Brent Marks opens Sharon Nationals weekend with $6,000 score
HARTFORD, Ohio (September 2, 2022) - Although denied a Buckeye Cup victory in April as the result of a last-ditch effort maneuver by Lane Racing’s Cap Henry, the “Myerstown Missile” Brent Marks found $6,000 worth of redemption Friday night in Sharon Speedway’s Sharon Nationals opener, securing not only his first-ever Tezos All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 victory at the Hartford, Ohio, oval, but simultaneously securing his fourth Series victory of the season, bumping his career total to eight in the process. The 2022 Dean Knittel Memorial champion, a $20,554 All Star triumph at Portsmouth Raceway Park, commenced his winning charge from the front row, taking command from Bill Balog on lap eight and never looking back.
Although solidly in command for over half of the 30-lap program, Marks’ crusade to the top of the podium did not come without challenges. In fact, Marks was forced to fend off two of the best in the business including National Sprint Car Hall of Famer, Dale Blaney, as well as defending All Star champion and current point leader, Tyler Courney. Blaney was the first to apply pressure, keeping tabs on the Murray-Marks Motorsports No. 19M following a caution on lap 11. Despite all attempts, Marks eventually escaped Blaney’s grip, utilizing a lapped car as a pick to keep the Hall of Famer at bay.
Courtney slipped by Blaney for second on lap 23 and then proceeded to track down Marks. To Courtney’s dismay, time ran out, forced to take a backseat to the former Outlaw followed by Bill Balog, Blaney, and Hunter Schuerenberg.
“I knew it had to be close,” Brent Marks expressed in Sharon Speedway victory lane. “We had one heck of a night. Forced to bounce back after a crash during qualifying, the guys busted their butts to get us back out there for the heat race. The driveline was still bent after the heat, so we had to come back and replace that. I’m just so thankful for them to work their butts off to get us back to where we are now.
“With so much going on, we really didn’t get a chance to analyze any setups,” Marks continued. “It wasn’t until after the dash that we got a chance to kinda sit down and discuss our approach. Even at that point, we were still kinda guessing on what this thing needed.”
Sharon Speedway’s Sharon Nationals will continue Saturday, September 3, with the Lou Blaney Memorial, commemorating the life and achievements of National Sprint Car Hall of Famer, Lou Blaney, as well as feature the All Stars at Sharon Speedway for the final time this season.
For those who can not witness the All Star Circuit of Champions live and in person, FloRacing.com, the official media partner and broadcast provider of the All Stars, has you covered. To access live and on-demand racing action from the All Star Circuit of Champions, visit FloRacing.com and become an annual PRO subscriber. Race fans can see all the USAC and dirt late-model action they want in addition to Eldora Speedway’s slate of races and those of the All Star Circuit of Champions. The subscription unlocks access to premium content across the entire FloSports network. Watch the events across all screens by downloading the FloSports app on iOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire and Chromecast.
Contingency Awards/Results: Sharon Speedway | September 2, 2022:Sharon Nationals| $6,000-to-win
Kistler Racing Products Pill Draw | Entries: 40
Nunzi’s Advertising Hot Laps: Rico Abreu | 14.826Dixie Vodka Fast Qualifier: Brent Marks | 14.805
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #1 Winner: Justin Peck
Competition Suspension Inc Heat #2 Winner: Zeb Wise
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #3 Winner: Bill BalogMobil 1 Heat #4 Winner: AJ FlickElliott’s Custom Trailers and Carts Dash Winner: Brent MarksClassic Ink USA Screenprinting and Embroidery B-Main Winner: Kasey KahneRayce Rudeen Foundation Contingency Award: Cody Bova
Tezos A-Main Winner: Brent Marks (4)
Hercules Tires A-Main Hard Charger: Cap Henry (+11)
Carquest Perseverance Award: Lee Jacobs
Qualifying
Group (A)
