Mike Marlar is no stranger to victory lane
Mike Marlar is accustomed to having success on dirt tracks. The Winfield, Tenn. driver has scored major wins all over the country in touring series races and crown jewels alike. And in 2017, the defending champion of the Knoxville Nationals is looking to add even more trophies to his collection in a new Black Diamond Chassis that he and his Ronnie Delk-owned team debuted with a runner-up finish in ‘The Hangover’ on Saturday afternoon at 411 Motor Speedway.
Marlar wanted to race the car in the New Year’s Eve event to put it through its competitive paces before he and his team venture to Arizona for the upcoming Wild West Shootout at the Arizona Speedway near Phoenix. And the new ride proved its worth as it finished just behind veteran Brasstown, NC driver Ray Cook in a hotly contested 40-lap affair on the Seymour, Tenn. clay oval.
“It felt good,” Marlar said of the Black Diamond. “We maybe missed it just a little bit on the adjustments there before the race, but heck, it still was good. It was real competitive. We had a good car there but Ray just didn’t make any slips. He made all the right moves and I never could get around him.”
After campaigning a Capital Race Car for much of last season and claiming the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series sanctioned Knoxville Nationals, the decision was made to give the Ronnie Stuckey-produced chassis a try.
“It’s just something my car owner wanted to do,” Marlar explained of the switch in an interview with InsideDirtRacing.com. “He actually was going to buy one before we got our last car, the Capital. Before he bought that one he was wanting to buy one of these and give it a try but they couldn’t get him one done in time. Marshall(Green) and the guys at Capital build a really good car and we’ve had a lot of success in it.
Marlar won the Knoxville Nationals in a Capital Race Car
“This is just something Ronnie wanted to do and he writes the checks for all this stuff so he gets to do what he wants,” Marlar added with a smile.
Despite the success of having won a Dirt Late Model crown jewel race in Knoxville last year, Marlar shut his racing campaign down before the season had been completed to help with the cleanup from Hurricane Matthew in the fall of 2016. That task ended just in time for the driver to return to work on the new machine with his race team in December.
“I’ve been in South Carolina doing the hurricane cleanup this fall so I wasn’t up there actually working on anything with the guys,” the 38-year-old racer pointed out. “My car owner, Ronnie, he got this and when we got back about three weeks ago we went down and picked it up and we’ve had it since then. We’ve been kind of looking it over and getting it ready to race. But yeah, I think they’ve done a good job on it and it seems to be good. We’re going to Arizona to race next week and I’m looking forward to going out there but we wanted to come here. I love getting to race around home and it was a good time to come and get it broke in for next week.”
So why journey so far away to race in the desert of the American southwest?
“It’s just something I want to do, and of course, we quit racing early last year so I missed a lot last fall,” Marlar explained. “I figure we’re in good shape to get started early this year because everything has set around all winter. We didn’t race it and nothing was torn up so it was a real easy deal to get this car ready and to take our other car with us. Hopefully we’re going to have some fun and get to sight see a little bit. It’s going to be a fun trip and a serious trip too.”
Marlar has won races on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series tour and the World of Outlaws Late Models Series. So winning big races is nothing new to the former winner of the Clash at the Mag and two-time champion of the Hillbilly 100. However, the victory in last year’s Knoxville Nationals further offered proof that this talented wheel man can compete on any level of this sport.
“It feels good,” Marlar declared. “It was a personal accomplishment and a nice accomplishment for our team. It makes you feel good and it gives you some confidence. We’re pretty confident in what our abilities are anyway as a team but to win something like that is pretty special. And to get to do it for your town and for your friends, it’s a big accomplishment for everybody involved in this.”
Marlar debuted this Black Diamond car at 411 in The Hangover
After Marlar and his team return home from Arizona, look for them to compete in much the same way they have in recent seasons.
“We’re just going to do what we normally do. We don’t really run a series and we do whatever is smart and the most logical thing to do that week is. That’s kind of what we do and we’re fortunate enough that in the area we live in there’s so many good races so we get to go do a lot of those big races and not really be that far from home. We’re lucky to live in this area.”
