(Courtesy WoO PR) ROSSBURG, OH – September 21, 2018 — On an emotional night at one of the most famous dirt tracks in the world, Brent Marks won a thrilling race, passing fellow Central Pennsylvania Outlaw Logan Schuchart for the lead on Lap 23 and holding off a furious charge from 13th-starting Dave Blaney, Schuchart and 23rd-starting Greg Wilson. It was Marks’ third career World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series victory and first at the historic Eldora Speedway. Marks dedicated the win to Greg Hodnett, who passed tragically the night before in an unsanctioned race in Pennsylvania.
Logan Schuchart won the Sears Craftsman Dash to earn the pole for the 30-Lap Feature, alongside David Gravel. Schuchart darted out to the early lead and Brent Marks, who started third, blasted around the bottom to take second down the backstretch.
Schuchart set a torrid pace out front as Marks went to war with Kraig Kinser for the runner-up position. With Marks banging down the cushion and Kinser catfishing around the bottom, the duo battled side-by-side for the better part of five laps.
As Schuchart reached heavy lapped traffic, Kinser and Marks’ battle continued and they both closed in on the Shark Racing No.1S. Kinser edged Marks by a nose at the line on Lap 12, which would prove crucial as the caution would fly for Parker Price-Miller, who lost a left rear tire running in the top ten.
Schuchart elected the bottom on the double-file restart, moving Kinser to his outside. Kinser, who was glued to the bottom prior to the caution, fell back on the start, as Marks moved back into second. Some contact the following lap between a slew of cars in the top ten, sent Gio Scelzi high into turn one, grazing the wall. Scelzi came down off the wall and got together with Daryn Pittman, resulting in the Kasey Kahne Racing No.9 upside down. Both drivers were uninjured but done for the evening.
The ensuing double-file restart saw Schuchart again choose the bottom with Marks to his outside this time. Schuchart remained in command with Marks in tow. 13th-starting Dave Blaney threw his name in the ring, battling Gravel and Kinser for the third position, three-wide at times.
Simultaneously, 23rd-starting Greg Wilson was coming, in typical Greg Wilson Eldora fashion, glued to the inside guard rail.
Back up front, Marks was closing in on Schuchart and threw a slide job for the lead into turn one on Lap 23. Schuchart fought back underneath Marks to maintain the lead going into turn three, where he went to the bottom. Marks put his family-owned No.19 right up against the wall, grabbing the cushion off of turn four and taking command of the field to lead the lap.
Marks powered away from Schuchart, who now had his hands full with the hard-charging Blaney and Wilson. Blaney took second from Schuchart and set his sights on Marks. After Marks got held up ever so slightly in traffic, Blaney attempted a slide job in turn three with three laps remaining, but Marks stayed on the gas and powered around the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame member to maintain control.
Blaney’s slide job attempt for the lead cost him momentum as Wilson and Schuchart, who found late race speed right up against the outside wall, caught and surpassed the veteran by the White Flag.
But tonight, there was no catching Brent Marks, as the Myerstown, PA native went on to win his third World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series Feature of the season and of his career.
“We’re all really thinking about Greg [Hodnett] and his family, he’s somebody I’ve respected tremendously throughout my whole career and was always a fan of growing up in Central Pennsylvania. This race is for him and his whole family and everyone back in Pennsylvania mourning his loss,” an emotional Marks said to a large applause from the Eldora Speedway crowd.
“This is awesome, I can’t believe I won a race at Eldora. This is my first Outlaw win that my Mom and Dad were able to see. I can’t thank my guys Jesse and Dallas enough, and we just added Jim Shuttlesworth. Last week was our first weekend together, we kept talking and improving throughout the night and working together well. This is special, I can’t believe I’m standing in Victory Lane at Eldora,” Marks added.
When asked about the race itself, Marks talked about the tricky cushion, “I knew I needed to be more aggressive on the wall, but the top was right up against the wall and I didn’t want to tear this thing up. I changed my entry into turn three and Logan started coming to me,”
“I can’t believe it’s my sophomore season with the World of Outlaws and I have three wins now, I can’t thank everyone who helps out with this operation enough,” Marks concluded.
