National notebook
Notes: Adjusting to cars is nothing new for Marlar
Mike Marlar will field a Bryson Motorsports entry this weekend. (DirtonDirt.com)
Some Dirt Late Model drivers stick with one chassis, even one car, for years on end. Then there are drivers like Mike Marlar of Winfield, Tenn., who seem to show up at the racetrack in a different car, different chassis and different graphics scheme so often it's hard to keep track.
Marlar is among Dirt Late Model racing's most successful journeyman drivers, and you can look for him in a different car this weekend as he plans to compete in the No. 5 Bryson Motorsports entry as a teammate to standout Super Late Model rookie Chip Brindle of Chatsworth, Ga. The drivers will tackle the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series tripleheader at Volunteer Speedway in Bulls Gap, Tenn., Lawrenceburg (Ind.) Speedway and Bluegrass Speedway in Bardstown, Ky. Each event pays $10,000 to the winner.
Team owner Norman Bryson had previously talked with Marlar about fielding a Clements-powered Barry Wright Race Car for the Douglasville, Ga.-based team. The weekend will be a trial run before possibly combining for more events.
Jumping into an unfamiliar car is nothing new for Marlar, who has fielded cars for several teams in eight years of Late Model racing. This season alone he's fielded four different chassis brands.
After starting the season with Wells Motorsports, Marlar has been fielding the Knoxville, Tenn.-based Warrior house car since, but engine problems have idled that team. He drove a Billy Ward-owned Rocket Chassis the previous two weekends, notching a fifth-place finish in the Lucas Oil-sanctioned North-South 100 at Florence (Ky.) Speedway.
Marlar acknowledged at Florence it's not easy switching from car to car, but he feels he's got the skills to get acclimated quickly.
"Yeah, it's a little nerve-wracking, because you don't want to go out there and make a dummy of yourself in (a car) you've never drove and just look like you can't drive, or be a nuisance out there because you're not running," Marlar said. "But I'm confident, I feel like I'm a good enough driver, versatile. So I'm happy to be able to do it."
And while some drivers swear by a particular chassis brand, Marlar has been in enough of them to know they can all go fast.
"All these chassis builders have good cars, and anything in the pits is capable of winning," he said. "It's just get in there and drive it right, get it tuned, and just do what the car tells you to do, and that gets you close." — From staff and correspondent reports
BIG TRIPLEHEADER WEEKEND FOR MARS: The MARS DIRTcar Series is ready for one of its most lucrative weekends of the season with three consecutive $5,000-to-win events on Aug. 25-27. Highland (Ill.) Speedway hosts its first-ever MARS event to open the weekend with events following at Paducah (Ky.) International Raceway and I-55 Raceway in Pevely, Mo. Among drivers expected are series points leader Brad Looney, six-time champ Terry Phillips, Shannon Babb, Jack Sullivan, Wendell Wallace and Billy Moyer, who won last August's series events at Paducah and I-55. Highland's Kettle River Furniture-sponsored event is a highlight of its 50th anniversary season while Paducah hosts the 33rd running of its World 50, a race whose winners include Jeff Purvis, Larry Moore, Bill Frye, Terry English and Brian Shirley. I-55's weekend finale is sponsored by Valvoline. — From series and track reports
GOODWIN CHALLENGE COMING UP AT TALLADEGA: Talladega Short Track in Eastaboga, Ala., is gearing up for Aug. 27's Jerry Goodwin Challenge, an event honoring the late driver who died last year after a battle with cancer. In honor of Goodwin's No. 38, Super Late Models will compete in a 38-lap feature with the winning pocketing $2,200. The night's fast qualifier can also take the Jerry Goodwin Challenge, drawing a choice of four, six or eight to set the feature inversion. If the driver chooses the inversion and wins the feature, he'll get an extra $500. In addition, a silent auction will be held and drivers will enter the grandstands to raise money to benefit cancer research. — Dennis Anton
