Mike Marlar drove his Capital Race Car to the win
After a weekend of cancellations, the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series swung back into action on Friday night at 300 Raceway for the first of two nights in the state of Iowa. At the end of the evening, it was Mike Marlar who recently switched to Capital Race Cars and ultimately won a caution-plagued event then walked away from the Farley, IA facility with the $12,000 first prize in a race shown live by MavTV Plus. The Winfield, TN driver earned $12,000 for the victory.
A total of 28 cars were signed in for competition.
Tim McCreadie was quickest in Group A qualifying with a lap of 14.398 seconds around the 3/8 mile clay oval outperforming Josh Richards, Jimmy Owens, Jonathan Davenport, and Hudson O’Neal.
Kyle Bronson topped Group B time-trials with an effort of 14.441 seconds to best Stormy Scott, Billy Moyer Jr., Mike Marlar, and Spencer Diercks.
Tim McCreadie took the checkered flag in the first heat race of the night ahead of Hudson O’Neal, Jimmy Owens, and Shane Clanton while Josh Richards outran Jonathan Davenport, Tyler Erb, and Jeremiah Hurst in the second preliminary.
Kyle Bronson was the victor in the third heat over Spencer Diercks, Chad Simpson, and Garrett Alberson then Mike Marlar bettered Stormy Scott, Chris Simpson, and Tim Simpson in the fourth and final heat of the evening.
Bobby Pierce won the lone B-main race used to set the remainder of the starting lineup for the main event.
At the start of the 50-lap feature it was Bronson who burst to the lead with McCreadie, Richards, Marlar, and O’Neal trailing. A caution for the slowing car of Stormy Scott slowed the action on lap 3.
On the ensuing restart, Richards took second away from McCreadie. One lap later, LOLMDS points leader McCreadie slowed to a stop to bring out another yellow flag. The No. 39 went to the attention of his crew where he would remain until the racing action resumed.
The caution immediately came back out, however, when Charlie McKenna was involved in a hard crash. The driver was reported to be uninjured in the mishap. That caution that came out before a lap had been completed granted McCreadie a reprieve as he was able to return to action on the lead lap.
On the lap 4 restart, Marlar jumped to second behind leader Bronson while Davenport and Owens engaged in a fierce battle for the fifth position with Davenport holding the position. Later, a caution flag would wave on lap 11 for the slowing car of Clanton with Bronson continuing to lead over Marlar and Richards.
Richards returned to the runner-up spot when green flag action resumed. But another yellow flag would be shown to the field on lap 14 when Garrett Alberson slowed. The ensuing restart allowed Marlar to once again go to second while Owens moved in to fight with Richards for third.
Lap 17 again proved disastrous for Clanton as he slowed to bring out another caution. Bronson continued to show the way with Marlar, Richards, Owens, and O’Neal trailing. Third running Richards experienced trouble on the restart when his right front nose piece suffered damage on the track that had been saturated with heavy rain throughout the week.
Bronson led Marlar and O’Neal following the lap 17 restart as Owens, Erb, and Pierce fought for position 4 through 6. However, Owens would experience trouble on lap 20 when the nose folded under just as had happened to Richards three laps earlier.
The field was able to get several green flag laps in as the number of cars remaining active dwindled to eight by lap 32 when a caution flag would wave for Thornton.
Marlar and O’Neal exchange second on lap 34 still behind the front running machine of Bronson.
As the laps clicked away, Bronson would pull away briefly only to have Marlar close back in as each driver worked to navigate though the ruts and holes.
Meanwhile, Erb and Pierce entertained the crowd with a tussle for the fourth spot over the closing laps as both of those cars closed in on O’Neal. Soon afterward, O’Neal slowed to bring out another yellow flag on lap 47. During that caution period, the lead car for Bronson was forced to pull pit side with a flat right rear tire.
Marlar inherited the lead with Bronson’s misfortune and was able to hold off the challengers then sailed under the checkered flag for the win.
Feature Finish: 1. Mike Marlar, 2. Tyler Erb, 3. Bobby Pierce, 4. Chad Simpson, 5. Kyle Bronson, 6. Tim McCreadie, 7. Ricky Thornton Jr., 8. Hudson O’Neal, 9. Josh Richards, 10. Matt Furman, 11. Jimmy Owens, 12. Spencer Diercks, 13. Jonathan Davenport, 14. Blair Nothdurft, 15. Shane Clanton, 16. Garrett Alberson, 17. Jeremiah Hurst, 18. Billy Moyer Jr., 19. Chris Simpson, 20. Tim Simpson, 21. Charlie McKenna, 22. Jeremy Grady, 23. Stormy Scott, 24. Jesse Stovall