Fellow Central Pennsylvania native Logan Schuchart settled for second after leading 22 laps, “It’s tough, lapped cars are so hard to judge. It’s hard leading a race and knowing where to go, I didn’t feel as comfortable up top and I felt I was slowing down, so I moved down. Brent drove a great race.”
“This is all for the Heffner Racing No.27 team and everybody back home, we’ve got a couple of PA boys up front and this is all for them,” Schuchart added with emotion.
The obvious KSE Hard Charger was 23rd-starting Greg Wilson who finished on the podium for the second time this year at Eldora.
“We’re good when it slicks off. This is how the tracks need to be. The race track was awesome tonight, there was passing,” Wilson said before reflecting about the recent tragedy in Sprint Car Racing.
“My heart goes out to the Hodnett family. I woke up this morning and looked at my wife and girls and wondered if I should keep doing this. I love it, though. I wouldn’t trade this opportunity to race with my wife and kids at Eldora in front of all you fans for anything,” Wilson, the Ohio native, said to a thunderous roar from the crowd.
Dave Blaney faded to fourth in the closing laps, still no small feat coming from 13th, with Gravel completing the top five.
Kraig Kinser was strong all evening and settled for sixth with Hunter Schuerenburg, who set Quick Time, and Sheldon Haudenschild finishing seventh and eighth, respectively. Rico Abreu charged from 21st to ninth with 17th-starting Jason Sides completing the top-ten.
In Eldora Stock Car competition, Paul Pardo charged from his 8th place starting position to win his fourth feature event of the year. The race served as the 2018 finale for the division. Gary Rahe Jr earned his second consecutive track title.
WORLD OF OUTLAWS
Qualifying Flight-A: 1. 71-Giovanni Scelzi, 13.005; 2. 13-Paul McMahan, 13.041; 3. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 13.115; 4. 71P-Parker Price-Miller, 13.144; 5. 18-Ian Madsen, 13.147; 6. 24-Rico Abreu, 13.157; 7. 2-Shane Stewart, 13.159; 8. 19-Brent Marks, 13.165; 9. 70-Dave Blaney, 13.186; 10. 49X-Tim Shaffer, 13.209; 11. 7S-Jason Sides, 13.217; 12. 4-Brock Zearfoss, 13.28; 13. 99-Brady Bacon, 13.319; 14. 3G-Carson Macedo, 13.322; 15. 1A-Jacob Allen, 13.376; 16. 7K-Cale Conley, 13.394; 17. 71M-Randy Hannagan, 13.469; 18. 5T-Travis Philo, 13.547; 19. 49D-Shawn Dancer, 13.635; 20. 10P-Jim Perricone, 14.35; 21. 5QB-Quentin Blonde, 14.756
Qualifying Flight-B: 1. 97G-Hunter Schuerenberg, 12.987; 2. 5-David Gravel, 13.001; 3. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 13.06; 4. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 13.082; 5. 49-Brad Sweet, 13.092; 6. 9-Daryn Pittman, 13.099; 7. 17X-Aaron Reutzel, 13.114; 8. 12N-Cole Duncan, 13.131; 9. W20-Greg Wilson, 13.137; 10. 15-Donny Schatz, 13.165; 11. 19P-Paige Polyak, 13.32; 12. 3-Jac Haudenschild, 13.341; 13. 45-Trevor Baker, 13.395; 14. 59-Cory Eliason, 13.451; 15. 11N-Michael Kofoid, 13.497; 16. 97-Caleb Helms, 13.566; 17. O7-Jacob Wilson, 13.691; 18. 22M-Dan McCarron, 13.787; 19. 5H-Jordan Harble, 13.806; 20. 42-Ty Tilton, 13.898
