YORK HAVEN, Pa. – All aspects of Brent Marks and his supporting cast glistened in the Saturday night limelight at BAPS Motor Speedway.
Marks concluded a banner year with win No. 14, third being under the new-look Murray-Marks Motorsports name that made its grand debut last Tuesday.
Last Saturday, Marks triumphed in the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series season finale at The Dirt Track at Charlotte, showcasing his auspicious partnership with Allen Murray to the sprint car world.
The nation’s final 410 race of the year was merely an encore for Marks, who outgunned Danny Dietrich and World of Outlaws driver Logan Schuchart.
“It’s been a lot of fun,” said Marks, who once again celebrated with his family on hand, a big reason he’ll run a handpicked schedule in 2022. “We’ve been fast. We’ve been working really, really hard to be fast though. It’s not like we’re just getting lucky or anything. We’re hard at work. Winning the World Finals was huge in our book. I just knew after that night we would have to come straight on to tonight’s race and try to win this one.
“Anyways, a great night,” Marks added. “It was a lot of fun. Lapped traffic really made things interesting.”
Marks ends the year alongside David Gravel for the second most 410 wins nationally, making the most of his return to his family-supported operation.
A boost of fortune, not luck as Marks would put it, did help clear the way for his final two wins of the year. Last week Marks benefitted from Schuchart’s flat tire with four laps remaining as he inherited the lead for good with four laps left.
On Saturday, Dietrich gave Marks a run for the $5,000 check. Marks led the first 15 laps from the pole but a relentless Dietrich momentarily dethroned sprint car’s hottest driver to lead laps 16 and 17.
“Danny and I were putting on one heck of a show,” Marks said.
On lap 18, Marks regathered himself and beat Dietrich by .058 seconds to the start-finish line. The two were side-by-side for half of lap 19, then Brie Hershey spun to draw a caution period.
Dietrich tossed his blank, duct-tape-lettered No. 48 machine — a new car that simply wasn’t decorated in time — into turn one on the ensuing restart, but Marks undercut the move and drove away.
A lap later Dietrich’s wing cylinder cap broke, which pushed his wing further back than he’d like. He couldn’t recover from there.
“We were good. We definitely had the best car, in my opinion,” Dietrich said. “I was biding my team, being respectful when it was early. It wouldn’t have mattered. … [My car] was a handful.
“It was too tight and I couldn’t drive off exit,” Dietrich added. “I couldn’t even get in the gas on exit without driving into the outside wall. You get to the end of the straightaway, you can’t even steer the car.
“The whole mentality changed,” Dietrich said. “There for a little while, I was keeping pace with Brent. … When the wing goes back like that on a track when it’s got grip in it, my chance of winning went out the window in my mind.”
Freddie Rahmer finished fourth from the 14th-starting spot in his second race driving Rich Eichelberger’s No. 8.
Justin Peck recovered from two wrecks in his heat for a fifth-place finish.
Anthony Macri, Kyle Reinhardt, Jacob Allen, Chase Dietz and Ryan Smith completed the top 10.
Tyler Ross drove from the 24th-starting position to finish 13th.
In the 358 spec sealed modified feature, Mike Gular topped a 38-car entry list for the $4,000 top prize.