Mike Marlar Wins Night #2 Of Knoxville’s Late Model Nationals

Story By: JAMES ESSEX / LUCAS OIL LATE MODEL DIRT SERIES – KNOXVILLE, IA – Defending Lucas Oil Knoxville Late Model Nationals winner Mike Marlar, came from the seventh starting spot to win Friday night’s 25-lap preliminary feature event. Marlar took the lead on lap 20 from Tim McCreadie and then held off the field for the win.

Marlar’s Ronnie Delk-owned Rocket Chassis became the second driver in the 13-year history of the event to score a perfect night in points.

McCreadie came home in second, with the previous night’s winner, Josh Richards taking third. Brandon Sheppard was fourth, with Chris Simpson completing the top five drivers.
McCreadie’s Sweeteners Plus, Longhorn would grab the lead at the start of the main event. He led one lap before Sheppard took control of the race on the second circuit. Sheppard held a healthy lead over McCreadie for most of the first half of the race, but McCreadie slowly reeled Sheppard in, passing him for the lead on the 18th lap.
A caution then bunched the field up as McCreadie led another lap after the restart and then Marlar got around him for the top spot. Marlar led the rest of the way to take his second Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win of the season.
Marlar commented on his win in Lucas Oil Victory Lane: “When I got to third, I thought man this is an awesome race. Thanks to the fans for coming out tonight, they saw a good show. Ronnie Delk does not have any bad equipment. I wouldn’t call it a back-up car, it’s just the car were using tonight.”
Marlar will sit on the pole for the $40,000 to win finale on Saturday Night and was extremely pleased with his car and team. “We had a really good racecar tonight. My crew is just awesome. They got this car ready to go tonight. I have a lot of hometown people up here helping me this weekend and I appreciate every one of them.”
McCreadie had failed to make the feature on Thursday Night, yet rebounded to a runner-up finish. “We were good down on the bottom. We didn’t need that caution. You have to slow down so much entering the corner that someone on the outside has the momentum on you. I thought it was going to be Brandon [Sheppard] but it was Marlar and those guys that know what they are doing. We are going to work on our car and hopefully get better for tomorrow night.”
Richards came from the eighth starting position tonight to place third. “The track was a lot slicker tonight. We left the car alone after we tried some stuff early on. Mike did a great job. He has really fast car and we are going to have to get better to beat him tomorrow night.”
Marlar’s car is powered by a Cornett Racing Engines and is sponsored by Delk Equipment Sales, RS Trading Company, Sunoco Race Fuels, Integra, Modern Images, and GW Performance.

Completing the top ten were Jimmy Mars, Chase Junghans, Bobby Pierce, Darrell Lanigan, and Gregg Satterlee.

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
Friday, September 15th, 2017
Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals
Knoxville Raceway – Knoxville, IA

Miller Welders Fast Time Group A: Mike Marlar / 17.511 seconds
Miller Welders Fast Time Group B: Jonathan Davenport / 17.612 seconds

Eibach Springs Heat Race #1 Finish (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Mike Marlar, Rodney Sanders, Jared Landers, Dave Eckrich, Jordan Yaggy, Joey Moriarty, Spencer Diercks, Dennis Erb, Jr., Jonathan Brauns

FK Rod Ends Heat Race #2 Finish (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Hudson O’Neal, Jason Feger, Gregg Satterlee, Jimmy Owens, Dale McDowell, Kyle Bronson, Matt Furman, Jay Johnson, Colton Flinner-DNS

Simpson Performance Products Heat Race #3 Finish (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Brandon Sheppard, Jimmy Mars, Tyler Bruening, Shannon Babb, Chad Simpson, Jake O’Neil, Randy Timms, Bob King

QA1 Heat Race #4 Finish (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Chase Junghans, Tim McCreadie, Bobby Pierce, Steve Francis, Jonathan Davenport, Ryan Gustin, Timothy Culp, Scott Bloomquist, Mike Fryer

DirtOnDirt.com Heat Race #5 Finish (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Josh Richards, Chris Simpson, Boom Briggs, Billy Moyer, Brent Larson, Tyler Erb, Brian Shirley, Justin Duty

ASi Racewear Heat Race #6 Finish (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Darrell Lanigan, Kent Robinson, Jesse Stovall, Don O’Neal, Earl Pearson, Jr., Billy Moyer, Jr., Jeremiah Hurst, Tim Lance

Penske Racing Shocks C-Main Finish (12 Laps, Top 4 Transfer to Back of B-Main): Dennis Erb, Jr., Scott Bloomquist, Spencer Diercks, Timothy Culp, Matt Furman, Randy Timms, Jeremiah Hurst, Mike Fryer, Justin Duty, Tim Lance-DNS, Brian Shirley-DNS, Jay Johnson-DNS, Bob King-DNS, Jonathan Brauns-DNS, Colton Flinner-DNS

Fast Shafts B-Main Finish (15 Laps, Top 6 Transfer to Back of A-Main): Don O’Neal, Jimmy Owens, Earl Pearson, Jr., Dale McDowell, Chad Simpson, Tyler Erb, Kyle Bronson, Dennis Erb, Jr., Shannon Babb, Steve Francis, Brent Larson, Ryan Gustin, Billy Moyer, Jr., Jordan Yaggy, Joey Moriarty, Dave Eckrich, Scott Bloomquist, Billy Moyer, Spencer Diercks, Timothy Culp, Jake O’Neil, Jonathan Davenport

