Marlin Aims to End Southern Drought

Friday, August 30th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

DARLINGTON, S.C. (AP) _ Sterling Marlin has gone almost five months without winning. He now hopes to break the streak in one of his favorite cars and increase his lead in the Winston Cup standings.

Marlin will drive the Dodge his team calls ``Daddy's Favorite'' at Darlington Raceway this weekend, where he'll look for his third win of the season.

His last victory came with this car, at Darlington in March, when Marlin notched his second win of the season. Since then, he's weathered a series of ups and downs, but has stayed in control of the championship race.

He takes a 95-point lead over Mark Martin into Sunday's Southern 500 on the 1.366-mile eggshaped oval.

``At Darlington, you really have to race the track and you have to stay pretty focused all day long,'' he said. ``You run so close to the wall that you can get into it pretty quick. Rubber builds up six inches away from it and one little slip and you're in the fence. But I enjoy racing there, it's a fun track to me.''

The way things are structured with Chip Ganassi, Marlin worries about driving the car and the rest of the team worries about the points race.

It's been a blueprint for success for almost the entire season. It's been a confidence builder, especially after the championship-level effort of last week at Bristol Motor Speedway.

The crew changed almost everything on the car right before the race _ relying on the setup and notes used on teammate Jimmy Spencer's car _ because Marlin's Dodge Intrepid had been so bad in practice.

Then there was a mistake in the pits when Marlin pulled away with the jack still under his car and it rolled down the road, drawing a stop-and-go penalty. That dropped Marlin back to 37th in the field, but the team kept digging and he worked his way back up to a seventh-place finish.

Marlin then widened his lead in the standing and proved his team has enough grit to contend for the championship.

``The preface to our whole deal is we're just blue-collar workers, we're not superstars,'' team manager Tony Glover said. ``We just take one race at a time, we do the best we can every week.''

Those not watching Marlin will be keeping a close eye on Jeff Gordon, who broke his 31-race winless streak last week at Bristol.

The victory bolstered the confidence of the four-time series champion, making him a legitimate threat to Marlin. Gordon is third, 111 points back, and eager to gain more ground while looking for his fifth Southern 500 win.

``We always seem to be strong here, and I think a lot of it has to do with qualifying well and respecting the track,'' Gordon said. ``The track has to be your No. 1 concern and it's much easier to do that when you're not stuck in traffic in the back. Whether you're a veteran or not, it's tough to race from the back.''