American Racing News Vol 1, Issue 2 Issue 7 | Page 32

Mike Marlar Magnificent; Wins Lucas
Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals

KNOXVILLE, IOWA (September
17, 2016) - Mike Marlar led the
final 60 laps of the 100 lap Lucas
Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals - capturing the biggest win of
his career. Marlar earned $40,000
for the victory in Saturday Night's
13th Annual Event in the Ronnie
Delk Racing/Delk Equipment
Sales/Cornett Racing
Engines/Capital Race Car.

"It's a good life, it's awesome to
win here," said the 38-year-old
Marlar in Lucas Oil Victory Lane.
Knoxville [Raceway] is one of my
favorite tracks, if not my favorite
to race at. It can scare you to death,
but it's awesome! I knew
Bloomquist was on me. When he
pulled alongside me a few times
and got by I just let the car go up
top and it stuck."

The current Lucas Oil Late Model
Dirt Series points leader, Scott
Bloomquist finished in second.
Bobby Pierce came home in third;
Shane Clanton and Billy Moyer
completed the top five.

"We had an awesome car. We are
not a full-time race team, but we
put it on them tonight. I said on
Wednesday when I left the house, I
am confident going into this event.
You don't drive 14 hours to one of
the biggest races in the country
when you aren't. We've got the
equipment and the team. We've got
the stuff to do this," said Marlar
after posting his sixth career LOLMDS victory.

Jimmy Owens led the first ten laps
of the race until Josh Richards took
over the top spot. Richards then
lead until lap 39 when Marlar powered to the point from his fourth
starting position. Marlar held off
Bloomquist and Richards the rest
of the way for the win. Richards
slowed with five laps to go and
headed pitside, giving up a podium
finish.

Bloomquist drove his Reece Monument Company/Crop Production
Services/Sweet-Bloomquist Chassis to finish second, solidifying his
series points lead. "Maybe some

long runs would have helped us. I
just had to get some heat in the
front tires. He [Marlar] had a great
run tonight. He ran a good-line all
night. You can't help but have fun
at this place. If you're not having
fun at this place, then you need to
quit."
In his first appearance at Knoxville since 2012, Bobby Pierce battled to the third spot when Billy
Moyer ran out of fuel on the final
lap. "I can't say enough about the
car. We started to get tight there at
the end. It was really fun out there.
I fell way back for a while. We got
lucky here and there. Some guys
fell out with fuel issues. I don't
think I have any fuel left in the car
right now. I would like to thank
Berger Marina for coming on
board this weekend helping us with
a motor."
Completing the top ten were Jimmy Mars, Tim McCreadie, Kyle
Bronson, Dennis Erb Jr., and Darrell Lanigan.