(26 STARTS, 892 POINTS)

A former high-school quarterback, Sterling Marlin showed an early aptitude for racing, particularly at Daytona. As a 22-year-old rookie, he finished eighth in the 1980 Daytona 500, driving the No. 14

H. B. Cunningham car that his father, Coo Coo Marlin, had campaigned for many years.

But like his father, who never won a Cup race in 166 attempts, success seemed to elude Marlin early on.

His best finish in his next three Daytona 500 starts was 15th. Then, Marlin landed a ride in Hoss Ellington’s No. 1 Chevrolet for 1986, led six laps and was among the leaders when his engine expired with two laps to go, leaving him ninth. Switching to Billy Hagan’s Olds for 1987, Marlin had another good run spoiled by clutch issues, finishing 30th after starting 10th.

The pairing of Marlin with Hagan paid dividends for three more season, as Sterling led 13 laps and finished eighth in the 1988 Daytona 500, wound up 11th the next season and 19th the following year. In 1991, Junior Johnson hired Marlin to drive the No. 22 Ford — and he responded immediately by avoiding the crash that wiped out Dale Earnhardt and Davey Allison, eventually finishing second to Ernie Irvan. Marlin then won the pole for the 1992 Daytona 500, and may have had the car to beat in the race. But he ended up as the meat in a three-wide sandwich coming out of Turn 2 on Lap 92, igniting a chain-reaction crash that damaged most of the front-running cars.

He posted another top-10 finish in 1993 with the Stavola Brothers, then found himself in the perfect situation in 1994.

Driving the car that Irvan vacated during the offseason, Marlin had the fastest car during Speedweeks. But it was fuel economy that turned out to be the key factor in breaking his long winless streak. He made the final 59 laps on a single tank of fuel, holding off Irvan’s late charge and coasting into Victory Lane with his first Daytona 500 win.

“I gave a big sigh of relief,” an emotional Marlin said afterward.

“I finally won one. I knew I could do it.” Bursting with confidence, Marlin came to the 1995 Daytona 500 hoping to prove the previous year’s finish was no fluke. And he did it with style and horsepower. Starting third, Marlin led more than half of the race, including the final 20 laps on older tires — with Dale Earnhardt looming menacingly in his rearview mirror.

Bobby Labonte’s accident on Lap 186 brought out the 10th and final caution of the day, but while most of the other front-runner’s came in for fresh rubber and a splash of fuel, crew chief Tony Glover opted to keep Marlin on the track and protect his position. The strategy worked perfectly, as Marlin became only the third driver to win back-to-back Daytona 500s, joining Richard Petty and Cale Yarborough.

Marlin could have very easily made it three in a row in 1996, but retired with engine problems just shy of the halfway mark.

He bounced back in 1997 with a top-five finish, avoiding the late-race accident that took out Earnhardt and Dale Jarrett.

A switch to the No. 40 team in 1998 brought a change in fortune, as well. Marlin qualified third but finished a disappointing 22nd that season, then followed that with 32nd in 1999 and 24th in 2000. However, a win in the qualifying race for the 2001 Daytona 500 allowed Marlin to start third, and he immediately went to the front, leading all but three of the first 26 laps.

But things went horribly wrong on the final lap. While Michael Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Battled for the victory, Marlin was locked in a three-wide fight for fourth with Earnhardt and Ken Schrader. As the field came out of Turn 4, Earnhardt’s No. 3 bobbled, then went head-on into the outside concrete wall, killing the seven-time Cup champion. Marlin finished seventh, but many fans blamed him for causing the accident, and he received hate mail and even death threats for weeks following the crash. Both Waltrip and Earnhardt Jr. Came to Marlin’s defense afterward, clearing him of any fault.

Marlin nearly added a third Daytona 500 title to his resume in 2002, but curiosity got the better of him during a red-flag stop and cost him the victory. Racing for the lead with five laps remaining, Marlin and Jeff Gordon tangled heading into Turn 1.

Gordon spun out and NASCAR officials immediately redflagged the race. While the cars were stopped on the backstretch, Marlin climbed out of his car to survey the damage. But then he pulled on the right-front fender, a violation of NASCAR rules — and was sent to the tail end of the lead-lap cars. He would eventually finish eighth.

Marlin matched that eighth-place finish in 2005, but failed to crack the top 15 in each of his last two Daytona 500 starts.

Marlin failed to qualify for the 2008 race and has no confirmed ride for the 2009 Daytona 500, although he remains active in the sport.

With two wins and 11 top-10 finishes, Marlin edges Darrell Waltrip by one point for eighth on the all-time Daytona 500 driver list.