothers for 1993.
How successful were they? While Marlin was definitely a step-up in the caliber of driver the Stavola Brothers would hire in the 1990’s, the equipment looked to be a step-down for Marlin. The combo finished fifteenth in points, punctuated by two runner-up finishes at superspeedway races.
What was the aftermath? Both driver and team went in opposite directions. Sterling left for Morgan-McClure Motorsports, breaking through in his very first race with them, winning the 1994 Daytona 500. The Marlin-MMM combination was a constant threat to win at Daytona and Talladega and finished as high as third in the points standings. The Stavola Brothers team, however, was unable to return to its successful runs in the 1980’s, and would peter out in 1998.
Ranking on the Strange-O-Meter? 2 Sterling impressions by Steve Byrnes out of 10—this was most-likely an attempt by Sterling to get out of Junior Johnson’s “second car”, and this was the best ride available at the time.
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