WoO Late Models Hustle During World Finals Qualifying Night At The Dirt Track At Charlotte

Story By: KAYLA MAY / WORLD OF OUTLAWS – CONCORD, NC – The first night of the Textron Off Road World Finals at The Dirt Track at Charlotte was full of World of Outlaws Craftsman® Late Model Series qualifying which locked in Friday’s and Saturday’s heat race lineups.

With an impressive 75 late models in attendance, the field was spilt into eight groups of hot laps and two groups for qualifying.

Mike Marlar of Winfield, TN set the fastest overall time of the evening with a 14.385-second lap at the 4/10-mile oval. Not only did Marlar establish quick time, he also locked himself into the pole position for Friday’s first heat race.

“Getting to be on the pole tomorrow makes life a lot easier when you get to start out front,” said Marlar. “It doesn’t mean you’re going to stay there but you’re already there, so they have to pass you which is always a good thing.”

Other drivers starting on the pole for Friday’s World of Outlaws Craftsman Late Model Series heat races will be Josh Richards, Brandon Kinzer, Dale McDowell, Dennis Erb Jr., and Tim McCreadie.

The second round of late model qualifying was the final event to hit the track on Thursday evening. Four-time World of Outlaws Craftsman Late Model Series Champion, Josh Richards of Shinnston, WV set quick time during the qualifying session for Saturday’s heat races with a 14.536-second lap.

“We feel good. You know, the car has been really fast and it feels good to be back here at Charlotte. It’s one of my favorite tracks,” said Richards. “These are the last two races we plan on running all year so we just want to go out and try to win and run as best as we can. Charlotte is a high-speed track and I’ve been fortunate to always run pretty well here. I just love how you can drive this place-it’s unique.”

Richards will start on the pole of the first heat on Saturday evening and the final night of racing in the World of Outlaws Craftsman Late Model Series 2017 season. Five other drivers will also start on the pole of their heat races on Saturday including Dennis Erb Jr., Mike Marlar, Brandon Sheppard, Dale McDowell and T.J. Reaid.

The Textron Off Road World Finals continues on Friday with pit gates opening at 12 p.m. and grandstands opening at 3 p.m. The World of Outlaws Craftsman Late Model Series will have six heat races on Friday leading up to a 50-lap $12,000-to-win feature event.

Group A Qualifying (for Friday): 1. 157- Mike Marlar, 14.385; 2. 1r- Josh Richards, 14.521; 3. 18K- Brandon Kinzer, 14.56; 4. 0- Scott Bloomquist, 14.651; 5. 71- Hudson O’Neal, 14.771; 6. CJ1- Rusty Schlenk, 14.789; 7. 25- Shane Clanton, 14.858; 8. 111- Steven Roberts, 14.867; 9. 20- Jimmy Owens, 14.867; 10. R1- Riley Hickman, 14.89; 11. 22*- Brian Shirley, 14.903; 12. 101- Casey Roberts, 14.92; 13. 49- Jonathan Davenport, 14.931; 14. 25F- Jason Feger, 14.951; 15. 41R- T.J. Reaid, 14.971; 16. 92- Nick Davis, 14.978; 17. 0h- Dale Hollidge, 14.981; 18. 116- Brandon Overton, 14.998; 19. C9- Steve Casebolt, 15.001; 20. C4- Freddie Carpenter, 15.161; 21. 91- Tyler Erb, 15.166; 22. 14- Darrell Lanigan, 15.175; 23. 25z- Mason Zeigler, 15.176; 24. 56- Russ King, 15.178; 25. 151- Kyle Lear, 15.181; 26. 28c- Tyler Carpenter, 15.188; 27. 12- Jason Jameson, 15.189; 28. 1*- Chub Frank, 15.224; 29. 1G- Ryan King, 15.226; 30. 11- Jared Hawkins, 15.232; 31. 89- Justin Williams, 15.237; 32. 49R- Brian Ruhlman, 15.363; 33. 4s- Chad Ruhlman, 15.364; 34. 9- Devin Moran, 15.584; 35. ’06- Mike Lupfer, 15.711; 36. 55s- Gary Stuhler, 15.714; 37. 15s- Donny Schatz, 15.932; 38. 6- Blake Spencer, 17.182