Feature Finish (25 Laps):

FINISH
START
CAR #
DRIVER NAME
HOMETOWN
EARNINGS
1
7
157
Mike Marlar
Winfield, TN
$7,000
2
2
39
Tim McCreadie
Watertown, NY
$4,000
3
8
1R
Josh Richards
Shinnston, WV
$3,000
4
3
1S
Brandon Sheppard
New Berlin, IL
$2,000
5
6
32S
Chris Simpson
Oxford, IA
$1,500
6
11
28m
Jimmy Mars
Menomonie, WI
$1,000
7
12
18
Chase Junghans
Manhattan, KS
$900
8
18
32
Bobby Pierce
Oakwood, IL
$800
9
4
14
Darrell Lanigan
Union, KY
$700
10
9
22
Gregg Satterlee
Rochester Mills, PA
$600
11
22
17m
Dale McDowell
Chickamauga, GA
$580
12
23
25
Chad Simpson
Mt. Vernon, IA
$560
13
21
1
Earl Pearson, Jr.
Jacksonville, FL
$740
14
20
20
Jimmy Owens
Newport, TN
$720
15
15
71
Hudson O’Neal
Martinsville, IN
$500
16
1
20S
Rodney Sanders
Happy, TX
$490
17
5
1777
Jared Landers
Batesville, AR
$480
18
10
7R
Kent Robinson
Bloomington, IN
$470
19
24
91
Tyler Erb
New Waverly, TX
$460
20
14
99B
Boom Briggs
Bear Lake, PA
$450
21
16
00
Jesse Stovall
Billings, MO
$440
22
17
16
Tyler Bruening
Decorah, IA
$430
23
13
25F
Jason Feger
Bloomington, IL
$410
24
19
5
Don O’Neal
Martinsville, IN
$600
Race Statistics

Entrants: 53

Lap Leaders: Tim McCreadie (Lap 1); Brandon Sheppard (Laps 2 – 17); Tim McCreadie (Laps 18 – 19); Mike Marlar (Laps 20 – 25)

Cautions: Earl Pearson Jr., Don O’Neal (Lap 1); Boom Briggs (Lap 14); Jared Landers (Lap 18)

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Provisionals: n/a
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Emergency Provisionals: n/a
Wrisco Feature Winner: Mike Marlar
Optima Batteries Hard Charger of the Race: Dale McDowell (Started: 22nd; Finished: 11th; Advanced 11 Positions)
Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Josh Richards
Allstar Performance Power Move of the Race: Dale McDowell
Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Mike Marlar

Hot Rod Processing Rookie of the Race: Gregg Satterlee
COMP Cams Engine Builder of the Race: Cornett Racing Engines

Ohlins Shocks Chassis Builder of the Race: Rocket Chassis

Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race: Josh Davis (Mike Marlar)
Fastest Lap of the Race: Tim McCreadie (Lap #1 – 19.605 seconds)
Safecraft Most Laps Led: Brandon Sheppard (15 Laps)
PFC Brakes Pole Award: Brandon Sheppard

Time of Race: 19 minutes 45 seconds

SATURDAY Penske Racing Shocks C-Main Line Up (15 Laps, Top 4 Transfer to Back of B-Main):

DRIVER
INSIDE
OUTSIDE
DRIVER
Dave Eckrich
58
21x
John Anderson
Jay Johnson
93
22B
Jonathan Brauns
Tim Lance
48
5T
Randy Timms
Joel Callahan
40
15D
Justin Duty
Mike Fryer
54
98
Jason Rauen
Colton Flinner
75
45
Bob King
Chris Spieker
56s
83
Scott James
SATURDAY Fast Shafts B-Main Line Up (20 Laps, Top 6 Transfer to Back of A-Main):
DRIVER
INSIDE
OUTSIDE
DRIVER
Jesse Stovall
00
15
Steve Francis
Kyle Bronson
40B
91
Tyler Erb
Jason Feger
25F
29
Spencer Diercks
Tyler Bruening
16
99B
Boom Briggs
Matt Furman
51
58H
Jeremiah Hurst
Dennis Erb Jr.
28
B1
Matt Larson
Ryan Gustin
24
21
Billy Moyer
Billy Moyer Jr.
21JR
51M
Joey Moriarty
Jordan Yaggy
77
OJ
Jake O’Neil
SATURDAY Feature Line Up (100 Laps):
DRIVER
INSIDE
OUTSIDE
DRIVER
Mike Marlar
157
49
Jonathan Davenport
Josh Richards
1R
1s
Brandon Sheppard
Don O’Neal
5
39
Tim McCreadie
Jared Landers
1777
32s
Chris Simpson
Darrell Lanigan
14
28m
Jimmy Mars
Jimmy Owens
20
0
Scott Bloomquist
Chad Simpson
25
22
Gregg Satterlee
Brian Shirley
3s
17m
Dale McDowell
Shannon Babb
18b
18
Chase Junghans
Bobby Pierce
32
20s
Rodney Sanders
Earl Pearson Jr.
1
71
Hudson O’Neal
Timothy Culp
c8
7R
Kent Robinson
B-Main – 1st
25th
26th
B-Main – 2nd
B-Main – 3rd
27th
28th
B-Main – 4th
B-Main – 5th
29th
30th
B-Main – 6th
LOLMDS Prov. 1
31st
32nd
LOLMDS Prov. 2