9/10/2022
Mike Marlar
Marlar captures Chasing the Dream prelim feature at Eldora
Mike Marlar scratched another item off the bucket list on Wednesday night. He piloted his Delk Equipment Sales / Tri-Rivers Enterprises No. 157 Can-Am Auto Salvage / Longhorn Chassis / Cornett Racing Engine Super Late Model to the $5,000 Chasing the Dream win at Eldora Speedway, which marked the first of his career at the legendary oval.
Mike Marlar entered his familiar No. 157 Super Late Model into battle at Eldora Speedway (Rossburg, Ohio) on Wednesday afternoon for the Chasing the Dream preliminary features leading up to the 52nd annual World 100 weekend.
"I've run second and third and about won the big ones a couple of times here, but just haven't won a prelim for some reason," Marlar said of his Eldora history. "We've run good in 'em. I think Billy Moyer beat me by half a car one year. It means a lot. Eldora's a cool place and it means a lot to get a win here."
With qualifying setting the grid for his prelim, Mike topped his 22-car group, locking him into the fourth-starting position for the 20-lapper via the invert.
Grabbing the lead on the sixth circuit, Marlar rolled to his ninth win of the season, which came ahead of Chase Junghans, Garrett Smith, Joseph Joiner, and Mike Benedum. He pocketed $5,000.
The following night with the 107-car field divided into a pair of prelims to kick off the World 100 weekend, Marlar timed in seventh-fastest in his group before placing second in his heat. With $12,000 on the line in the A-Main, Mike faded one spot in the 25-lap affair to finish eighth.
Action continued on Friday night with the field once again divided into a pair of $12,000-to-win programs. Via the seventh-fastest time in his qualifying group, Mike earned the third-starting spot for his heat race. He advanced to a runner-up finish to lock into the seventh-starting spot for the 25-lap, prelim feature. He went on to pass a single competitor to cross the line in sixth.
The weekend drew to a close on Saturday night with heat race line-ups being determined by cumulative performances from Thursday and Friday, along with a six-car invert in all heat races.
With the invert positioning Mike fifth on the grid for his heat race, he struggled to make ground on a fast track and crossed the finish line in fifth, which relegated him to a B-Main. Charging from fifth-to-second in his B-Main, he locked into the 23rd-starting spot for the coveted 100-lap finale.
After not making much ground early in the feature, Marlar ultimately retired on lap 25. He was credited with a 24th-place finish.
The team now turns their attention to another busy week, which begins on Tuesday at Fairbury (Ill.) Speedway with a $22,022-to-win Castrol FloRacing Night in America event. Mike currently is tied for second in the latest series standings.
From there Marlar will invade Knoxville (Iowa) Raceway on Thursday – Saturday for the 18th annual Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals, where he’ll look to defend his unprecedented third event title that he claimed in 2021. Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series (LOLMDS) action includes $7,000-to-win programs on Thursday and Friday followed by a $50,000-to-win finale on Saturday.
For more information on the weekend’s events, please visit www.FloSeries.com and www.LucasDirt.com.
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