Mike Marlar is Perfect on Night #2 of the Lucas Oil Knoxville Late Model Nationals!
Mike Marlar wins on Night #2 of the Lucas Oil Knoxville Late Model Nationals presented by Casey's General Stores (Knoxville Raceway Photo)
Friday, September 15, 2017
Mike Marlar is Perfect on Night #2 of the Lucas Oil Knoxville Late Model Nationals!
by Bill Wright
KNOXVILLE, Iowa (September 15, 2017) – Winfield, Tennessee’s Mike Marlar became the second driver in as many years to attain a perfect “500” score Friday night on Night #2 of the Lucas Oil Knoxville Late Model Nationals presented by Casey’s General Stores. Marlar set quick time in his group, won his heat and took a late lead to win the feature after starting in row four. His sweep means that he will start on the pole for Saturday night’s $40,000 to win 100-lap championship event. Thursday’s winner, Josh Richards, also claimed a perfect 500 score in 2016.
Before a lap could be completed in the 25-lap feature, a chain reaction back in the pack meant the end of Don O’Neal’s evening. Earl Pearson Jr. and Tyler Bruening both went to the work area and restarted at the tail.
Tim McCreadie took the lead on lap one, but it was Brandon Sheppard who set sail, taking the point on lap two ahead of McCreadie, Jared Landers, Darrell Lanigan and Marlar. The top five stayed the same until a three-wide battle for third cleared with Marlar taking that position ahead of Lanigan and Landers.
Chris Simpson was also on the move early, passing Landers for fourth on the thirteenth lap. The leaders entered lapped traffic on lap 14, but that was brief. When Justin Feger slowed, Boom Briggs had nowhere to go, making contact and spinning in front of the leaders on the backstretch. Everyone was able to evade him.
Sheppard led the field back to green ahead of McCreadie, Marlan, Simpson and Landers at that point. Josh Richards entered the top five on lap 16. McCreadie stayed true to the bottom groove and took the lead from Sheppard after a brief battle on lap 18. At that point, Landers stopped with a flat tire.
With seven laps to go, McCreadie now led Sheppard, Marlar, Simpson and Richards. Marlar quickly moved into second and Richards followed into third. Marlar gained momentum on the high side and rode around McCreadie on lap 20. He sailed to victory ahead of McCreadie, Richards, Sheppard and Simpson. Jimmy Mars, Chase Junghans, Bobby Pierce, Lanigan and Gregg Satterlee rounded out the top ten.
Heats were worth the price of admission alone. Three of the six winners came from row four including Marlar, Richards and Lanigan. Hudson O’Neal, Sheppard and Junghans won the other heats. Dennis Erb Jr. won the C main, and Don O’Neal took the B.
The top 24 in points locked into Saturday night’s 100-lap championship event. Marlar will be joined in the front row by Jonathan Davenport. Richards, Sheppard, Don O’Neal and McCreadie will make up rows two and three.
“It was an awesome race there,” said Marlar. “When the caution came out when I went into third, it was an awesome race! Fortunately, I came out on top. If I hadn’t of, it was just an awesome race and a good show. We just had a good car tonight. My team is so awesome. We had a rough night last night, and those guys came through and helped us get things patched together.”
“You’re a sitting duck on restarts when you’re running around that bottom,” said McCreadie. “You have to slow down so much on that bottom to keep your right front in the traction. I just thought it was going to be Brandon, and then it was Marlar. Those guys know what they’re doing. We’ll work on our car for tomorrow and hopefully, get a little better.”
“The track was a lot slicker tonight,” said Richards. “We kind of let the car run to see what we had. We tried some stuff early in the night and it worked. Now I feel a bit on the free side. Mike and his guys did a good job. We’re going to have to be a tick better to keep up with him and some of the other cars. We had a good run, but I think we’ll be o.k. tomorrow.”
The 14th Annual Lucas Oil Knoxville Late Model Nationals presented by Casey’s General Stores concludes Saturday night, September 16! For more information, visit www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com!
