August 14, 1982 - Nashville's Winston 200

On June 5, 1982, Mike Alexander and Sterling Marlin crashed as Marlin attempted to pass Alexander for the lead late in the 50-lap Grand American feature. Both went home with wrecked cars, but Alexander got the worst end of the deal with a concussion.

Doyle Ford, Nashville's race director (and later Winston Cup flag man), didn't like what he saw and filed a letter of reprimand against Marlin with the NASCAR office in Daytona Beach. Marlin's reaction? He returned the next week and won. Two weeks later, he won yet again - two days after NASCAR officially placed Marlin on probation for the rest of the season because of the June accident.

As the summer months rolled on, Marlin continued his scorching streak with two more feature wins in July. On August 14th, the track scheduled a 'big race', the 200-lap Winston 200.

While many eyes, cheers, and boos would be directed towards Marlin, the race featured another storyline. Tony Formosa, Jr. was scheduled to make his first Nashville start in 3 years. Formosa began his driving career at Nashville. He also watched his father Tony Sr. field formidable limited sportsman cars for Sonny Upchurch. Today, Tony Jr. is the leaseholder and promoter of Fairgrounds Speedway as Nashville's track is now known.

Source: The Tennessean

Alexander returned to the track after a five-week absence and won the pole for the race. His rival Marlin lined up alongside him on the front row. When the green fell, Alexander snagged the lead and set the pace for the first 20 laps.

But that was all Alexander had. A part failure sent him home early, and Marlin began his domination of the remainder of the race. Again.

Wayne Carden tried to fill the gap after Alexander exited the race. He dogged Marlin over half the race but couldn't quite catch him. A tire issue forced Carden to make an extra stop, and he wasn't able to recover to be a continuing challenger.

Marlin won going away and by six laps over second place finisher, Duke Monroe. His win came just a few days after NASCAR lifted his remainder-of-season probation penalty.

The notice from NASCAR about the lifting of the probation apparently included no explanation. In an interview with Larry Woody of The Tennessean, Marlin said "I guess the people there thought about it some more and realized I hadn't really done anything."

Source: The Tennessean

Marlin sloughed off the wreck with Alexander, the reprimand, the probation, and the lifting of the probation. He just kept on a'winning. Though he wasn't rattled, the track (and Marlin's car) had a couple of jitters during and following the Winston 200.

A couple of limited sportsman drivers and crewmen went to jawing with one another following their race. Track officials and a police officer were monitoring the situation, and the policeman thought things were about the escalate. Six cop cars were dispatched to the track - though the encounter was much ado about nothing.

In addition to the crew feudin', the track's scoreboard wasn't working because of a maintenance worker's mistake. To this day, the track's scoreboard - though prominently positioned - remains virtually impossible to read in any condition other than on a pitch black night.

The third (known) challenge of the night involved Marlin's car. During post-race inspection, officials found Marlin's #14 Coors Camaro had a bit more left side weight than technically allowed. Doyle Ford was willing to award Marlin the win and Duke Monroe his second place finish because a 2 percent variance had been judgmentally allowed during the season.

Carden, however, wasn't willing to accept the ruling. At stake was not only the race win but also the season championship. From his perspective, the decision had big consequences. Marlin's win would also give him the championship. A DQ of Marlin and a win by Carden would give Carden the title.

Ford then made the decision ... to wait. Rather than rule that night on his own, he agreed to discuss the matter with Bill Gazaway, NASCAR's Director of Competition in Daytona Beach.

The discussion with Gazaway didn't take long. A couple of days after the race, Marlin was awarded the win and, as a result, his third track title. Gazaway noted he wasn't a fan of the unwritten measurement tolerance - but agreed the track had to the discretion to have such a policy.

Source: The Tennessean

The decision clearly didn't sit well with Carden who had plenty of strong words for Marlin and the track's inspection process. He probably fumed over the next few months as he looped Luke The Drifter's ♫ Your Cheatin' Car ♫.