Heat #1 – Flight (A) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer – 1. 11K-Kraig Kinser [2]; 2. 71-Giovanni Scelzi [1]; 3. 2-Shane Stewart [4]; 4. 70-Dave Blaney [5]; 5. 7S-Jason Sides [6]; 6. 18-Ian Madsen [3]; 7. 99-Brady Bacon [7]; 8. 1A-Jacob Allen [8]; 9. 49D-Shawn Dancer [10]; 10. 5QB-Quentin Blonde [11]; 11. 71M-Randy Hannagan [9]
Heat #2 – Flight (A) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer – 1. 13-Paul McMahan [1]; 2. 19-Brent Marks [4]; 3. 71P-Parker Price-Miller [2]; 4. 4-Brock Zearfoss [6]; 5. 49X-Tim Shaffer [5]; 6. 24-Rico Abreu [3]; 7. 7K-Cale Conley [8]; 8. 3G-Carson Macedo [7]; 9. 10P-Jim Perricone [10]; 10. 5T-Travis Philo [9]
Heat #3 – Flight (B) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer – 1. 1S-Logan Schuchart [2]; 2. 97G-Hunter Schuerenberg [1]; 3. 49-Brad Sweet [3]; 4. 17X-Aaron Reutzel [4]; 5. 19P-Paige Polyak [6]; 6. 11N-Michael Kofoid [8]; 7. W20-Greg Wilson [5]; 8. 45-Trevor Baker [7]; 9. O7-Jacob Wilson [9]; 10. 5H-Jordan Harble [10]
Heat #4 – Flight (B) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer – 1. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [2]; 2. 5-David Gravel [1]; 3. 3-Jac Haudenschild [6]; 4. 9-Daryn Pittman [3]; 5. 12N-Cole Duncan [4]; 6. 15-Donny Schatz [5]; 7. 59-Cory Eliason [7]; 8. 97-Caleb Helms [8]; 9. 22M-Dan McCarron [9]; 10. 42-Ty Tilton [10]
Sears Craftsman Dash (6 Laps) – 1. 1S-Logan Schuchart [2]; 2. 5-David Gravel [8]; 3. 19-Brent Marks [7]; 4. 97G-Hunter Schuerenberg [6]; 5. 11K-Kraig Kinser [1]; 6. 71-Giovanni Scelzi [5]; 7. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [4]; 8. 13-Paul McMahan [3]
C-Main (10 Laps) – Top 2 Transfer – 1. 7K-Cale Conley [1][-]; 2. 71M-Randy Hannagan [3][-]; 3. 5T-Travis Philo [5][$150]; 4. O7-Jacob Wilson [4][$150]; 5. 97-Caleb Helms [2][$150]; 6. 49D-Shawn Dancer [7][$125]; 7. 22M-Dan McCarron [6][$125]; 8. 42-Ty Tilton [10][$125]; 9. 5H-Jordan Harble [8][$125]; 10. 10P-Jim Perricone [9][$125]; 11. 5QB-Quentin Blonde [11][$125]
Last Chance Showdown (12 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer – 1. 24-Rico Abreu [3][-]; 2. 18-Ian Madsen [1][-]; 3. W20-Greg Wilson [2][-]; 4. 3G-Carson Macedo [7][-]; 5. 15-Donny Schatz [4][$300]; 6. 1A-Jacob Allen [9][$250]; 7. 59-Cory Eliason [8][$225]; 8. 99-Brady Bacon [5][$200]; 9. 45-Trevor Baker [6][$200]; 10. 71M-Randy Hannagan [12][$200]; 11. 7K-Cale Conley [11][$200]; 12. 11N-Michael Kofoid [10][$200]