Group B Qualifying (for Friday): 1. 17M- Dale McDowell, 14.628; 2. 28- Dennis Erb Jr, 14.636; 3. 39- Tim McCreadie, 14.772; 4. 44- Chris Madden, 14.78; 5. 18c- Chase Junghans, 14.8; 6. 1-Brandon Sheppard, 14.807; 7. 72c-Jason Covert, 14.932; 8. 5- Don O’Neal, 14.963; 9. 40- Ross Bailes, 14.973; 10. 14z- Zach McMillan, 14.993; 11. 2H- Nick Hoffman, 15.088; 12. 55- Benji Hicks, 15.116; 13. 18- Eric Wells, 15.121; 14. 36- Logan Martin, 15.144; 15. 15- Steve Francis, 15.178; 16. 8- Matt Sponaugle, 15.224; 17. 32- Dustin Mitchell, 15.249; 18. 69- Carder Miller, 15.335; 19. 31m- Tyler Millwood, 15.339; 20. 32B- Clay Daly, 15.394; 21. B1- Brent Larson, 15.418; 22. 14c- Corey Conley, 15.438; 23. 7r- Ross Robinson, 15.482; 24. 14H- Tyler Horst, 15.493; 25. 7- Rick Eckert, 15.497; 26. 39c- Greg Clark, 15.55; 27. 31- Bob Gordon, 15.585; 28. 4G- Kody Evans, 15.616; 29. 14m- Morgan Bagley, 15.677; 30. 72- Dan Stone, 15.73; 31. KB- Kerry King, 15.773; 32. 43D- Tom Decker III, 15.885; 33. ’07- Brian Ledbetter, 16.186; 34. 2c- Joey Coulter, 16.203; 35. 82- Andy Fries, 16.647;36. 3v- Kyle Hardy, NT; DNS. 22- Chris Ferguson, NT

Group A Qualifying (for Saturday): 1. 1r- Josh Richards, 14.536; 2. 28- Dennis Erb Jr, 14.683; 3. 157- Mike Marlar, 14.833; 4. 2H- Nick Hoffman, 14.899; 5. 18c- Chase Junghans, 14.905; 6. 18K- Brandon Kinzer, 14.923; 7. CJ1- Rusty Schlenk, 14.972; 8. 39- Tim McCreadie, 15.01; 9. 20- Jimmy Owens, 15.021; 10. 72- Jason Covert, 15.028; 11. 3v- Kyle Hardy, 15.077; 12. 2c- Joey Coulter, 15.096; 13. 22*- Brian Shirley,15.106; 14. C4- Freddie Carpenter,15.107; 15. 15s- Donny Schatz,15.122; 16. 101- Casey Roberts, 15.147; 17. 5- Don O’Neal,15.192; 18. 49- Jonathan Davenport, 15.216; 19. 14- Darrell Lanigan, 15.236; 20. 11- Jared Hawkins,15.24; 21.89- Justin Williams, 15.24; 22. 9- Devin Moran, 15.369; 23. 25F- Jason Feger, 15.395; 24. 32B- Clay Daly, 15.438; 25. 14m- Morgan Bagley, 15.467; 26. 55- Benji Hicks, 15.522; 27. 7r- Ross Robinson, 15.541; 28. 32- Dustin Mitchell, 15.554; 29. 69- Carder Miller, 15.557; 30. 25z- Mason Zeigler, 15.578; 31. 55s- Gary Stuhler, 15.606; 32. 4G- Kody Evans, 15.638; 33. 56- Russ King, 15.642; 34. ’06- Mike Lupfer, 15.698; 35. KB- Kerry King, 15.857; 36. 82-Andy Fries, 15.925; 37. ’07-Brian Ledbetter, 16.07; DNS. 22- Chris Ferguson, NT

Group B Qualifying (for Saturday): 1. 17M- Dale McDowell, 14.67; 2. 1- Brandon Sheppard, 14.923; 3. 41R- T.J. Reaid, 15.093; 4. 0h- Dale Hollidge, 15.104; 5. 0- Scott Bloomquist, 15.136; 6. 91- Tyler Erb, 15.137; 7. 40- Ross Bailes, 15.137; 8. 71- Hudson O’Neal, 15.156; 9. 25- Shane Clanton, 15.163; 10. 44- Chris Madden, 15.206; 11. 1G- Ryan King, 15.248; 12. 31m- Tyler Millwood, 15.301; 13. 92- Nick Davis, 15.306; 14. 111- Steven Roberts, 15.33; 15. 18- Eric Wells, 15.338; 16. 72- Dan Stone, 15.378; 17. 116- Brandon Overton, 15.382; 18. C9- Steve Casebolt, 15.395; 19. 14z- Zach McMillan, 15.406; 20. 15- Steve Francis, 15.411; 21. 36- Logan Martin, 15.455; 22. 49R- Brian Ruhlman, 15.462; 23. 7- Rick Eckert, 15.481; 24. 14c- Corey Conley, 15.505; 25. 8- Matt Sponaugle, 15.509; 26. R1- Riley Hickman, 15.551; 27. 151- Kyle Lear, 15.561; 28. 1*- Chub Frank, 15.564; 29. 4s- Chad Ruhlman, 15.643; 30. 28c- Tyler Carpenter, 15.661; 31. 12- Jason Jameson, 15.665;32. B1- Brent Larson, 15.684; 33. 14H- Tyler Horst, 15.783; 34. 39c- Greg Clark, 15.803; 35. 31- Bob Gordon, 15.972; 36. 6- Blake Spencer, 16.15; 37. 43D- Tom Decker III, 16.523