FARLEY, IA (May 21, 2021) – Mike Marlar remained consistently near the front throughout the event, and with three laps to go, took over the top spot on his way to the win at 300 Raceway. Kyle Bronson led the main event until he suffered a flat right rear tire under a lap 47 caution. Marlar led the rest of the way for his first Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win of 2021 in the Truck Country 50.
With the win, Marlar becomes the 12th different winner in 15 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series events this season. Tyler Erb finished in second. Bronson finished third. Tim McCreadie, who pitted several times during the event to fix front end damage early in the race, recovered to finish in fourth. Ricky Thornton Jr. rounded out the top five.
Bronson controlled the race from the onset and held off brief challenges from Josh Richards and Marlar throughout the race. He looked to be on his way to his first series win of the year, but during a caution flag with 47 laps scored Bronson had to head to the hot pit for a tire change.
“That was a hard-earned win. I don’t know how that worked out, but we got it. I hate what happened to Kyle with that flat tire near the end. Kyle called me coming up the road last night and those guys have been working really hard to get better. He was hauling the mail tonight for sure. It was good to see him run so well like he did. Sometimes you run out of laps. I have had a flat with just a couple of laps to go before,” said the 43-year-old racer in his full season with the series.
“We needed this win tonight,” Marlar added. “We have been struggling this year. One night we run second and the next night we run twenty fifth. To have a good finish was nice tonight. My team and car owner deserve this, they put so much into this. We have a lot of great friends in Iowa and Missouri so its good to run in front of them.”
Erb fought off an exciting battle with Pierce to pick up the runner-up position. “We survived with a lot of patience tonight. I was just trying to keep the nose on it. We have been running really good here the last few weeks. It was exciting for me out there for sure. Bobby ran a really good race. I can’t thank him enough for racing me clean.”
The winner’s Ronnie Delk-owned Capital Race Car is powered by a Cornett Racing Engine and is sponsored by Tri-Rivers Enterprise, Penske Shocks, Rockets Convenience Plus, Delk Equipment, and Can Am Auto Sales.
Completing the top ten were Ricky Thornton Jr., Hudson O’Neal, Josh Richards, Matt Furman, and Jimmy Owens.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
Truck County 50
Friday, May 21st, 2021
300 Raceway – Farley, IA
Allstar Performance Time Trials
Fast Time Group A: Tim McCreadie / 14.398 seconds (overall)
Fast Time Group B: Kyle Bronson / 14.441 seconds
Penske Race Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 39-Tim McCreadie[1]; 2. 71-Hudson O’Neal[3]; 3. 20-Jimmy Owens[2]; 4. 25-Shane Clanton[5]; 5. 32-Bobby Pierce[4]; 6. 00S-Jesse Stovall[6]; 7. 76B-Blair Nothdurft[7]
Summit Racing Equipment Heat Race #2 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 14-Josh Richards[1]; 2. 49-Jonathan Davenport[2]; 3. 1T-Tyler Erb[3]; 4. 41-Jeremiah Hurst[4]; 5. 22M-Charlie McKenna[5]; 6. 98-Jason Rauen[6]; 7. 10P-Paul Parker[7]
Simpson Race Products Heat Race #3 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 40B-Kyle Bronson[1]; 2. 29D-Spencer Diercks[3]; 3. 1C-Chad Simpson[4]; 4. 59-Garrett Alberson[5]; 5. 21-Billy Moyer Jr[2]; 6. 44W-David Webster[7]; 7. 51-Matt Furman[6]
Ohlins Shocks Heat Race #4 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 157-Mike Marlar[2]; 2. 2S-Stormy Scott[1]; 3. 32S-Chris Simpson[4]; 4. 17S-Tim Simpson[6]; 5. 43-Jeremy Grady[5]; 6. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[3]; 7. 40C-Joel Callahan[7]
LINE-X B-Main #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 6 Transfer): 1. 32-Bobby Pierce[1]; 2. 00S-Jesse Stovall[5]; 3. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[8]; 4. 22M-Charlie McKenna[3]; 5. 76B-Blair Nothdurft[9]; 6. 43-Jeremy Grady[4]; 7. 40C-Joel Callahan[12]; 8. 44W-David Webster[6]; 9. 10P-Paul Parker[11]; 10. (DNS) 21-Billy Moyer Jr; 11. (DNS) 98-Jason Rauen; 12. (DNS) 51-Matt Furman
Lucas Oil Feature Finish (50 Laps):
Race Statistics
Entrants: 28
Lap Leaders: Kyle Bronson (Laps 1-47); Mike Marlar (Laps 48-50)
Wrisco Feature Winner: Mike Marlar
Arizona Sport Shirts CJC – Presented by DirtOnDirt Feature Winner: n/a
Brandon Ford TV Challenge Feature Winner: n/a
Margin of Victory: 1.237 seconds
Stop Tech Brakes Cautions: Stormy Scott (Lap 3); Tim McCreadie (Lap 4); Charlie McKenna (Lap 4 Restart); Shane Clanton (Lap 10); Shane Clanton (Lap 17); Josh Richards (Lap 17 Restart); Jimmy Owens (Lap 20); Jimmy Owens (Lap 20 Restart); Ricky Thornton, Jr. (Lap 32); Hudson O’Neal (Lap 47)
Series Provisional: Billy Moyer, Jr.
Fast Time Provisional: Matt Furman
Series Emergency Provisionals: n/a
Track Provisionals: n/a
Big River Steel Podium Top 3: Mike Marlar, Tyler Erb, Kyle Bronson
Penske Shocks Top 5: Mike Marlar, Tyler Erb, Kyle Bronson, Tim McCreadie, Ricky Thornton, Jr.
Optima Batteries Hard Charger of the Race: Tyler Erb (Advanced 9 Positions)
Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Tim McCreadie
Hot Rod Processing Most Laps Led: Kyle Bronson (47 Laps)
Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Tyler Erb
Eibach Springs Rookie of the Race: Ricky Thornton, Jr.
Dirty Girl Racewear Fastest Lap of the Race: Kyle Bronson (Lap 2 – 14.494 seconds)
Fast Shafts Tough Break of the Race: Kyle Bronson
Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race: Josh Davis
ARP Engine Builder of the Race: Cornett Racing Engines
Miller Welders Chassis Builder of the Race: Capital Race Cars
Dirt Draft Fastest in Hot Laps: Ricky Thornton, Jr. (14.268 seconds)
Time of Race: 54 minutes 54 seconds