YORK HAVEN, Pa. – Brent Marks remembers talking to the late Greg Hodnett about Sprint Car racing and how to improve in the sport.
Hodnett was a good person to ask for advice. The Tennessee native and central Pennsylvania transplant was well spoken, smart, hard-working, and a pure talent behind the wheel.
As for Marks, he listened to some of that advice and has since become one of the best in the sport. And he got a chance to honor Hodnett Thursday night at BAPS Motor Speedway.
The Myerstown, Pa., driver chased down Kasey Kahne in the late stages of the 30-Lap Hoseheads.com Greg Hodnett Foundation Race presented by Drydene Oil and drove away to his fourth-career win at the speedway.
“Greg was one of my heroes growing up,” said Marks, who earned $5,527 for the victory. “I always enjoyed racing with Greg. He was a great person and a great driver … one of the best out there. To be able to win a race in his honor, again, means a lot to me.
“The track was actually a lot of fun, but it was hard to get by Kasey. He had a really good car, and lapped cars were all over the place. He was moving all over the place, I was moving all over the place, and it was really hard to get by him. It was a really fun race, and we had a good battle there. I had to earn that one. It was fun.”
The initial start was called back because of a false start, which moved Kahne up to the front row, outside of Robbie Kendall. Kahne took advantage of the restart and was able to surge into the lead with Kendall close behind.
Marks, who started third on the grid, blasted by Kendall on the second circuit. He chased down Kahne and waged a fierce battle for the top spot for the next 22 circuits.
Kahne was on point during the stretch. Still, keeping Marks at bay proved too much on Lap 24, when the central Pennsylvania ace ripped around the outside of Turns 3 and 4 to take the lead coming down the frontstretch.
“I could get a run on him a little bit here and there,” Marks said. “Then the next lap, he’d get a better run off the top, so we’d even ourselves out. I was working around a lapped car and decided to go to the top of three and four to see what was up there. It got cleaned off enough and had enough grip, and I was able to move up there.
“He was in that position where it wasn’t good to be the leader. It let me have an opportunity to get a run on him and ultimately get by him. The track really changed throughout the race.”
Once out front, Marks was able to distance himself from the field. Meanwhile, Kahne was left to dice with Gio Scelzi, Anthony Macri, and Danny Dietrich.
Kahne looked good in his BAPS Motor Speedway debut and came away with a runner-up finish. Scelzi barely held off Macri and Dietrich to hold third in what turned out to be a star-studded top-five rundown.
“We had a good car,” Kahne said. “I saw Brent on the bottom. I didn’t get through lappers quick enough, and he took advantage of that.”
In the 305 Sprint Car main event, Doug Dodson took advantage of Mike Melair’s misfortune to capture the 20-Lap A-Main.
Melair took the lead on lap three and led until he slowed coming off the fourth corner on the 18th circuit. That handed the lead to Dodson, who drove away over the last two laps to secure the win.
Seth Schnoke slipped past 14th-place starter Ken Duke Jr. on the last lap for second. Scott Frack and Dylan Smith completed the top five.
The finish:
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 19-Brent Marks[3]; 2. 9-Kasey Kahne[4]; 3. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[7]; 4. 39M-Anthony Macri[6]; 5. 48-Danny Dietrich[9]; 6. 11-Buddy Kofoid[10]; 7. 19T-Tyler Reeser[2]; 8. 44-Dylan Norris[5]; 9. 19W-Troy Wagaman Jr[11]; 10. 5W-Lucas Wolfe[12]; 11. 1W-Robbie Kendall[1]; 12. 99M-Kyle Moody[8]; 13. 75-Tyler Ross[21]; 14. 4R-Tim Wagaman II[19]; 15. 16A-Aaron Bollinger[18]; 16. 35-Austin Bishop[17]; 17. 7-Tim Buckwalter[14]; 18. 69-Cameron Smith[22]; 19. 33-Riley Emig[20]; 20. (DNF) 55-Domenic Melair[16]; 21. (DNF) 77K-Steven Kisamore[24]; 22. (DNF) 95-Hunter Mackison[13]; 23. (DNF) 70D-Frankie Herr[23]; 24. (DNF) 10X-Ryan Smith[15]