8/12/2023
Mike Marlar
Mike Marlar scores North-South prelim at Florence Speedway
Mike Marlar took the Delk Equipment Sales No. 157 Longhorn Chassis Late Model into battle with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series (LOLMDS) at Florence Speedway (Union, Ky.) as the 41st annual Sunoco North-South 100 weekend kicked off with prelims on Thursday and Friday leading up to Saturday’s main event.
With 61-car field split in two, Marlar claimed the fast time honors in his group before placing third in his heat. Rolling off 10th for the feature, Mike soared into the lead on lap 16 and held off Kyle Bronson after a pair of late cautions to secure his second straight victory and ninth overall of the season. He collected a $5,000 payday ahead of Bronson, Brandon Overton, Jonathan Davenport, and Spencer Hughes.
For Friday’s $5,000-to-win preliminary feature, Mike took the green in sixth via a runner-up finish in his heat and went onto place fourth in the 25-lapper. He trailed Ricky Thornton Jr., Daulton Wilson, Ryan Gustin to the checkers with Chris Ferguson coming in fifth.
With the invert placing him on the second row of his heat race on Saturday, Marlar dropped two spots to finish sixth, relegating him into a consolation race for a final shot at the $75,000-to-win Sunoco North-South 100. Sending the top-two into the finale, Mike advanced forward four spots but missed a transfer position by two cars. He earned a spot into the $2,000-to-win non-qualifier feature but elected to scratch.
Full results from the events are available at www.LucasDirt.com.
Article Credit: Michael Boggs Photography
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