MECHANICSBURG, Pa. – Brent Marks and his No. 19 family-run operation wouldn’t quit.
Despite getting entangled in a pair of mid-race incidents, Marks and crew salvaged a 10th-place finish Friday in the Mitch Smith Memorial at Williams Grove Speedway.
Marks passed 23 cars during night eight of Pennsylvania Sprint Car Speedweek to remain 50 points out of the Pennsylvania Sprint Car Speedweek championship picture going to the penultimate round at Port Royal Speedway tonight.
What a night 🤦🏻♂️. We had a great race car and were able rebound back to a top 10 after that demolition derby lol. Really proud of my team for busting their butts and Thank you to the CJB team, Macri Team and everyone else who helped my guys repair and get back out there!
— Brent Marks (@bmracing19) July 3, 2021
Marks started the night by timing 12th amongst the 32-car field and before racing to second in his heat race.
He raced from 12th to sixth in the main event by lap 14, but on the very next circuit, contact with Freddie Rahmer halted Marks just yards before the entry of turn three, the stoppage that triggered a number of cautions down the stretch.
With helping hands, Marks rejoined the field before things went green, tagging the end of the field in 20th. Marks rallied to ninth with five laps to go, only to have it go down the drain when he couldn’t avoid a spinning Matt Campbell in turns three and four.
Again, Marks’ crew made repairs and sent him on another mission. During those last five laps, Marks went from 16th to possible PA Speedweek-saving top 10.
Meanwhile, his Speedweek title rival Danny Dietrich strung together an unblemished night, finishing second to the Williams Grove all-time wins leader in Lance Dewease.
The series heads back to Port Royal Speedway tonight for the semifinal round before wrapping up Sunday at Selinsgrove Speedway.
– Rico Abreu settled for ninth on Friday at Williams Grove and now sits 86 points out of the PA Speedweek race in third.
– Lucas Wolfe, driving in the popular Pabst Blue Ribbon No. 5W for Jim and Laura Allebach, registered his second straight top five Friday night at Williams Grove.
The four-time PA Speedweek champion won his heat race for the second race in a row, too, on the heels of leading 20 of 30 laps on Wednesday at Port Royal Speedway. Wolfe slipped to fourth in the first stop at Port Royal, the victim of late-race storms by Kyle Larson, Lance Dewease, and Danny Dietrich.
Catching up with @LucasWolfe5w prior to this night eight of @PASpeedWeek at @WilliamsGrove.
— Kyle McFadden (@ByKyleMcFadden) July 2, 2021
Wolfe led 20 of 30 laps in Wednesday’s race at @PortRoyalSpdway before fading to fourth. pic.twitter.com/QJVbDpiayH
– Ryan Smith, wheeling the BJD Motorsports No. 6 entry, drove from ninth to fourth on Friday at the historic half mile.
It marks the third top-six finish of the week for the three-time winner this year.
– After a slow start to PA Speedweek, All Star Circuit of Champions competitor Justin Peck has two podium efforts over the past four races in the mini series.
The 22-year-old Indiana product placed third at Williams Grove, adding to his wire-to-wire victory from Monday at Lincoln Speedway.
Pecks remains fourth in PA Speedweek, now 114 off Danny Dietrich’s leading pace.
.@Justin_peck5 coolin’ with the 2013 National Open champ.
— Kyle McFadden (@ByKyleMcFadden) July 2, 2021
The @ASCoC regular won Monday at @lincolnspeedway and sits fourth in the @PASpeedWeek points, 118 off the pace. pic.twitter.com/MDhNO9DYwd
– Former World of Outlaws NOS Energy Sprint Car Series champion Daryn Pittman earned hard charger honors on Friday, surging from 16th to sixth in the 30-lap feature.
Pittman will close out his three-race PA Speedweek tonight at Port Royal Speedway in the Swindell SpeedLab No. 39.