SARVER, Pa. — For the second night in a row Mike Marlar won a preliminary feature at Lernerville Speedway.
Marlar took the lead from Ricky Thornton Jr. on lap 14 to score the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win on Friday night, while setting himself up for a good starting spot in one of the six heat races to be contested Saturday night for the 16th annual Firecracker 100 Presented by Big River Steel paying $50,000-to-win.
Marlar fought off Tim McCreadie, who had raced from the ninth starting spot to challenge for the lead at the end but fell a few car lengths short at the checkers.
Thornton, who led the first 13 laps from the pole finished in third. Mark Whitener, who had an impressive run in his heat race climbing from seventh for the win came home fourth in the feature just ahead of fifth place Hudson O’Neal.
Thornton and O’Neal started on the front row and paced the field for the first four laps until Marlar took over second from O’Neal on the fifth circuit. The race went the first 12 laps caution free just as Thornton was about to pick up the tail end of the field. On the restart it took Marlar just two laps around the legendary racetrack to get the lead, which he held until the end to keep him a perfect two-for-two on the weekend so far.
“It was just so slick I was just kind of driving different most laps actually and I probably changed up what I was doing six or seven times in 30 laps,” Marlar said. “I saw him (McCreadie) flash under me in one and two, after about four or five laps my tires would get a little hotter and they’d give up some grip, so I think he preserved his tires a little better.”
McCreadie, the reigning Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series champion took the runner-up spot as the 2019 Firecracker 100 winner charged from the inside of the fifth row.
“This will give us a better shot in the heats tomorrow night which is what you are working for. The track’s been tough,” McCreadie said. “It’s been way different each night and it just shows this Mega Plumbing team is doing a good job in trying to adapt. To be able to run well both nights and be competitive, it’s all you can ask for. I need some help over in one and two, I can’t get where I want the car to be activated. To come home second to Mikey, he’s really good. We need a little more we will just keep working hard it’s all we can do.”
Thornton was denied his first series win of the year as he will try to score another crown jewel victory on Saturday night to go along with his Dirt Track World Championship win last October. “I didn’t really know if I needed to move out or not. He (Marlar) was really good through the middle just like T-Mac was. I felt like we had a really good car. We’ll take a third, it should set us up in good position for tomorrow’s heat races.”
The finish:
Feature (30 laps): 1. 157-Mike Marlar[3]; 2. 39-Tim McCreadie[9]; 3. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr.[1]; 4. 58W-Mark Whitener[4]; 5. 71-Hudson O’Neal[2]; 6. 58-Garrett Alberson[11]; 7. 49-Jonathan Davenport[15]; 8. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[7]; 9. 72-Michael Norris[5]; 10. 1-Brandon Sheppard[14]; 11. 0E-Rick Eckert[8]; 12. 22-Gregg Satterlee[16]; 13. 20-Jimmy Owens[20]; 14. 10M-Jared Miley[21]; 15. 1T-Tyler Erb[13]; 16. 89-Ashton Winger[6]; 17. 7-Ross Robinson[19]; 18. 1*-Chub Frank[22]; 19. 1C-Alex Ferree[23]; 20. 8-Kyle Strickler[24]; 21. 18D-Daulton Wilson[17]; 22. J4-John Garvin Jr[12]; 23. 11-Spencer Hughes[18]; 24. 1CJ-Ryan Montgomery[10]