FAST QUALIFIER AT BALTES CLASSIC GETS BONUS: The Sept. 4 Baltes Classic at Ohio's Eldora Speedway is already unique for starting 33 cars three-wide for 33 laps and $3,300-to-win in the Sunoco American Late Model Series event.. Now the Wix Filters-sponsored race that pays tribute to Rossburg track founder Earl Baltes will also provide $250 to the fast qualifier, thanks to St. Henry Commercial Club. The incentive is part of the St. Henry Good Neighbors Night promotion. "It's a positive promotion for both parties," St. Henry spokesman Don Hess said. "We invite the race fans to visit us and see what St. Henry has to offer them in their travels to and from Eldora" while the track offers a $3 discount to adult residents of St. Henry. The track will also donate $2 from each discounted ticket to the St. Henry Park Fund. — Larry Boos
LONGTIME MIDWESTERN PROMOTERS MOVING ON: Long-time promoters at Central Missouri Speedway and Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, Iowa, have announced the end of their tenures at the Midwestern tracks. Terry and Jenni Hoenig, who spent 14 seasons promoter Lee County, announced last week they're stepping for more family time and for Terry to take a new job. "The hardest thing to leave behind and what we will miss the most is the people," Terry Hoenig said. At Central Missouri, Earl and Susan Walls owned and promoted the track for 18 years, but announced recently plans to close the track, in part because of a tax assessment that added a financial burden. "I know I'll miss it. It will be terrible," Earl Walls said. The announcements come during a season when many dirt tracks have shut their gates. "I think it is an economic time where only the strong will survive," Terry Hoenig said. — Dewain Hulett and Sam Stoecklin
LYNCH RECOVERING FROM LEG SURGERY: Jean Lynch, statistician at East Bay Raceway Park's Winternationals and long-time racing ambassador, is recovering at her Apollo, Pa., home after suffering injuries in an Aug. 14 accident on the Indiana Toll Road in Howe, Ind. Lynch, 76, underwent extensive surgery on her lower right leg and faces several months of recovery, said a report on the website of her son Ed Lynch Jr., a sprint car racer. Lynch was driving a van that went down a steep incline and came to rest in a ditch, injuring her and three passengers, including her grandson Ed Lynch III, according to police reports. All four were initially treated at Parkview Hospital in Fort Wayne, Ind. — From track and special reports
SERIES AND SPECIAL EVENT SCHEDULE CHANGES: Citing schedule conflicts with other races and area college football games, Magnolia Motor Speedway has moved its eighth annual Southern Belle Cotton Pickin' 100 to Oct. 27-29, two weeks later than originally scheduled. The unsanctioned event at the Columbus, Miss., oval pays $15,000 to the winner. ... The NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series has added a Nov. 4-5 event at Greenville (Miss.) Speedway. The $3,000-to-win race is part of the fifth annual Gumbo Nationals. ... The Southern Regional Racing Series added an Oct. 15 event at Smoky Mountain Speedway in Maryville, Tenn. SRRS also announced competitors will run topless Oct. 14-15, including the weekend opener at Boyd's Speedway in Ringgold, Ga. ... Farmer City (Ill.) Raceway added a $5,000 UMP-sanctioned event for Sunday, Sept. 4. ... UFO has been added as a co-sanction to the Sept. 4 Three State Flyers event at Hesston (Pa.) Speedway.
ODDS AND ENDS: Pittsburgh's Pennsylvania Motor Speedway's Aug. 27 is a Throwback to the '70s with special races like the helmet dash, crack the whip and Australian pursuit. Prices are a throwback, too, with $7 adult admission. ... The Dirt Racing Connection (thedrc.net) is has added $207.56 to Aug. 26's Late Model feature at Moler Raceway Park in Williamsburg, Ohio, and XD4 will give away a nosepiece. ... Flomaton (Ala.) Speedway has dropped its Crate Late Model division for the rest of the season. ... A-1 Raceway in Lacombe, La., which ran Crate Late Models semi-regularly, closed for the season prematurely when promoters turned the keys back over to track owner Ronnie Marshall. ... The Girls Gone Wild production crew will host pit party at Tyler County Speedway in Middlebourne, W.Va., after Sept. 1's practice for the Black Diamond 125 weekend. ... The Friends of MCR have added bonus money to the Sept. 24 sixth annual ULMS Priority Care Ultimate Race Fans 50 at McKean County Raceway, increasing the winner's purse an extra $1,000 at the East Smethport, Pa., track. The winner will receive a track-record $13,000.