10B-Dale Blaney, 14.957; 2. 13-Justin Peck, 14.989; 3. 18-Gio Scelzi, 15.037; 4. 4-Cap Henry, 15.059; 5. 24-Rico Abreu, 15.139; 6. 20B-Cody Bova, 15.383; 7. 9-Kasey Kahne, 15.432; 8. 23-Darren Pifer, 15.766; 9. 6-Bob Felmlee, 15.837; 10. 47-Brett Brunkenhoefer, 16.554
Group (B)
19M-Brent Marks, 14.805; 2. 26-Zeb Wise, 15.056; 3. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg, 15.264; 4. 11-Anthony Macri, 15.298; 5. 97-Greg Wilson, 15.479; 6. 5-Jeremy Weaver, 15.500; 7. 22-Cole Duncan, 15.722; 8. 29-Logan McCandless, 15.793; 9. 28M-Conner Morrell, 16.178; 10. 86-Mike Lutz Jr., 17.621
Group (C)
42-Sye Lynch, 15.159; 2. 17B-Bill Balog, 15.205; 3. 7BC-Tyler Courtney, 15.398; 4. O8-Dan Kuriger, 15.516; 5. 22S-Brandon Spithaler, 15.684; 6. 91-Kyle Reinhardt, 15.795; 7. 81-Lee Jacobs, 15.895; 8. 11B-Carl Bowser, 16.104; 9. 22R-Ryan Fredericks, 16.354; 10. 32V-Vivian Jones, 16.516
Group (D)
10-Dave Blaney, 15.185; 2. 2-AJ Flick, 15.355; 3. 33-Brent Matus, 15.465; 4. 5K-Adam Kekich, 15.674; 5. 19-Chris Windom, 15.706; 6. 40-George Hobaugh, 15.843; 7. 17-Jordan Thomas, 15.889; 8. 13M-Brandon Matus, 15.979; 9. 11J-David Kalb Jr., 99.998; 10. 46-Michael Bauer, 99.999
Heat 1 (8 Laps) - Top 5 Transfer
13-Justin Peck [1]; 2. 18-Gio Scelzi [2]; 3. 10B-Dale Blaney [4]; 4. 24-Rico Abreu [5]; 5. 4-Cap Henry [3]; 6. 9-Kasey Kahne [7]; 7. 20B-Cody Bova [6]; 8. 6-Bob Felmlee [9]; 9. 47-Brett Brunkenhoefer [10]; 10. 23-Darren Pifer [8]
Heat 2 (8 Laps) - Top 5 Transfer
26-Zeb Wise [1]; 2. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [2]; 3. 11-Anthony Macri [3]; 4. 19M-Brent Marks [4]; 5. 97-Greg Wilson [5]; 6. 22-Cole Duncan [7]; 7. 5-Jeremy Weaver [6]; 8. 29-Logan McCandless [8]; 9. 28M-Conner Morrell [9]; 10. 86-Mike Lutz Jr. [10]
Heat 3 (8 Laps) - Top 5 Transfer
17B-Bill Balog [1]; 2. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [2]; 3. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [6]; 4. 42-Sye Lynch [4]; 5. O8-Dan Kuriger [3]; 6. 81-Lee Jacobs [7]; 7. 22S-Brandon Spithaler [5]; 8. 11B-Carl Bowser [8]; 9. 32V-Vivian Jones [10]; 10. 22R-Ryan Fredericks [9]
Heat 4 (8 Laps) - Top 5 Transfer
2-AJ Flick [1]; 2. 33-Brent Matus [2]; 3. 10-Dave Blaney [4]; 4. 19-Chris Windom [5]; 5. 5K-Adam Kekich [3]; 6. 40-George Hobaugh [6]; 7. 17-Jordan Thomas [7]; 8. 46-Michael Bauer [10]; 9. 13M-Brandon Matus [8]; 10. 11J-David Kalb Jr. [9]
Dash (6 Laps)
19M-Brent Marks [1]; 2. 17B-Bill Balog [2]; 3. 10-Dave Blaney [4]; 4. 10B-Dale Blaney [3]; 5. 13-Justin Peck [5]; 6. 26-Zeb Wise [7]; 7. 2-AJ Flick [8]; 8. 42-Sye Lynch [6]
B-main (12 Laps) - Top 4 Transfer
9-Kasey Kahne [2]; 2. 22-Cole Duncan [3]; 3. 81-Lee Jacobs [5]; 4. 40-George Hobaugh [4]; 5. 20B-Cody Bova [1]; 6. 5-Jeremy Weaver [6]; 7. 17-Jordan Thomas [8]; 8. 6-Bob Felmlee [10]; 9. 22S-Brandon Spithaler [7]; 10. 46-Michael Bauer [12]; 11. 11B-Carl Bowser [11]; 12. 47-Brett Brunkenhoefer [16]; 13. 29-Logan McCandless [9]; 14. 22R-Ryan Fredericks [18]; 15. 32V-Vivian Jones [15]; 16. 28M-Conner Morrell [14]; 17. 13M-Brandon Matus [13]; 18. 23-Darren Pifer [17]; 19. 86-Mike Lutz Jr. [19]; 20. 11J-David Kalb Jr. [20]
A-main (30 Laps)
19M-Brent Marks [1]; 2. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [11]; 3. 17B-Bill Balog [2]; 4. 10B-Dale Blaney [4]; 5. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [10]; 6. 4-Cap Henry [17]; 7. 2-AJ Flick [7]; 8. 24-Rico Abreu [15]; 9. 26-Zeb Wise [6]; 10. 18-Gio Scelzi [9]; 11. 42-Sye Lynch [8]; 12. 11-Anthony Macri [13]; 13. 19-Chris Windom [16]; 14. 97-Greg Wilson [18]; 15. 22-Cole Duncan [22]; 16. 9-Kasey Kahne [21]; 17. 33-Brent Matus [12]; 18. 81-Lee Jacobs [23]; 19. 5K-Adam Kekich [20]; 20. 10-Dave Blaney [3]; 21. 13-Justin Peck [5]; 22. O8-Dan Kuriger [19]; 23. 40-George Hobaugh [24]; 24. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [14] Lap Leaders: Bill Balog (1-7), Brent Marks (8-30)
2022 All Star Circuit of Champions Driver Standings (as of September 2):Tyler Courtney - 5628Justin Peck - 5478Cap Henry - 5272Hunter Schuerenberg - 5178Zeb Wise - 5164Bill Balog - 5150Chris Windom - 4898Kyle Reinhardt - 4814Parker Price-Miller - 4288Cory Eliason - 3728