Contact: Shawn Miller
Inside Line Promotions
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Marks Records Career-Best Fourth Feature Victory of the Season
Inside Line Promotions - SELINSGROVE, Pa. (May 27, 2013) - For the past three years Brent Marks earned three victories per season.
In his fifth year of racing 410ci sprint cars, Marks has finally broke through the three barrier as he garnered his fourth feature victory of the season on Sunday during the Ray Tilley Classic at Selinsgrove Speedway.
"I finally passed that three-win mark," he said. "That was something on the back of my mind for a long time. Hopefully that carries on to more wins this season. We've got a lot of racing to do."
With a little luck on his side and a race car that improved each lap throughout the night, Marks picked up his first career win at the half-mile track. He qualified 11th quickest and finished second in his heat race to advance to the redraw, which took the top-two finishers in each heat race and the top-two qualifiers who advanced through their heat race. As one of the final drivers to draw the random pill, Marks plucked the No. 2 to start outside the front row for the 30-lap feature.
"I got pretty lucky," he said. "Luckily all the high numbers were pretty much drawn and it worked out in my favor this time."
Polesitter Blane Heimbach jumped out to the early lead with Marks a close second for the first half of the main event. As the drivers reached traffic around the midpoint, Marks capitalized on the fast high groove to propel himself into the lead exiting turn two on Lap 18.
"My car was just getting better as the fuel load wore off," he said. "I was starting to close on him right before we got to lapped traffic. We got a really good run and got by him. After we got by him we got through lapped traffic really well. Our car was very racy and the track was very racy. That was the best race track I've seen there in a long time."
Despite a close call when a car spun in front of Marks in turn two, kicking up a huge dust cloud, Marks pulled away to win by more than three seconds.
The week didn't begin as successful as Marks' throttle broke during the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series feature on Tuesday at New Egypt Speedway in New Egypt, N.J. He finished 21st, which was only the second time all season he was unable to earn a top 20.
After Friday's event at Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pa., was rained out, Marks ventured to Lincoln Speedway in Abbottstown, Pa., for the Hilly Rife Memorial.
He qualified fifth quickest and based on the inversion, Marks started his heat race outside the second row. He quickly reached third place and was close behind Danny Dietrich and Gerard McIntyre as the trio battled for the heat win. However, Marks couldn't get by and he finished third - one spot out of advancing to the redraw. It also snapped his string of nine consecutive heat race victories at Lincoln Speedway.
"We were pretty fast in the heat race," Marks said. "I was right behind Dietrich and McIntyre the whole race. I thought there was a couple times to get by second and get into the lead, but luck wasn't on my side in the heat race. I don't think anybody is going to beat nine wins in a row for heat races in a long time. That was pretty cool."
Marks started the feature on the outside of the fifth row and he maneuvered to a fifth-place finish.
"We had a pretty good car on Saturday," he said. "The track was really racy. Tenth to fifth is a really good run for that caliber of cars there. I can't complain about a top five."
Marks will return to Williams Grove Speedway on Friday and Lincoln Speedway on Saturday.
QUICK RESULTS -
May 21 - New Egypt Speedway in New Egypt, N.J. - Qualifying: 21; Heat race: 7 (6); B Main: 4 (4); Feature: 21 (23).
May 25 - Lincoln Speedway in Abbottstown, Pa. - Qualifying: 5; Heat race: 3 (4); Feature: 5 (10).
May 26 - Selinsgrove Speedway in Selinsgrove, Pa. - Qualifying: 11; Heat race: 2 (2); Feature: 1 (2).
SEASON STATS -
24 races, 4 wins, 9 top fives, 19 top 10s, 21 top 15s, 22 top 20s
UP NEXT -
Friday at Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pa., and Saturday at Lincoln Speedway in Abbottstown, Pa.
MEDIA LINKS -
Website: www.BrentMarksRacing.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Brent_Marks
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brentmarksracing?fref=ts
VIDEO -
Check out Dirt Station highlights of Marks' victory at Lincoln Speedway on May 11: http://youtu.be/WWQnrUF5ArI
Here is a link to a highlights package by PaPosseRacing.com of Marks' win at Lincoln Speedway on May 11: http://youtu.be/9lltxaHih4k
Here is a link to a highlights package by PaPosseRacing.com of Marks' win at Lincoln Speedway on March 30: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHZvZdKZCk4
Here is a link to a highlights package by PaPosseRacing.com of Marks' win at Lincoln Speedway on March 9: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zlz27Ec4jA
APPAREL -
Marks has a variety of apparel, including t-shirts, sweatshirts, long-sleeve shirts, hats and stickers. The apparel is located in front of the truck at Williams Grove Speedway and at T-shirt Alley at Lincoln Speedway each weekend.
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT - Fredericksburg Eagle Hotel
Located in a historic Fredericksburg, Pa., property dating back to the early 1800s, Fredericksburg Eagle Hotel is a restaurant/bar known for a great atmosphere and top-notch wings. For more information, visit FredericksburgEagleHotel.com.
"After working on the cars a lot of times we will head down to Fredericksburg Eagle Hotel for some wings," Marks said. "They have the best wings around and it's a great place to hang out."
Marks would also like to thank BAPS Auto Paint and Supply, Creekside Auto Sales, Russell Heller Builder, TJ's Body Shop, KC Automotive, Wolf Run Landscaping, Glenna Straley Hair Design, Sprint Aces, Robison Racing Products, KSE Racing Products, Penske Racing Shocks, Triple X Race Co., MEMTEC Services and special thanks to Tim Spangler and Jake's Carts for their continued support.
INSIDE LINE PROMOTIONS -
Inside Line Promotions specializes in affordable public relations, media management and merchandising services for sprint car teams. ILP Founder Shawn Miller leverages professional journalism with new media technologies and social networking to improve your exposure and your sponsors' return on investment.
To meet the media relations needs of your team, contact Shawn at 541-510-3663 or sprintcarreporter@yahoo.com. For more information on Inside Line Promotions, visit www.insidelinepromotions.com.
- Brent Marks on May 31, 2013
- Article Date: 5/27/2013