Mike Marlar inherited the lead just after halfway and held on for the win.
The Ray Cook promoted Spring Nationals paid a visit to the Volunteer Speedway in Bulls Gap, Tenn. on Friday for the first of a two night weekend event at the historic Joe and Phyllis Loven owned facility. Mike Marlar came away with the race win to collect the $4,000 first prize after previous leader Chris Madden suffered misfortune.
Marlar began the night by setting fast time in Group A qualifying after posting a lap of 13.415 seconds around the 4/10 mile clay oval. Multiple time Volunteer Speedway track champion Vic Hill joined Marlar in being locked into the starting lineup for the feature race out of that group.
Madden recorded the best time in Group B and overall when he toured the track in 13.318 seconds. He was joined by Chad Ogle in securing a spot on the feature starting grid from that group.
David Payne earned his way into the main event by taking the win in heat one ahead of Eric Wells, Josh Putnam and Adam Bowman while Jason Covert beat out Mark Vineyard, Devin Gilpin and Zack Ogler in heat two.
Dale McDowell bested Gregg Satterlee, Cody Mahoney and Mark Douglas for the win in the third heat while Donald McIntosh was the victor in the fourth heat over Rick Eckert, Shanon Buckingham and Jake O’Neil.
Madden immediately set out to establish his dominance over the field when he bolted to the lead of the 40-lap feature from his outside front row starting position at the drop of the green flag. Marlar, Ogle, Hill, McDowell and Payne attempted to keep pace with the early leader during the initial laps but the No. 44 car was able to build a lead of several car lengths as the laps clicked off.
The racing, however, was fierce behind the front runner as McDowell, Ogle and Hill went three-wide for the third spot on the second circuit. McIntosh also began to make his presence known when he moved passed Hill to gain the 4th spot just after the previously mentioned three-wide battle.
The first of four caution flags waved on lap 12, provided Madden and the other front runners with a reprieve from slower traffic. After that yellow period, the fast and furious action for positions within the top-5 resumed as Ogle, McDowell and McIntosh went three-wide as they skirmished behind the lead duo of Madden and Marlar.
The pivotal moment of the race occurred on lap 24 when Madden found himself entangled with a car that had slowed and looked to be heading toward the infield work area. The driver who had looked so dominate ended up facing the wrong direction on the track as the contact resulted in a spin.
On the ensuing lap 24 restart, Eckert made a strong move to the inside in turn one and managed to grab positions as he made his way up to the third spot.
It was Marlar, however, who controlled the pace of the action following Madden’s demise. McDowell did close in on the ‘Winfield Warrior’ late in the going but Marlar was able to hold on for the win.
Feature Finish: 1. Mike Marlar, 2. Dale McDowell, 3. Rick Eckert, 4. Donald McIntosh, 5. Gregg Satterlee, 6. Jason Covert, 7. Eric Wells, 8. Shanon Buckingham, 9. David Payne, 10. Stacy Boles, 11. Josh Putnam, 12. Devin Gilpin, 13. Chris Madden, 14. Vic Hill, 15. Adam Bowman, 16. Robby Moses, 17. Mark Vineyard, 18. Cody Mahoney, 19. Chad Ogle, 20. Jake O’Neil, 21. Zack Ogler, 22. Mack McCarter
Marlar joined by wife Stacy and crew in Bulls Gap
