PAIGE, Texas — They say everything is bigger in Texas. And the action on track Friday night at Cotton Bowl Speedway lived up to that reputation.
Sliders, crossovers, mind-blowing saves and a late pass for the victory, but when the checkered flag waved on the 30-lap thriller, Brent Marks stood in victory lane after a spirited run from the fourth row.
The “Myerstown Missile” worked his way forward in the Murray-Marks No. 19 and won the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series feature by topping a wild late-race duel with Carson Macedo.
“It was a lot of fun,” Marks said. “Hats off to this team. They just have worked their butts off all year so far. We’ve been qualifying a little bit better but haven’t been good in our race trim, and we just made the necessary changes coming into this weekend, and here we are. This is amazing.”
The victory was Marks’ 15th with the World of Outlaws and second in the state of Texas. Marks also continued the early streak of no repeat winners as six different competitors have topped the first six races of the year. It’s only the sixth time in sSeries history we’ve seen that accomplished. The record is eight winners in the first eight races (2015).
A front row consisting of Sheldon Haudenschild and Carson Macedo brought the field to green. It was two-time Cotton Bowl winner – Haudenschild – darting out to the early advantage.
Haudenschild pulled ahead in the opening laps and quickly began to approach the tail of the field. Right as the Stenhouse Jr.-Marshall Racing pilot started to navigate traffic, disaster nearly struck. Haudenschild got sideways in turns three and four and nearly spun. The Wooster, Ohio, native hung on and maintained the lead. Right after Haudenschild’s save, the race’s first yellow came out for two cars spinning in turns one and two.
On the ensuing restart Macedo took a shot at Haudenschild with a slide job in the first corner. Macedo managed to clear him, but Haudenschild promptly countered with a crossover down the back straightaway to regain the lead. The yellow came back out with eight laps complete for Jacob Allen spinning in turn four.
The next restart saw Macedo snatch the lead from Haudenschild as he was able to dip under the No. 17 exiting turn two and drive by heading down the back straightaway.
Giovanni Scelzi briefly squeezed ahead of Haudenschild in turns three and four, but Haudenschild powered back by exiting the corner.
The methodical Brent Marks had worked his way from seventh to third by the halfway point and began closing on the top two of Macedo and Haudenschild. Once the leaders entered traffic, the action warmed up.
Marks threw a slider at Haudenschild in turns three and four. Haudenschild not only crossed him over, but he also found the speed to launch a slide job at Macedo for the lead in turns one and two. Macedo crossed back over to retake the lead.
On the next circuit, Marks attempted a slider on Haudenschild but made contact with a lapped car. Both held on, but behind them a three-car crash that involved point leader David Gravel, Donny Schatz, and Sam Hafertepe Jr. brought out the red flag.
When racing resumed Marks used a huge run on the bottom to roll ahead of Haudenschild for second entering the first set of corners and immediately set his sights on Macedo. Marks could move his machine anywhere on the racetrack and began to track down the Jason Johnson Racing No. 41 primarily by using a unique line in turns three and four.
As the race dipped inside 10 laps to go, a war between Macedo and Marks began. Marks used his line in turns three and four to get a run on Macedo down the front straightaway and toss multiple sliders at him in turns one and two. Macedo used multiple crossovers to maintain the top spot. But with only three laps remaining, Marks found the momentum he needed and made a slide job stick that Macedo couldn’t counter.
“It was just about finding enough grip there on exit,” Marks explained. “That was a pretty wild race. That was really fun, especially when we got in lapped traffic there. Hats off to the Cotton Bowl track crew for doing an amazing job.”
The yellow flag flew one lap after Marks secured the top spot setting up a two-lap dash to the finish, but Marks had no plans of an exciting final restart. He mashed the gas when the green lights flashed and pulled away to victory.
“It was just really about finding the right line that worked best for my car,” Marks said. “Carson was really good. I was able to roll the middle really well down here through (turns) three and four, but once we got to exit it was hard to get ahold of anything. I showed my nose to Carson a couple times, and he started taking my line there, so I had to try to get creative a little bit. I started coming off of (turn) four a little higher sooner and catch the moisture right up against the wall just enough to shoot me down the front stretch and get some runs on him. That was a hard fought race.”
Macedo held on for the second spot after leading 20 laps aboard the Albaugh No. 41.
“I feel like we were pretty solid,” Macedo said. “Once we took the lead I thought it would be really tough to get by us. And then he started pressuring me, and I could see him almost the first run he made at me. I was trying everything I could. I felt like I was moving around, trying different lines, trying to get my wing back a little bit. Then I felt I’d get a little tight in (turns) one and two, so it was like a give and take. He just did a good job. His car was really good there at the end. My guys did an incredible job, too.”
Rounding out the top three was Scelzi as he put the KCP Racing No. 18 on the podium for the first time this year, taking the point lead in the process.
“Man, it’s awesome,” Scelzi said of taking the point lead. “I escaped death a few times there. My car was awesome all night. This place seemed to give me some fits over the last couple years we’ve been here. Hats off to my guys… It’s cool to be as consistent as we’ve been just kind of rolling with the punches right now I feel like. We’re making Dashes and putting ourselves in position.”
Logan Schuchart and Aaron Reutzel completed the top five.
Reutzel also snagged his ninth career Simpson Quick Time in Sea Foam Qualifying.
The finish:
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 19-Brent Marks[7]; 2. 41-Carson Macedo[2]; 3. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[3]; 4. 1S-Logan Schuchart[4]; 5. 87-Aaron Reutzel[22]; 6. 1A-Jacob Allen[17]; 7. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[1]; 8. 17B-Bill Balog[5]; 9. 15-Donny Schatz[10]; 10. 83-Michael Kofoid[9]; 11. 41S-Dominic Scelzi[14]; 12. 2-David Gravel[8]; 13. 95-Matt Covington[11]; 14. 70-Kraig Kinser[20]; 15. 23-Garet Williamson[13]; 16. 7S-Landon Crawley[12]; 17. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[15]; 18. 45X-Jace Park[18]; 19. 6-Bill Rose[23]; 20. 25B-Blaine Baxter[19]; 21. 16TH-Kevin Newton[16]; 22. 42P-Preston Perlmutter[21]; 23. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[6]