When Sterling Marlin takes the green flag for Saturday night's Nextel Cup race at Richmond International Raceway, it will be two days shy of the 30-year anniversary of his first start in NASCAR's top stock car series.


Marlin made his Cup debut on May 8, 1976, at Nashville Speedway, subbing for his father, Clifton ``Coo Coo'' Marlin, who injured his shoulder during an ARCA qualifying session at Talladega Superspeedway the week before.


When it became evident the elder Marlin wouldn't enter the Nashville race, he made a deal with his son: ``If you can fix it, you can race it.''


Sterling took his father up on the offer and climbed behind the wheel of the No. 14 Cunningham-Kelley Chevrolet soon after. The 18-year-old Marlin posted an uneventful, but respectable, finish of 29th in his maiden ride.

``I hadn't really thought about this being my 30-year anniversary to be honest, but I guess that's about right,'' said Marlin, a two-time Daytona 500 winner who has started 684 Cup races. ``I'm amazed I'm still around and that I've been running that long.

``When you've been messing with race cars like I've been doing since I was 12 or 13 year old, time flies. Racing is my life and I'm still having a blast.''

Marlin has 10 wins, 83 top fives and 215 top 10s in his career, earning more than $37 million.


``It's amazing how much has changed,'' Marlin said. ``There's just so much that's different now than even 10 or 15 years ago. It's phenomenal to see how many fans are at each event, camping out and sitting up in the stands.

``I remember when Bristol was just two grandstands on each side. I don't think any of us could've foreseen the popularity that was going to come to this sport. The 70s and 80s were more laid back. it was a lot simpler then. You were just there to race. It wasn't the rushing or the panic mode that everyone seems to be in now.''

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