FORT WORTH, Texas — Brent Marks made the long journey from Pennsylvania to Texas Motor Speedway worth the haul, claiming victory on night one of the Wildcard Shuffle.
The event was co-sanctioned by the POWRi Outlaw Sprints and the Elite 410 Outlaw Sprints.
Taking the track into the initial green flag start with high-point qualifier Brent Marks and Brenham Crouch lined up in the front row, Crouch grabbed the lead, with Marks, Blake Hahn and Sam Hafertepe Jr. chasing.
Cruising to a comfortable lead, Crouch maintained momentum pacing the field as drivers all jockeyed for positions with Marks quickly gaining on the leader as lapped traffic began to come into play.
Battling tooth-and-nail for several laps for the lead, Crouch and Marks put on a dazzling display of driving with both drivers swapping the top spot on each end of the track.
Slightly misjudging the entrance of turns one and two was the difference maker as Marks took the top position from rouch with Crouch trying to keep pace only to spin while in the runner-up spot.
Holding stead out front for the final revolutions, Marks earned his first career POWRi and Elite 410 Outlaw Sprint victory in an action-packed main event with Hahn hustling into the runner-up position late.
“This track was tricky and technical tonight. Trying not to burn off my tires early while also trying hard to stay with Brenham was difficult,” Marks said. “It’s great to get a feel for the track and to get my first victory here at Texas Motor Speedway, the whole crew did a great job all around today.”
Noah Gass raced from fifth to finish third, with Wayne Johnson and Sam Hafertepe Jr. rounding out the top five.
The finish:
Feature (25 Laps): 1. 19-Brent Marks[1]; 2. 52-Blake Hahn[3]; 3. 20G-Noah Gass[5]; 4. 2C-Wayne Johnson[7]; 5. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[6]; 6. 23B-Brian Bell[8]; 7. 4M-Austin Mundie[4]; 8. 10G-Marcus Thomas[20]; 9. 1-Brenham Crouch[2]; 10. 2B-Brett Becker[9]; 11. 44-Chris Martin[14]; 12. 01J-Jeb Sessums[16]; 13. 72-Blaine Baxter[15]; 14. 9$-Kyle Clark[18]; 15. 3D-Jeff Day Jr[21]; 16. 16G-Austyn Gossel[12]; 17. 17-Matt Etzelmiller[22]; 18. 1J-Danny Jennings[10]; 19. 88R-Ryder Laplante[11]; 20. 10-Bryan Debrick[23]; 21. 17H-Wout Hoffmans[17]; 22. 4-Cameron Martin[13]; 23. 42P-Preston Perlmutter[19]; 24. 21-Michelle Parson[24]; 25. J2-John Carney II[25].