MECHANICSBURG, Pa. – The last time Brent Marks reached Williams Grove Speedway victory lane with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Sprint Car Series, he was a regular on the tour.
His latest victory with the series, an emphatic come-from-behind win in Saturday’s Summer Nationals finale, came as a member of the Pennsylvania Posse.
Marks stormed by 10-time World of Outlaws champion Donny Schatz with 10 laps remaining to give the PA Posse its first win with the touring series on home soil since May 18, 2019.
It snapped a 16-race losing streak for the PA Posse in World of Outlaws events and stands as Marks’ eighth overall victory of the year, adding to his career high for most wins in a single season.
He topped Sheldon Haudenschild by .903 seconds, while Schatz, the leader the first 20 laps, faded to third.
“It’s good to get us another Crown Jewel at Williams Grove,” said Marks, whose last Williams Grove win with the World of Outlaws came in the National Open in October 2019. “It was a crazy race tonight. Lapped traffic was super difficult. The track was really tricky. Man, gave it all I had there. We survived it, and it got us the win. We’ve been really good. I’m proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish the past seven months. We just have to keep it going.”
Schatz and Marks started second and fourth, respectively, and capitalized from an advantageous outside-starting lane, which had the upper hand over the bottom lane all night.
The two raced by Haudenschild and Lance Dewease to power into clean air, with Schatz leading the way and mounting a 1.3-second lead by lap 10.
Marks whittled Schatz’s lead to a half second at the halfway point, as lapped traffic added many kinks in the closing stages. A thick cushion lended to a top-dominant racing surface, so passes had to be urgent and momentum needed to be sustained.
Schatz executed laps 16 and 17 to a tee, pushing his lead to 1.5 seconds, but then the following two laps erased it all. Ill-timed passes allowed Marks to rapidly close in. Schatz slipped up off turn four on lap 19 and Marks capitalized on the other end, sticking the go-ahead slide job in turn one.
“Couple times [Schatz] just went for a slide job a little too early and just allowed me to close up on him there,” Marks said. “I knew that was my only shot.”
Marks, fighting traffic and with Haudenschild and Schatz all over him, then received some inadvertent help with seven laps to go. Haudenschild unleashed a gaudy slide job for the lead into turn one but couldn’t clear traffic and instead hip-checked Freddie Rahmer into the retaining wall.
That brought out the caution and stacked things back up.
From there, clean air and an eventual cold, celebratory beer was in Marks’ possession.
“It makes it all worthwhile,” Marks said just seconds after being handed a Busch Light Apple Beer fresh from the cooler. “Anyways, we’re going to celebrate tonight.”
The finish:
1. Brent Marks, 2. Sheldon Haudenschild, 3. Donny Schatz, 4. Carson Macedo, 5. Lance Dewease, 6. Anthony Macri, 7. James McFadden, 8. David Gravel, 9. Aaron Reutzel, 10. Lucas Wolfe, 11. Brad Sweet, 12. Logan Schuchart, 13. Kraig Kinser, 14. Danny Dietrich, 15. Devon Borden, 16. Troy Wagaman Jr., 17. Dylan Cisney, 18. TJ Stutts, 19. Justin Whittall, 20. Freddie Rahmer, 21. Wayne Johnson, 22. Aaron Bollinger, 23. Alan Krimes, 24. Tyler Ross, 25. Dylan Norris