BULLS GAP, Tenn. — Winning at Volunteer Speedway means going through some of the toughest competition the southeast has to offer. In Friday night’s Rocky Top Rumble, no one had anything for Tennessee’s own Mike Marlar.
The “Winfield Warrior” has conquered “The Gap” in the past in multiple special events and regional shows, but he had never beaten the World of Outlaws Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision at one of his home tracks.
Marlar’s fifth series start at Volunteer turned out to be his best, as he stayed out front throughout the 40-lap contest to bag the $12,000 winner’s payday.
The 2018 World of Outlaws champion may have scaled his schedule back a bit in comparison to years past, but Friday was proof that he’s still as formidable of a competitor as ever when he does unload.
“We just haven’t been racing much, trying to show up here and there, no testing, none of that,” Marlar said. “Went down [to Golden Isles Speedway] last week, had a bad experience down there. Hit the wall in Qualifying at the Lucas show, and I said, ‘Man, I am stopping, going testing, I’m going to get my program turned around here and get my head around it.’ It paid off tonight, it’s awesome.”
Marlar was slated to start third, but he inherited a spot on the front row when Bilstein Pole Award winner Ricky Thornton Jr. jumped the initial start. On the second attempt, Marlar dropped back several spots before Jimmy Owens took a tumble in Turn 3, resetting the field once more.
When the race finally got rolling, a Turn 3 slide job put Marlar in front of Chris Madden early on. Madden handed a slider right back to Marlar on the next circuit, but Marlar was able to pull the crossover and hold onto the lead.
Tyler Erb’s flat tire with 12 laps to go erased Marlar’s one-second margin to the field, and by the time that caution flew, Ricky Thornton Jr. and Bobby Pierce emerged as his closest challengers. Both drivers remained right on his tail through the closing stretch as they fought their way through traffic, but Marlar held on to claim the 19th World of Outlaws win of his career.
“I was trying to make that first move to slide Madden down there [in Turn 3], he just knew what I was going to do and ran over me,” Marlar said. “After that, everything went good. I got through the traffic, felt like I probably made some moves at the right time in traffic, squeezed it when I needed to squeeze it and all that and got through there. That worked out good, too.”
Thornton settled for a Volunteer career-best second-place result, while Pierce cracked the top 10 at Bulls Gap for the first time in third. Madden and Dale McDowell rounded out the top five.
The finish:
Feature (40 Laps): 1. 157-Mike Marlar[3]; 2. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[1]; 3. 32-Bobby Pierce[7]; 4. 44-Chris Madden[2]; 5. 17M-Dale McDowell[10]; 6. 58V-Daulton Wilson[5]; 7. 22-Chris Ferguson[14]; 8. 19R-Ryan Gustin[4]; 9. 9-Nick Hoffman[11]; 10. 57-Zack Mitchell[6]; 11. 23V-Cory Hedgecock[22]; 12. 9M-Tim McCreadie[19]; 13. T1-Todd Morrow[12]; 14. 49M-Luke Morey[21]; 15. 93-Carson Ferguson[18]; 16. 74X-Ethan Dotson[25]; 17. 22*-Drake Troutman[23]; 18. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[26]; 19. 1-Tyler Erb[15]; 20. 19-Dustin Sorensen[24]; 21. B1-Brent Larson[16]; 22. 49-Jake Timm[17]; 23. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[13]; 24. 101-Forrest Trent[20]; 25. 57M-Camaron Marlar[8]; 26. 20-Jimmy Owens[9]