Knoxville Late Model Nationals Night #2 Results (Point Totals Below)
Time Trials Group A (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 157, Mike Marlar, Winfield, TN (13), 17.511; 2. 20, Jimmy Owens, Newport, TN (16), 17.561; 3. 25, Chad Simpson, Mount Vernon, IA (12), 17.780; 4. 1777, Jared Landers, Batesville, AR (22), 17.883; 5. 17M, Dale McDowell, Chickamauga, GA (9), 17.896; 6. 1S, Brandon Sheppard, New Berlin, IL (15), 17.973; 7. 20S, Rodney Sanders, Happy, TX (6), 17.985; 8. 22, Greg Satterlee, Indiana, PA (18), 17.997; 9. 28M, Jimmy Mars, Menomonie, WI (23), 18.019; 10. 28, Dennis Erb Jr., Carpentersville, IL (25), 18.037; 11. 25F, Jason Feger, Bloomington, IL (5), 18.045; 12. 0J, Jake O'Neil, Tucson, AZ (11), 18.104; 13. 29, Spencer Diercks, Davenport, IA (2), 18.128; 14. 71, Hudson O'Neal, Morgantown, IN (4), 18.166; 15. 18B, Shannon Babb, Moweaqua, IL (19), 18.236; 16. 51M, Joey Moriarty, Phoenix, AZ (24), 18.260; 17. 40B, Kyle Bronson, Brandon, FL (21), 18.264; 18. 16, Tyler Bruening, Decorah, IA (17), 18.340; 19. 77, Jordan Yaggy, Rochester, MN (1), 18.356; 20. 51, Matt Furman, Portland, OR (10), 18.407; 21. 5T, Randy Timms, Wheatland, OK (26), 18.488; 22. 58, Dave Eckrich, Oxford, IA (20), 18.523; 23. 93, Jay Johnson, West Burlington, IA (7), 18.665; 24. 45, Bob King, Independence, MO (8), 19.569; 25. 75, Colton Flinner, Allison Park, PA (3), NT; 26. 22B, Jonathan Brauns, Muscatine, IA (14), NT.
Time Trials Group B (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 49, Jonathan Davenport, Mount Airy, NC (4), 17.612; 2. 1R, Josh Richards, Shinnston, WV (7), 17.771; 3. 5, Don O'Neal, Martinsville, IN (9), 17.800; 4. 0, Scott Bloomquist, Mooresburg, TN (8), 17.862; 5. 32S, Chris Simpson, Marion, IA (12), 17.951; 6. 14, Darrell Lanigan, Union, KY (11), 17.954; 7. 39, Tim McCreadie, Watertown, NY (19), 18.036; 8. 91, Tyler Erb, Houston, TX (5), 18.047; 9. 1, Earl Pearson Jr., Trinity, NC (6), 18.144; 10. C8, Timothy Culp, Prattsville, AR (24), 18.151; 11. 21, Billy Moyer, Batesville, AR (22), 18.266; 12. 7R, Kent Robinson, Bloomington, IN (13), 18.324; 13. 15, Steve Francis, Ashland, KY (14), 18.339; 14. B1, Brent Larson, Lake Elmo, MN (17), 18.348; 15. 48, Tim Lance, Brimfield, IL (1), 18.363; 16. 18, Chase Junghans, Manhattan, KS (21), 18.374; 17. 3S, Brian Shirley, Chatham, IL (25), 18.456; 18. 21JR, Billy Moyer Jr., Batesville, AR (15), 18.551; 19. 24, Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown, IA (10), 18.603; 20. 99B, Boom Briggs, Bear Lake, PA (3), 18.616; 21. 00, Jesse Stovall, Billings, MO (20), 18.637; 22. 32, Bobby Pierce, Oakwood, IL (23), 18.667; 23. 15D, Justin Duty, Happy Valley, OR (18), 19.04; 24. 58H, Jeremiah Hurst, Dubuque, IA (2), 19.051; 25. 54, Mike Fryer, Freeport, IL (16), 19.088.
Group A Heat one (started), 12 Laps, NT: 1. Mike Marlar (8); 2. Rodney Sanders (6); 3. Jared Landers (7) / 4. Dave Eckrich (1); 5. Jordan Yaggy (2); 6. Joey Moriarty (3) / 7. Spencer Diercks (4); 8. Dennis Erb Jr. (5); 9. Jonathan Brauns (9);
Group A Heat two (started), 12 Laps, 3:48.3: 1. Hudson O'Neal (4); 2. Jason Feger (5); 3. Greg Satterlee (6) / 4. Jimmy Owens (8); 5. Dale McDowell (7); 6. Kyle Bronson (3) / 7. Matt Furman (2); 8. Jay Johnson (1) DNS - 9. Colton Flinner (9);
Group A Heat three (started), 12 Laps, 3:47.5: 1. Brandon Sheppard (5); 2. Jimmy Mars (6); 3. Tyler Bruening (1) / 4. Shannon Babb (4); 5. Chad Simpson (7); 6. Jake O'Neil (3) / 7. Randy Timms (2); 8. Bob King (8);
