Mike Marlar earned his first win of 2023
Mike Marlar had not had the Wild West Shootout he would have liked after the first four shows but he corrected that in a thriller on Saturday night that saw him pass Jonathan Davenport for the lead just after the halfway mark then hold off a hard charging Kyle Larson over the closing laps. The driver of the No. 157 was the champion of this mini-series in 2022 and now looks as if has he regained that form.
The Longhorn Chassis driver from Winfield, Tennessee earned $10,000 for his efforts on the Vado, New Mexico in a race shown live by FloRacing.com.
A total of 48 cars were signed in for competition
Qualifying Results:
Group A Results- 1. Garrett Alberson(14.147), 2. Mike Marlar, 3. Brandon Sheppard, 4. Ian Whisler, 5. Stormy Scott
Group B Results- 1. Jonathan Davenport(14.292), 2. Bobby Pierce, 3. Tad Pospisil, 4. Billy Moyer Sr. 5. Johnny Scott
Heat 1 Results: 1. Garrett Alberson, 2. Brandon Sheppard, 3. Stormy Scott, 4. Dillon McCowan
Heat 2 Results: 1. Mike Marlar, 2. Ricky Weiss, 3. Kyle Larson, 4. Morgan Bagley
Heat 3 Results: 1. Jonathan Davenport, 2. Johnny Scott, 3. Dustin Sorensen, 4. Tad Pospisil
Heat 4 Results: 1. Bobby Pierce, 2. Billy Moyer Sr., 3. Cade Dillard, 4. Rodney Sanders
B-main 1 Finish: 1. Tyler Erb, 2. Ian Whisler, 3. Jake Timm, 4. Josh Cain
B-main 2 Finish: 1. Terry Phillips, 2. Kyle Beard, 3. Collen Winebarger, 4. Bill Leighton
Preston Luckman won the Pro Power Dash to earn the final starting position in the main event.
Feature Re-cap: When the 40-lap feature took the green flag it was Davenport who shot to the lead with Marlar, Pierce, Johnny Scott and Alberson running in his wake. Sheppard passed Alberson for fifth on the second lap. At the same time, Davenport and Marlar began to slip away from the field.
As the leaders began to encounter slower traffic, Davenport built an advantage as Marlar fell back into the clutches of Pierce as those two contested the runner-up position. A slower car crowded Pierce into the outside wall which gave Marlar some breathing room.
Just past the halfway mark, Marlar began to close on Davenport cutting the front runner’s margin to a half-second. At the same time, Pierce came back into the mix. Marlar took the lead when Davenport bobbled on lap 27. Pierce also moved around the early leader briefly but Davenport would come back to retake the spot.
A caution for a flat tire on Moyer’s car slowed the pace on lap 28. At the time, the top-5 were Marlar, Davenport, Pierce, Alberson and Larson.
Pierce and Larson got by Davenport on the restart then Larson went after Pierce for second. In the meantime, Marlar built a lead of just over one second. Pierce brushed the wall on lap 34 causing him to lose multiple spots.
Marlar continued to lead with Larson trying desperately to track him down. Larson made a couple of attempts on the final lap, but in the end, it was the driver of the No. 157 who would hold off the challenge to claim the win.
Feature Results: 1. Mike Marlar, 2. Kyle Larson, 3. Ricky Weiss, 4. Jonathan Davenport, 5. Garrett Alberson, 6. Bobby Pierce, 7. Morgan Bagley, 8. Stormy Scott, 9. Johnny Scott, 10. Tad Pospisil, 11. Cade Dillard, 12. Kyle Beard, 13. Billy Moyer Sr., 14. Dillon McCowan, 15. Collen Winebarger, 16. Terry Phillips, 17. Dustin Sorensen, 18. Jake Timm, 19. Preston Luckman, 20. Ian Whisler, 21. Josh Cain, 22. Tyler Erb, 23. Brandon Sheppard, 24. Rodney Sanders, 25. Bill Leighton
Please consider also reading:
Ricky Weiss, Garrett Alberson making strong showings at Vado
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