MECHANICSBURG, Pa. — Brent Marks unbuckled himself out of his No. 19 race machine and greeted his 5-year-old daughter, McKenna, and wife, Megan, with a kiss.
He delighted in his latest reward, sprint car win No. 10 of the year in Friday night’s Todd Shaffer Tribute at Williams Grove Speedway behind an uncontested performance.
Marks led all 25 laps and topped a determined Danny Dietrich by 1.481 seconds for the $6,088 prize.
He’s thoroughly enjoyed this year, especially since he returned his family car in late April.
For the first time his win total is in double figures. He’s done it all relatively close to the comforts of his Myerstown, Pa., home, and with his daughter just two weeks into kindergarten by his side.
“It’s really special to get the win tonight and our 10th of the year,” Marks said. “We’ve been having a lot of speed. This car is really good. We’ve had some good runs the last several weeks but haven’t gotten any wins. For me, it feels like it’s been a long time. So this feels really good.”
Before Friday, Marks’ last win took place July 31 in the Dream Race at Port Royal (Pa.) Speedway. Seven races against touring fields, three a part of the Knoxville Nationals, stood between his ninth and 10th wins.
Now on the other side of the gauntlet, Marks looks primed for a prosperous week, perhaps on par or potentially greater than his run of three wins in eight races during Pennsylvania Speedweek.
Five races in eight days, four coming at Port Royal, continue Saturday.
“Tuscarora 50 is one of my favorite weeks of the year,” Marks said. “It’s a really cool atmosphere up there and a ton of people show up. It feels really cool to be a part of that. I want to go out there and win one really bad.”
He started Friday .005 of a second shy of fast time recipient Anthony Macri in qualifying.
Marks upped the ante in heat two, powering to the win from fourth and eliminating a second redraw car from the heat since the event used the Pennsylvania Speedweek format.
Drawing the pole made it that much easier. Marks mounted three-second leads twice, first before a lap-four caution for eighth-running Freddie Rahmer and then once racing resumed.
The next 17 laps went green, and Marks built a 3.2-second cushion midway through
While Marks tried to put on the burners on a track that only got dirtier as the night wore on, Dietrich and Dewease dashed to the front.
Before the final caution with four laps remaining, Dietrich and Dewease positioned themselves behind Marks, charging seven spots to reach second and third, respectively.
Marks got the restart he needed and Dietrich never got close enough to make a late bid for a would-be second straight win.
Last Sunday, Dietrich won from 10th with the All Star Circuit of Champions at BAPS Motor Speedway in York Haven, Pa.
He had a good enough car to challenge Marks, it’s just fuel pickup problems at the start of the night hurt his chances. Dietrich qualified 20th of 26 cars and scrambled from seventh to third in his heat race.
“We have some things to work on to get ready for tomorrow,” said Dietrich, who, like Marks and everyone else, begins preparation for next week’s Tuscarora 50 on Saturday at Port Royal. “We’ll get ready for tomorrow. … Hope for some good runs and some good food.”
Macri finished fourth while Brian Brown finished fifth and raced to as high as second.
Steve Buckwalter, T.J. Stutts, Chase Dietz, Matt Campbell, and Lucas Wolfe rounded out the top 10.
Rahmer was credited with 25th place.