SELINSGROVE, Pa. — Brent Marks gave it all he had Sunday at Selinsgrove Speedway.
The Myerstown, Pa., driver won the Pennsylvania Sprint Car Speedweek finale, doing what he had to do to overcome a 50-point series deficit to Danny Dietrich. What Marks couldn’t control is Dietrich finished one spot behind, negating any turn of the tide.
While Marks wrapped up PA Speedweek with his third win in eight races, Dietrich, behind another runner-up effort, plotted his way to the series title by 24 points.
It’s Marks’ seventh win of the year, a new personal best for victories in a single season.
“It’s a really special night for us,” Marks said. “We knew we needed to show up and win this thing, to win the points deal. Unfortunately, Danny didn’t fall back far enough for me. He was really good. He’s always good here. I kind of knew going into tonight it was going to be tough.
“It was a great week for us,” Marks added. “Our car is really fast. Whenever we hit the race track we can run top three every single night. We just had some gremlins this week that really hurt us. Just proud to show everybody we have speed in our car. I’m having a lot of fun driving it right now.”
Despite not winning a race all week and leading laps until Sunday’s finale, Dietrich claimed his second PA Speedweek title, his first since 2016.
“It feels like the second prize,” said Dietrich, before the accomplishment of running a second straight Speedweek smoothly, with no breaks or failures, settled in.
“It’s a testament to our car, our crew, my engine builder Don Ott,” Dietrich added. “Our maintenance program is really good. … I ain’t got much more to say. I just want to win some races.”
Dietrich looked like he was going to break a near four-month winless drought in Central Pennsylvania. Starting on the outside pole, Dietrich jumped out to lead on lap one and commanded much of the main event.
Before a lap-10 caution for Chase Dietz, Dietrich navigated lapped traffic without much trouble. But when the second time came around, the racing groove perhaps growing too wide and too top dominant, Dietrich struggled to keep a winning pace.
Marks applied pressure, forcing Dietrich to move quickly and that induced Dietrich into contact in traffic that knocked down his front nose wing on lap 18.
“Just stubborn lapped cars, but it’s our job to pass them,” Dietrich said. “That’s about all you can say. … That’s a part of racing. You win some, you lose some.”
As the laps dwindled, it was merely a matter of time Marks would overthrow Dietrich. Marks only got stronger around the top and once the window presented itself with five laps to go, the former World of Outlaws NOS Energy Sprint Car Series driver zipped past.
“I was just staying aggressive up top,” Marks said. “Danny was starting to get off [the cushion] just a tick when he got to traffic. I was just keeping the right rear in it, [the cushion], the whole time.
“I knew I needed lapped traffic because it was very fast around the top, and he had a good car,” Marks added. “Luckily we got to that.”
Once Marks got past Dietrich, he took off and earned a 2.122-second victory, good enough for a $7,500 prize and an extra boost into the second half of the year. If it wasn’t for a parts failure on Wednesday at Port Royal Speedway and the two in-race incidents, maybe things would have been different Marks.
Dietrich, meanwhile, was rewarded for finishing the week unblemished and with four straight podium runs, pocketing $6,000 for the PA Speedweek title.
Kyle Reinhardt crossed the finish line third but was light at the scales. The All Star Circuit of Champions regular was credited with a 13th-place finish, the last car on the lead lap.
That moved Rico Abreu to the podium in third, with Lance Drwease and Justin Peck rounding out the top five.
Logan Wagner, Paul McMahan, Lucas Wolfe, Pat Cannon, and Matt Campbell completed the top 10.
Garrett Bard won the accompanying 305 sprint car feature over Derek Hauck and Nick Sweigart.