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 19-Brent Marks [3][$10,000]; 2. 1S-Logan Schuchart [1][$5,500]; 3. W20-Greg Wilson [23][$3,200]; 4. 70-Dave Blaney [13][$2,800]; 5. 5-David Gravel [2][$2,500]; 6. 11K-Kraig Kinser [5][$2,300]; 7. 97G-Hunter Schuerenberg [4][$2,200]; 8. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [7][$2,100]; 9. 24-Rico Abreu [21][$2,050]; 10. 7S-Jason Sides [17][$2,000]; 11. 3G-Carson Macedo [24][$1,500]; 12. 49-Brad Sweet [10][$1,200]; 13. 15-Donny Schatz [25][$300]; 14. 4-Brock Zearfoss [15][$1,050]; 15. 12N-Cole Duncan [20][$1,000]; 16. 1A-Jacob Allen [26][$100]; 17. 2-Shane Stewart [9][$800]; 18. 18-Ian Madsen [22][$800]; 19. 49X-Tim Shaffer [19][$800]; 20. 71P-Parker Price-Miller [11][$800]; 21. 3-Jac Haudenschild [12][$800]; 22. 17X-Aaron Reutzel [14][$800]; 23. 71-Giovanni Scelzi [6][$800]; 24. 9-Daryn Pittman [16][$800]; 25. 19P-Paige Polyak [18][$800]; 26. 13-Paul McMahan [8][$800]; Lap Leaders: Logan Schuchart 1-22, Brent Marks 23-30; KSE Hard Charger Award: W20-Greg Wilson[+20]
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STOCK CARS
Qualifying 1. 410-Paul Pardo, 18.644; 2. 99J-Donnie Jeschke, 18.971; 3. 27-Frank Paladino, 19.084; 4. O1-Earnie Woodard, 19.156; 5. J1-Jeff Matheny, 19.161; 6. 91-Rob Trent, 19.312; 7. 463-Daniel Sanchez, 19.390; 8. 5W-Craig Swartz, 19.485; 9. 11-TJ Smith, 19.545; 10. 95-Gary Rahe Jr., 19.582; 11. OOP-Dean Pitts, 19.703; 12. 17H-Red Harvey Jr., 19.861; 13. 82-Chris Douglas, 19.870; 14. 17C-Jeremy Creech, 19.945; 15. 87-Andy Welch, 19.952; 16. 23-Casey Barr, 19.961; 17. 15-Drew Trick, 20.144; 18. J2-Keith Lyall, 20.367
Heat #1 – (8)Laps – Top 10 Transfer 1. 410-Paul Pardo[6]; 2. OOP-Dean Pitts[1]; 3. J1-Jeff Matheny[4]; 4. 463-Daniel Sanchez[3]; 5. 11-TJ Smith[2]; 6. 82-Chris Douglas[7]; 7. 27-Frank Paladino[5]; 8. 15-Drew Trick[9]; 9. 87-Andy Welch[8]
Heat #2 – (8)Laps – Top 10 Transfer 1. 99J-Donnie Jeschke[6]; 2. 91-Rob Trent[4]; 3. 95-Gary Rahe Jr.[2]; 4. O1-Earnie Woodard[5]; 5. 17C-Jeremy Creech[7]; 6. 5W-Craig Swartz[3]; 7. 17H-Red Harvey Jr.[1]; 8. J2-Keith Lyall[9]; 9. 23-Casey Barr[8]
A-Feature – (15)Laps 1. 410-Paul Pardo[8]; 2. 91-Rob Trent[4]; 3. 99J-Donnie Jeschke[7]; 4. 463-Daniel Sanchez[3]; 5. J1-Jeff Matheny[5]; 6. 82-Chris Douglas[11]; 7. 17C-Jeremy Creech[10]; 8. 11-TJ Smith[9]; 9. OOP-Dean Pitts[1]; 10. 95-Gary Rahe Jr.[2]; 11. 5W-Craig Swartz[12]; 12. O1-Earnie Woodard[6]; 13. 27-Frank Paladino[13]; 14. 17H-Red Harvey Jr.[14]; 15. 23-Casey Barr[18]; 16. 15-Drew Trick[15]; 17. 87-Andy Welch[17]; 18. J2-Keith Lyall[16]
USAC SILVER CROWN
Qualifying 1. 81-Shane Cottle, 16.764; 2. 20-Jerry Coons Jr, 16.888; 3. 17-Chris Windom, 16.935; 4. 6-Brady Bacon, 16.993; 5. 63-Kody Swanson, 16.993; 6. 97-Tyler Courtney, 16.998; 7. 9-Jason McDougal, 17.002; 8. 30-CJ Leary, 17.011; 9. 39-Matt Goodnight, 17.118; 10. 56-Kevin Thomas Jr, 17.146; 11. 7-Kyle Robbins, 17.179; 12. 91-Justin Grant, 17.250; 13. 40-David Byrne, 17.306; 14. 26-Aaron Pierce, 17.333; 15. 16-Austin Nemire, 17.543; 16. 118-Travis Welpott, 17.554; 17. 124-Mike Haggenbottom, 17.714; 18. O7-Jacob Wilson, 17.765; 19. 53-Steve Buckwalter, 18.034; 20. 89-Chris Fetter, 18.513; 21. 31-Dave Berkheimer, 19.076
(Racing portion of Silver Crown race takes place September 22)
Courtesy Campbell Photo