HARTFORD, Ohio — Although denied a Buckeye Cup victory in April as the result of a last-ditch effort maneuver by Cap Henry, Brent Marks found $6,000 worth of redemption Friday night in Sharon Speedway’s Sharon Nationals opener.
It was Marks’ fourth All Star Circuit Champions victory of the season and. His 15th overall victory this year.
Marks commenced his winning charge from the front row, taking command from Bill Balog on lap eight and never looking back.
Although solidly in command for over half of the 30-lap program, Marks’ crusade to the top of the podium did not come without challenges. In fact, Marks was forced to fend off two of the best in the business including National Sprint Car Hall of Famer Dale Blaney, as well as defending All Star champion and current point leader Tyler Courney.
Blaney was the first to apply pressure, keeping tabs on the Murray-Marks Motorsports No. 19m following a caution on lap 11. Despite all attempts, Marks eventually escaped Blaney’s grip, utilizing a lapped car as a pick to keep Blaney at bay.
Courtney slipped by Blaney for second on lap 23 and then proceeded to track down Marks. To Courtney’s dismay, time ran out, forced to take a backseat to the former Outlaw followed by Bill Balog, Blaney, and Hunter Schuerenberg.
“I knew it had to be close,” Marks said. “We had one heck of a night. Forced to bounce back after a crash during qualifying, the guys busted their butts to get us back out there for the heat race. The driveline was still bent after the heat, so we had to come back and replace that. I’m just so thankful for them to work their butts off to get us back to where we are now.
“With so much going on, we really didn’t get a chance to analyze any setups,” Marks continued. “It wasn’t until after the dash that we got a chance to kinda sit down and discuss our approach. Even at that point, we were still kinda guessing on what this thing needed.”
The finish:
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 19M-Brent Marks [1]; 2. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [11]; 3. 17B-Bill Balog [2]; 4. 10B-Dale Blaney [4]; 5. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [10]; 6. 4-Cap Henry [17]; 7. 2-AJ Flick [7]; 8. 24-Rico Abreu [15]; 9. 26-Zeb Wise [6]; 10. 18-Gio Scelzi [9]; 11. 42-Sye Lynch [8]; 12. 11-Anthony Macri [13]; 13. 19-Chris Windom [16]; 14. 97-Greg Wilson [18]; 15. 22-Cole Duncan [22]; 16. 9-Kasey Kahne [21]; 17. 33-Brent Matus [12]; 18. 81-Lee Jacobs [23]; 19. 5K-Adam Kekich [20]; 20. 10-Dave Blaney [3]; 21. 13-Justin Peck [5]; 22. O8-Dan Kuriger [19]; 23. 40-George Hobaugh [24]; 24. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [14]