Mike Marlar, interviewed here by Ben Shelton.
Dirt Late Model team owner Ronnie Delk has shown that he is not afraid to experiment in terms of chassis selections for driver Mike Marlar. During the Winfield, Tenn. pilot’s stint in Delk’s No. 157 machines, the team has employed Longhorn Chassis, Capital Race Cars, Black Diamond Race Cars, and now, a Rocket XR1.
Marlar won the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series sanctioned Knoxville Late Model Nationals in Knoxville, Iowa in 2016 in his team’s Capital Race Car. The crown jewel victory paid the 39-year-old racer $40,000.
Last weekend at the Southern Nationals Bonus Series event at Boyd’s Speedway, Marlar revealed to InsideDirtRacing.com that his team was working to prepare a Rocket Chassis for competition but asked that the information be kept quiet until the car was officially rolled onto the race track. Obviously, the car has officially been made ready to race as it was entered in Friday night’s World of Outlaws Late Models event.
Marlar was fast out of the box in his new ride as he qualified second in Group B time-trials at Whynot Motorsports Park in Meridian, Miss. The No. 157 went on to win the fourth heat race of the night. The WoO Late Models redraw placed Marlar on the inside of the second row on the feature starting grid.
After racing for several laps early on in the 50-lap feature within the top-5, Marlar ultimately settled for a seventh place result in the final rundown behind eventual winner and fellow Rocket XR1 campaigner Brandon Sheppard.
Marlar won the Knoxville Nationals in a Capital Race Car
