Coo Coo Marlin

Clifton Burton "Coo Coo" Marlin (January 3, 1932 – August 14, 2005) was a NASCAR Winston Cup driver who spent 14 years in the series.

Coo Coo Marlin
Coo Coo Marlin
BornClifton Burton Marlin
(1932-01-03)January 3, 1932
Columbia, Tennessee
DiedAugust 14, 2005(2005-08-14) (aged 73)
Cause of deathLung cancer
NASCAR Cup Series career
165 races run over 14 years
Best finish20th: 1975 Winston Cup Series season
First race1966 Nashville 400 (Nashville)
Last race1980 Talladega 500 (Talladega)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 51 0

Local track history

Marlin earned a name for himself at the short tracks in Tennessee and Alabama, running against Red Farmer, Bobby Allison, and Donnie Allison. He was a four-time track champion at Nashville Speedway USA (now Music City Motorplex).

Marlin was a speedway favorite with a lot of kids during the 1960s. He drove a fire-engine red 1964 Chevrolet Impala, No. 711, and was the first real "hero" to many youngsters. During this time, he and his racing "nemesis," Charlie Binkley No. 125, continuously thrilled audiences with their often tense finishes. Marlin was always available for photos and autographs in the pits after a race. His brother, Jack Marlin, was also a crowd favorite.

Grand National and Winston Cup career

Marlin advanced to part-time rides on the NASCAR Grand National circuit, starting with one race in 1966 and three in 1967. He ran more of the schedule as the series changed from Grand National to Winston Cup, but he never competed in more than 23 races in any season. He never won a race in his 165 Winston Cup starts from 1966 to 1980, but he had nine top 5 and 51 top 10 finishes, with many of those starts in a car numbered 14. However, in 1973, Marlin won a non points race, with one of the Duel races at Daytona that year.[1]

Death

Marlin died in his hometown of Columbia, Tennessee on August 14, 2005 of lung cancer at the age of 73.

Son's use of number 14 as memorial

Shortly after Marlin's death, his son Sterling was in negotiations with MB2 Motorsports to drive the team's second car for 2006. The team was unable to retain the No. 10 (which was to be used by Evernham Motorsports for 2006), so MB2 was looking for a new number. A still-grieving Sterling found the No. 14 available (ppc Racing's defunct Nextel Cup team had been the last to use it) and had MB2 request the No. 14, which was granted. It was run to honor his father during his year and a half with the team until his unexpected release from Ginn Racing mid-way through the 2007 season, after the team merged with Dale Earnhardt, Inc. The No. 14 is now run by Clint Bowyer, his owner and former driver Tony Stewart who chose the number for his own race team in honor of AJ Foyt, a childhood hero of his.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Grand National Series

NASCAR Grand National Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 NGNC Pts Ref
1966 Gray Racing 97 Ford AUG RSD DAY DAY DAY CAR BRI ATL HCY CLB GPS BGS NWS MAR DAR LGY MGR MON RCH CLT DTS ASH PIF SMR AWS BLV GPS DAY ODS BRR OXF FON ISP BRI SMR NSV
8
ATL CLB AWS BLV BGS DAR HCY RCH HBO MAR NWS CLT CAR 95th 360 [2]
1967 Charlie Hughes 04 Chevy AUG RSD DAY
13
DAY DAY
50
AWS BRI GPS BGS ATL CLB HCY NWS MAR SVH RCH DAR BLV LGY CLT ASH MGR SMR BIR CAR GPS MGY DAY TRN OXF FDA ISP BRI SMR 88th 680 [3]
Cunningham-Kelley Racing NSV
17
ATL BGS CLB SVH DAR HCY RCH BLV HBO MAR NWS CLT CAR AWS
1969 Cunningham-Kelley Racing 07 Chevy MGR MGY RSD DAY DAY DAY CAR AUG BRI ATL CLB HCY GPS RCH NWS MAR AWS DAR BLV LGY CLT MGR SMR MCH KPT
22
GPS NCF DAY DOV TPN TRN BLV BRI
30
NSV
7
SMR ATL
13
MCH SBO BGS AWS DAR
31
HCY RCH TAL
10
CLB MAR NWS CLT
39
SVH AUG CAR JFC MGR TWS 52nd 375 [4]
1970 RSD DAY
24
DAY DAY
18
RCH CAR SVH ATL
9
BRI
9
TAL
10
NWS CLB DAR BLV LGY CLT
30
SMR MAR MCH
31
RSD HCY KPT GPS DAY
34
AST TPN TRN BRI SMR NSV
6
ATL
15
CLB ONA MCH
17
TAL
14
BGS SBO DAR HCY RCH DOV NCF NWS CLT
34
MAR MGR CAR LGY 38th 876 [5]
1971 RSD DAY DAY
13
DAY
20
ONT RCH CAR HCY BRI ATL
15
CLB GPS SMR NWS MAR DAR SBO TAL
39
ASH KPT CLT DOV MCH
27
RSD HOU GPS DAY
31
BRI
14
AST ISP TRN NSV
25
ATL
34
BGS ONA MCH
33
TAL
42
CLB HCY DAR MAR CLT DOV CAR
38
MGR RCH NWS TWS 49th 527 [6]