TMC

June 1982 Nashville Raceway: Sterlin vs. Mike

Though I've been a Petty lifer for 40 years, I followed the local late model hot shoes of Nashville's fairgrounds speedway (web | Twitter) from the mid 1970s through the early 1980s.

As the country celebrated the nation's bicentennial early and often throughout 1976, our family spent several Saturday nights at the track watching the rise of the Kiddie Corps. Four drivers had really caught the attention of the fan base as the track transitioned away from its earlier legends such as Darrell Waltrip, Flookie Buford and Coo Coo Marlin. The Kiddie Corps was comprised of:

• Coo Coo's son Sterling
• Mike Alexander, a bit of a protege of Waltrip and the son of R.C. Alexander for whom DW raced at Nashville
• P.B. Crowell III, the son of another Nashville legend P.B. Crowell Jr. as well as a former owner for Waltrip
• Dennis Wiser

By 1980, Marlin and Alexander had separated themselves from the other two. Crowell suffered a couple of tough wrecks, and in time he faded from the scene. Wiser didn't have the success of the other three, and his racing career wasn't lengthy.

Sterling, Mike and their teams had a full-on rivalry in the early 1980s. Both had an opportunity to race at the Cup level a few times though neither had yet made the full-time move. Week to week, it seemed the two were battling for the win. Whoever won, the other one often protested. After the inspectors tore the winner's car apart, the team needed a week or two to get back in the saddle giving the opportunity to the other one to win for a while. Back and forth it went.

Alexander was the first of the two to nab a track championship in 1978. Marlin countered, however, by winning back-to-back championships in 1980-1981.

On June 5, 1982 with the track having been renamed simply Nashville Raceway, the rivalry may have reached its apex. Alexander wrecked hard, and he and his team directed the blame towards Marlin.

The Tennessean - June 11, 1982

Marlin made a change around the same time that may have been as controversial as his run-in with Alexander - at least in his mother's eyes. Being a good ol' country boy, he often didn't enunciate the 'g' in his name. Hey, that's just the way we talk in middle Tennessee. I pronounce it the same way to this day: Sterlin vs. Sterling. So he dropped it - from his car...

...and from his uniform.

#108442256 / gettyimages.com

Larry Woody, beat writer for The Tennesseean, acknowledged the change and referred to Sterlin Marlin in his columns. Later, however, the 'g' returned. Apparently Marlin's mother made it very clear she named him STERLING. So honoring his mother's scolding, he returned to Sterling. (Though we all still just say Sterlin.)

The Tennessean - June 12, 1982

So while the heat from his mother over a 'g' may have affected Marlin, the pressure from Alexander, NASCAR, track officials, the fans, etc. did not. On June 12, a week after Alexander's wreck, Marlin continued his winning ways at Nashville by winning the 82-lap Tammy Wynette Grand American feature.
 
Throughout his Cup career, Marlin was known as a laid-back, Krystal Sunriser eating, no frills, throwback driver. He didn't talk smack and didn't court controversy. On that June night, however, Marlin went a little off script. He not only won the race, but he applied a faux-rookie stripe to his Coors Light Camaro just to add a bit of agitation to all of the critics. A yellow middle finger if you will.

The Tennessean - June 13, 1982

The Tennessean - June 14, 1982

Sterling continued his winning ways and three-peated with another track championship in 1982. He then caught a break and was hired by Roger Hamby to race for Winston Cup rookie of the year in 1983. Though he was no longer a fairgrounds regular week-to-week, he did return for certain races.

I went to the Cup qualifying session for the Marty Robbins 420 at Nashville in May 1983. In addition to the Cup cars being in town, the late model locals also ran a feature race. Sterling returned for double duty - this time with a new Pepsi / Beaman Automotive sponsored Pontiac.

And who else was there? Yep, Alexander. I remember my eyes shifting from one car to the other as the teams readied the rides for racing - with the occasional glance towards the other one.

Ah yes, racing rivalries. Nothing better.

TMC