The View From Fanville
Marlin got a raw deal at Ginn
Sometimes racing can be very cruel.
Sterling Marlin, a thirty-year veteran of NASCAR has just been kicked to the curb.
While Ginn Racing is drowning from mistakes they made somewhere along the recent financial road, they have, in their great wisdom, decided that by dumping some of NASCAR’s finest and wisest out in the dirt, it will improve their chances of hanging on for awhile in this crazy unpredictable sport.
What a hard and difficult life racing can give to a man.
While we as fans sit out here and buy all the cute little tokens that carry our favorite driver’s number, our favorite driver might be hoping the sponsors that produce that paraphernalia are staying happy enough to stay with him for another few races.
We cheer and jeer and we soak in all the news and gossip, all while our fellows are trying to make their career choice actually mean something.
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They do hundreds of obligatory photo shots, interviews and a handful of commercials if they are lucky…all for the chance to prove they are the ones that need to be out on the track with those big colorful logos on the front of their cars, showing the world that they are worthy.
There are only a handful of fellows out on the track each week that are guaranteed a ride no matter how lousy they run. But even those fellows know that the next race could be their last. While they may not be in danger of being cut from the team, there is always that danger of being hurt, taking them out of the driver’s seat and opening up the chance for someone else to steal their spot.
Those that don’t feel that bit of security under their seats live in a precarious setting. They continue to smile when they don’t feel like it, and shake hands of people they don’t know, just in case someone in that crowd can help them stay behind the wheel that they love.
And when that crazy silly season rolls around and talk of trading drivers and shuffling numbers begins, the few fellows that managed to feel more secure this year than last find themselves once again playing the mind games of doubt and question.
Bitterness takes over as the years go by for some of these talented men, while others never let their smiles fade. They have an inner spirit that not even being dumped out on the curb or traded for someone better can take away.
They are racers; all of them, the good ones and the bad…and they all deserve to be treated with respect, no matter what the situation.
Sterling Marlin will feel the let down and pain of this latest episode, but he’ll walk away a little stronger and a little more determined. Perhaps his words say it best:
"I can get up and look in the mirror and know I've done everything right.” Marlin said about being replaced by Regan Smith. “I don't think that's the case on the other side…
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