Group B Heat one (started), 12 Laps, 3:48.9: 1. Chase Junghans (3); 2. Tim McCreadie (6); 3. Bobby Pierce (1) / 4. Steve Francis (4); 5. Jonathan Davenport (8); 6. Ryan Gustin (2) / 7. Timothy Culp (5); 8. Scott Bloomquist (7); 9. Mike Fryer (9);
Group B Heat two (started), 12 Laps, 3:52.3: 1. Josh Richards (8); 2. Chris Simpson (7); 3. Boom Briggs (2) / 4. Billy Moyer (5); 5. Brent Larson (4); 6. Tyler Erb (6) / 7. Brian Shirley (3); 8. Justin Duty (1);
Group B Heat three (started), 12 Laps, 3:56.9: 1. Darrell Lanigan (7); 2. Kent Robinson (5); 3. Jesse Stovall (2); 4. Don O'Neal (8); 5. Earl Pearson Jr. (6); 6. Billy Moyer Jr. (3); 7. Jeremiah Hurst (1); 8. Tim Lance (4);
C main (started), 12 Laps, 3:52.6: 1. Dennis Erb Jr. (1); 2. Scott Bloomquist (2); 3. Spencer Diercks (3); 4. Timothy Culp (4) / 5. Matt Furman (5); 6. Randy Timms (7); 7. Jeremiah Hurst (8); 8. Mike Fryer (9); 9. Justin Duty (6) DNS - 10. Tim Lance 11. Brian Shirley; 12. Jay Johnson; 13. Bob King; 14. Jonathan Brauns; 15. Colton Flinner
B main (started), 15 Laps, NT: 1. Don O'Neal (4); 2. Jimmy Owens (1); 3. Earl Pearson Jr. (8); 4. Dale McDowell (5); 5. Chad Simpson (3); 6. Tyler Erb (6) / 7. Kyle Bronson (13); 8. Dennis Erb Jr. (19); 9. Shannon Babb (9); 10. Steve Francis (12); 11. Brent Larson (14); 12. Ryan Gustin (18); 13. Billy Moyer Jr. (16); 14. Jordan Yaggy (15); 15. Joey Moriarty (11); 16. Dave Eckrich (17); 17. Scott Bloomquist (20); 18. Billy Moyer (10); 19. Spencer Diercks (21); 20. Timothy Culp (22); 21. Jake O'Neil (7); 22. Jonathan Davenport (2);
A main (started), 25 Laps, NT: 1. Mike Marlar (5); 2. Tim McCreadie (2); 3. Josh Richards (8); 4. Brandon Sheppard (1); 5. Chris Simpson (6); 6. Jimmy Mars (9); 7. Chase Junghans (12); 8. Bobby Pierce (18); 9. Darrell Lanigan (4); 10. Greg Satterlee (7); 11. Dale McDowell (22); 12. Chad Simpson (23); 13. Earl Pearson Jr. (19); 14. Jimmy Owens (20); 15. Hudson O'Neal (13); 16. Rodney Sanders (21); 17. Jared Landers (3); 18. Kent Robinson (10); 19. Tyler Erb (24); 20. Boom Briggs (14); 21. Jesse Stovall (16); 22. Tyler Bruening (15); 23. Jason Feger (11); 24. Don O'Neal (17). Lap Leaders: McCreadie 1, Sheppard 2-17, McCreadie 18-19, Marlar 20-25. Hard-charger: McDowell.
Drivers Locked into Saturday’s Championship Event
1 157 Mike Marlar 500
2 49 Jonathan Davenport 496
3 1R Josh Richards 494
4 1S Brandon Sheppard 484
5 5 Don O'Neal 484
6 39 Tim McCreadie 483
7 1777 Jared Landers 482
8 32S Chris Simpson 481
9 14 Darrell Lanigan 474
10 28M Jimmy Mars 471
11 20 Jimmy Owens 463
12 0 Scott Bloomquist 463
13 25 Chad Simpson 462
14 22 Greg Satterlee 462
15 3S Brian Shirley 462
16 17M Dale McDowell 460
17 18B Shannon Babb 460
18 18 Chase Junghans 458
19 32 Bobby Pierce 455
20 20S Rodney Sanders 455
21 1 Earl Pearson Jr. 448
22 71 Hudson O'Neal 447
23 C8 Timothy Culp 447
24 7R Kent Robinson 441
Remaining Drivers and Point Totals
25 00 Jesse Stovall 440
26 15 Steve Francis 436
27 40B Kyle Bronson 436
28 91 Tyler Erb 435
29 25F Jason Feger 433
30 29 Spencer Diercks 424
31 16 Tyler Bruening 418
32 99B Boom Briggs 418
33 51 Matt Furman 413
34 58H Jeremiah Hurst 401
35 28 Dennis Erb Jr. 397
36 B1 Brent Larson 392
37 24 Ryan Gustin 390
38 21 Billy Moyer 387
39 21JR Billy Moyer Jr. 385
40 51M Joey Moriarty 377
41 77 Jordan Yaggy 376
42 0J Jake O'Neil 373
43 58 Dave Eckrich 369
44 21X John Anderson 363
45 93 Jay Johnson 360
46 22B Jonathan Brauns 338
47 48 Tim Lance 333
48 5T Randy Timms 332
49 40 Joel Callahan 320
50 15D Justin Duty 319
51 54 Mike Fryer 314
52 98 Jason Rauen 314
53 75 Colton Flinner 310
54 45 Bob King 309
55 56S Chris Spieker 306
56 83 Scott James 290
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