Winston Cup Series

NASCAR Winston Cup Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 NWCC Pts Ref
1972 Cunningham-Kelley Racing 14 Chevy RSD DAY
25
RCH ONT CAR ATL
12
BRI
6
DAR NWS MAR TAL
35
CLT
28
DOV
24
MCH RSD TWS
3
DAY
4
BRI
22
TRN ATL
29
TAL
16
MCH
34
NSV
26
DAR
10
RCH DOV
36
MAR
11
NWS
30
CLT
34
CAR
27
TWS
7
25th 3852.9 [7]
1973 RSD DAY
29
RCH CAR
14
BRI
7
ATL
6
NWS DAR MAR TAL
6
NSV
6
CLT
33
DOV
35
TWS
28
RSD MCH
11
DAY
38
BRI
27
ATL
30
TAL
40
NSV
3
DAR
7
RCH DOV
6
NWS
11
MAR
23
CLT
19
CAR
10
22nd 4233.89 [8]
1974 RSD DAY
4
RCH CAR
24
BRI
10
ATL
28
DAR
19
NWS MAR
12
TAL
7
NSV
9
DOV CLT
38
RSD MCH
13
DAY
18
BRI
12
NSV
28
ATL
9
POC TAL
35
MCH
11
DAR
29
RCH
18
DOV
25
NWS
11
MAR
22
CLT
22
CAR
12
ONT 22nd 581.66 [9]
1975 RSD DAY
17
RCH CAR
26
BRI ATL
7
NWS DAR
5
MAR TAL
5
NSV
3
DOV
6
CLT
40
RSD MCH
12
DAY
34
NSV
26
POC
7
TAL
5
MCH
35
DAR
39
DOV
31
NWS
12
MAR
29
CLT
42
RCH
9
CAR
10
BRI
7
ATL
8
ONT 20th 2584 [10]
1976 RSD DAY
21
CAR
8
RCH BRI ATL
6
NWS DAR MAR TAL NSV DOV CLT RSD MCH
13
DAY
6
NSV
8
POC TAL
34
MCH
12
BRI DAR
8
RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT
32
CAR
10
ATL
30
ONT
DNQ
28th 1412 [11]
1977 RSD DAY
4
RCH CAR ATL
8
NWS DAR BRI MAR TAL
8
NSV
8
DOV CLT
12
RSD MCH DAY
13
NSV
11
POC TAL
40
MCH BRI DAR
26
RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT
12
CAR ATL
10
ONT 34th 1004 [12]
1978 RSD DAY
26
RCH CAR ATL
39
BRI DAR NWS MAR TAL
41
DOV CLT NSV
22
RSD MCH DAY
38
NSV POC TAL
26
MCH BRI DAR
30
RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT
7
CAR ATL
10
ONT 36th 765 [13]
1979 RSD DAY
9
CAR RCH ATL
38
NWS BRI DAR MAR TAL
10
NSV DOV CLT
30
TWS RSD MCH DAY
25
NSV POC TAL
29
MCH BRI DAR
36
RCH DOV MAR CLT NWS CAR ATL ONT 33rd 613 [14]
1980 RSD DAY
QL
RCH CAR ATL BRI DAR NWS MAR TAL
11
NSV DOV CLT TWS RSD MCH DAY
14
NSV POC TAL
37
MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV NWS MAR CLT CAR ATL ONT 54th 303 [15]
- Qualified but replaced by Sterling Marlin
Daytona 500
Year Team Manufacturer Start Finish
1967 Charlie Hughes Chevrolet 27 50
1970 Cunningham-Kelley Racing Chevrolet 40 18
1971 26 20
1972 3 25
1973 4 29
1974 31 4
1975 35 17
1976 10 21
1977 13 4
1978 16 26
1979 37 9
1980 QL
- Qualified but replaced by Sterling Marlin

References

  1. Coo Coo Marlin page of Racing-reference website , retrieved May 21, 2007.
  2. "Coo Coo Marlin – 1966 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
  3. "Coo Coo Marlin – 1967 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
  4. "Coo Coo Marlin – 1969 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
  5. "Coo Coo Marlin – 1970 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
  6. "Coo Coo Marlin – 1971 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
  7. "Coo Coo Marlin – 1972 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
  8. "Coo Coo Marlin – 1973 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
  9. "Coo Coo Marlin – 1974 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
  10. "Coo Coo Marlin – 1975 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
  11. "Coo Coo Marlin – 1976 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
  12. "Coo Coo Marlin – 1977 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
  13. "Coo Coo Marlin – 1978 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
  14. "Coo Coo Marlin – 1979 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
  15. "Coo Coo Marlin – 1980 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
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