Mike Marlar held off a late challenge to get the win
The Southern Nationals Bonus Series made its first ever trip to North Georgia Speedway on Saturday night to contest a race that had been put on hold by the weather earlier in the summer. Mike Marlar came away from the Chatsworth, GA facility with the win and hefty check valued at $10,000.
Marlar had not even intended to run this race as he was originally entered in the Topless 100 in Batesville, Ark. However, after experiencing bad luck in the form of mechanical issues during Friday night’s heat races for that event and having reason to believe rain was on its way, the Winfield, Tenn. driver made the decision to leave Batesville Motor Speedway to seek a fresh start in Georgia. That proved to be a winning move for the Ronnie Delk-owned team.
Donald McIntosh began the night by leading Group A qualifying and overall as he turned a lap in 13.373 seconds around the clay oval. He was followed by Brandon Overton, Brad Skinner and Michael Page in that group.
Tyler Millwood was fastest among those who had been slotted into Group B when he toured the speedway in 13.431 seconds. He was followed by Dale McDowell, Mike Marlar and Jason Welshan in that group.
McIntosh earned the pole for the feature by winning the first heat race of the night by beating T.J. Reaid, Skinner and Jake Knowles to the finish line while Overton took the second preliminary ahead of Will Roland, Riley Hickman and Michael Page.
Marlar was the winner of the third heat race as he bested Millwood, John Ownbey and Derek Ellis to secure a front row starting position alongside McIntosh while McDowell won the night’s final heat over Casey Roberts, Welshan and Ray Cook.
Joey Coulter and Ross Bailes earned wins in the B-main races used to set the remainder of the starting grid for the main event.
Marlar used his outside front row starting spot to take the lead at the start of the 60-lap feature with McIntosh, Overton, McDowell and Reaid trailing in his tire tracks. Further back, Roberts and Millwood found themselves locked in a side-by-side fight for sixth as Marlar began to slip away from the pack.
The race ran caution free during its first 16 laps which caused Marlar and the other lead machines to deal with slower traffic. But Marlar was able to maintain the early advantage he had built over McIntosh, Overton and McDowell.
Overton jumped to the second spot on the lap 16 restart as he passed by McIntosh. McDowell also moved around the pole sitter one lap later to lay claim to the third position. Just behind the lead quartet, Roberts and Welshan looked to join the fray for the lead as they took hold of positions 5 and 6 respectively.
Following a lap 24 yellow flag, Roberts looked to move even higher up the leader board as he swept by McIntosh for fourth. However, McIntosh would regain that position and even seek to move further up as he harassed McDowell for third following a lap 26 restart.
Marlar continued to show the way through the middle stages of the race with Overton keeping him in sight as the two worked around slower traffic.
Two late race caution flags set the stage for a battle for the lead over the closing circuits. On a lap 36 restart, McDowell was able to get the better of Overton and claim the runner-up position. As he had done on previous restarts, Marlar moved away from the pack just after that return to green flag racing. But as the laps clicked away, McDowell began to close the gap.
On lap 55, the No. 17M machine made its move as McDowell and Marlar raced behind a slower car. McDowell took the lead, but not for long. A yellow flag waved for debris on the track which negated the pass when the field was re-set according to the last officially scored lap, thus handing the lead back to Marlar.
Marlar the won the dash to the checkered flag over the closing five laps to score the win.
Feature Finish: 1. Mike Marlar, 2. Dale McDowell, 3. Brandon Overton, 4. Michael Page, 5. Donald McIntosh, 6. Casey Roberts, 7. Jason Welshan, 8. Derek Ellis, 9. Ross Bailes, 10. John Ownbey, 11. Joey Coulter, 12. Ray Cook, 13. Will Roland, 14. Brad Skinner, 15. Forrest Trent, 16. T.J. Reaid, 17. Tyler Millwood, 18. David Payne, 19. Riley Hickman, 20. Jake Knowles, 21. Todd Morrow, 22. Jamie Oliver
