Mike Marlar collected over $15,000 at Ponderosa
The Ultimate Super Late Model Series made its way to the Ponderosa Speedway for the $15,021-to-win John Bradshaw Memorial on Friday night. When the dust settled at the Junction City, Kentucky track, it was Mike Marlar who, for the second year in a row, lifted the trophy and the winner’s check.
The Winfield, Tenn. driver won this event last season but this time he had to catch and pass Scott Bloomquist in the closing laps of the event to do it.
Marlar began the night by setting fast time in Group B qualifying and overall with a lap of 12.945 seconds around the 3/8 mile speed plant. Bloomquist was the Group A fast timer while Dustin Linville bested those in Group C.
However, it would be Jared Landers who earned the pole for the feature when he beat out Casey Roberts and Marlar in the first heat race.
Scott Bloomquist took the outside front row starting position for the feature by capturing the second heat ahead of Jason Jameson and Earl Pearson, Jr.
Local favorite Dustin Linville won the right to start third in the main event after scoring the victory in heat three over Justin Ratliff and Riley Hickman.
At the start of the 75-lap feature, Bloomquist went to the early lead followed by Landers, Roberts, Linville and Ratliff. And it did not take the Hall of Fame driver long to separate himself from the pack as the No. 0 car had built a big lead over the pack early in the going.
By the sixth circuit, Bloomquist found himself in heavy traffic but the second running Landers was unable to significantly close ground as he too was forced to find a way around those cars being lapped. Meanwhile, Roberts, Linville and Jameson were in the midst of a fierce battle for the third through fifth spots
At the same time, the seventh starting Marlar was himself engaged in a conflict with Ratliff, Riley Hickman and Earl Pearson, Jr. over positions in the back half of the top-10.
Only three cautions slowed the action over the course of the race. The fist came on lap 16 for the slowing car of Skylar Marlar. On the ensuing restart, Jameson made himself a contender for the win by moving into third at the drop of the green flag. Mike Marlar also began his move forward on this restart as he went to work on Roberts for fifth.
Ultimate Super Late Model Series points leader Casey Roberts brought out the second yellow flag of the night when he slowed with a flat tire. He would return to the action.
Marlar moved into fourth as he passed by Linville shortly after the race wen green. He then moved his No. 157 machine into position to challenge Landers for third.
Jameson looked like definite contender for the win early, but his car began to smoke as the race reached its halfway point. Ultimately, he would be forced to retire from the race as the smoke worsened.
Jameson’s departure elevated the battle between Landers and Marlar to one for the runner-up spot, which Marlar seized on lap 44.
Marlar immediately began to cut into Bloomquist’s advantage as the cars worked through slower traffic. By lap 55, Marlar had caught Bloomquist and the two staged a furious battle by sometimes going three wide as they attempted to lap Roberts in the process.
Marlar was finally able to grab the lead on lap 61 and then go on to pull ahead of Bloomquist and the rest of the pack.
Feature Finish: 1. Mike Marlar, 2. Scott Bloomquist, 3. Dustin Linville, 4. Jared Landers, 5. Justin Ratliff, 6. Josh Rice, 7. Earl Pearson, Jr., 8. Michael Chilton, 9. Victor Lee, 10. Kent Robinson, 11. Casey Roberts, 12. David Webb, 13. Riley Hickman, 14. Dennis Franklin, 15. Daniel Dial, 16. Johnny Wheeler, 17. Timmy Taylor, 18. Dustin Mitchell, 19. Jason Jameson, 20. Brandon Kinzer, 21. Tommy Bailey, 22. Skylar Marlar, 23. Dennis Barton, 24. Donnie Sullivan, 25. Jerry Rutherford
