JUNCTION CITY, Ky. – Mike Marlar emerged as the winner of Friday’s Valvoline Iron-Man Late Model Northern and Southern Series 23rd annual Pete Abell Memorial at Ponderosa Speedway, collecting $10,000 for his efforts.
Hudson O’Neal would jump to the lead at the start of the 23rd Annual Pete Abell Memorial main event, with Mike Marlar, Tyler Erb, Dustin Linville, and Spencer Hughes following.  Erb would work past Marlar on lap three for second, while Hughes would drive under Linville to take fourth on lap four, with Michael Chilton claiming the fifth position from Linville one circuit later.Â
 O’Neal would maintain a comfortable lead until lap 13 when Erb began to close in on O’Neal, bringing Marlar and Hughes along in the chase.  Erb would be nipping at O’Neal’s heels by lap twenty and began to pressure O’Neal for the top spot as a competition caution was thrown with 25 laps complete due to the track conditions caused by a heavy rain shower earlier in the afternoon to allow drivers to change helmets or add tear-offs. Â
During the caution period, Erb would pull to the work area with a flat right-rear tire and change it and return and then action would be halted for a few minutes due to a power failure with the lights in turns one and two.  Once power was restored and action resumed, O’Neal would maintain the race lead, with Marlar now in second and pressuring O’Neal for the top spot and Marlar would motor around O’Neal for the lead on lap 28. Â
The second caution of the race would wave on lap thirty when Ricky Thornton Jr. would slow on the backchute and have to be pushed off the track, done for the event.  Marlar would maintain the lead on the restart, with O’Neal, Hughes, Chilton, and Jason Jameson giving chase.  Chilton would slip high in turn two on lap 32, allowing Jameson and Zack Dohm to take the fourth and fifth positions. Â
Marlar and O’Neal would put some distance back to Hughes, who would suffer mechanical issues on lap thirty-eight and slow in turn two to bring out the final caution of the event.  Marlar and O’Neal would quickly pull away from the field on the restart, while Erb, who had mounted a charge from the back of the pack after his flat-tire on lap 25, would get around Chilton for the fifth position on lap 39. Â
As Marlar and O’Neal continued to drive away from the field, with Jameson still in third and Dohm fourth, Erb and Chilton would battle for the fifth position, with Chilton regaining the spot on lap forty-two.  Marlar would maintain the lead, but O’Neal would mount one final charge over the final four laps, only to see Marlar hang on for a .107-second victory at the checkered over O’Neal, with Jameson finishing third, with Dohm and Chilton completing the top five. Â
The finish:
Mike Marlar, Hudson O’Neal, Jason Jameson, Zack Dohm, Michael Chilton, Tyler Erb, Scott James, Darrell Lanigan, Jared Hawkins, Justin Rattliff, Dustin Nobbe, Tristan Chamberlain, Spencer Hughes, David Webb, Ricky Thornton Jr., Dustin Linville, Chris Combs, Devin Gilpin, Jensen Ford, Ted Nobbe, Rod Carter Jr., Vic Hill.