Race preview from June 20, 1981 Tennessean:

There's No Stopping Sterling

By LARRY WOODY

The bounty hunters have about given up trying to catch Sterling Marlin. Five times this season they've tried. Five times they've failed.

Marlin is unbeaten at Nashville Raceway this year. Won every Grand American race that's been held. Actually, won may not be the proper word. Marlin has plain run away with the races. No contest. He drives like he’s late for an appointment.

At times the 23-year-old driver from Columbia appeared to be toying with his opponents. You could almost see him yawn as he came down the straightaway.

It wouldn't be exaggerating to say that Sterling is literally stealing the show. Attendance at the track has sagged; who'll come out to watch a race for second place?

But don't expect Marlin to apologize for winning. “I’ve told them to bring in the best drivers they can find, and I’ll race against them,” he says. “And I’ll try my best to beat ‘em. I’ll try to win every race this season if I can.”

He may just do it. Marlin will be trying to make it six out of six tonight in the 50-lap feature. Time trials start at 6:30 with first race at 8. In addition to the Grand American feature, a 25-lapper is scheduled in the Street Stock division and a pair of 15-lappers in the Mini-Stock class.

Not since a kid from Owensboro, Ky. named Darrell Waltrip turned Nashville Raceway into his own personal driving range a decade ago has a driver so dominated the sport. Marlin may just be the best race driver to come out of Nashville since Waltrip. And in a pair of Marlin-Waltrip showdowns earlier this season, Marlin won both.

Marlin’s winning ways finally got so out of hand that Speedway officials decided to offer a bounty to any driver who could beat Marlin. They hoped to lure some out-of-town toughies in to give Sterling a run for his money. The bounty is up to $400 now which, along with the regular $1,000 first-place money that goes to the winner, makes a nice bundle for 20 minutes or so of racing. But nobody has collected.

I still have this photo I clipped from The Tennessean back in 1981. Until a few days ago, I couldn't recall the date from which I snagged it. But I found it again recently in digging through some archives of the paper. The pic was published on June 20, 1981 when a slate of races was held at Nashville's fairgrounds track - then known as Nashville International Raceway. 

Restored in 2015 Northeast Late Model driven by Jay Bleser at tracks including:Fonda,Brookfield,and Albany Saratoga to name a few..