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Night 18 of the 26-Event UMP DIRTcar Racing Summernationals:
Marlar Gets Back On Track With Victory At Fairbury
FAIRBURY, IL July 7, 2007 Mike Marlar is back on track along the UMP DIRTcar
Racing Summernationals road and not a moment too soon.
With the grueling month-long dirt Late Model tour of the Midwest heading into
its final week, Winfield, Tenn.s Marlar shook off a recent stretch of bad luck
to win Saturday nights 50-lap A-Main at Fairbury American Legion Speedway.
Marlar came out on top of a very competitive race that featured multiple lead
changes among four drivers. He grabbed the lead from Jimmy Mars of Menomonie,
Wis., shortly after the halfway point and held off a late challenge from 2005-06
Summernationals champion Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., to record his third
victory of the 2007 tour.
The $10,000 triumph helped Marlar, a Summernationals regular for the first time
in his career, stay in the thick of the battle for the $25,000 series title. He
got off to a great start on this years tour nine top-five finishes, including
two wins, in the first 11 events but he then ran into some trouble, scoring
just two top-10 finishes in the next six events.
Marlar was at his Summernationals low point entering Saturday nights action,
with consecutive last-place finishes on his ledger. He was 21st on July 3 at
Lawrenceburg (Ind.) Speedway (engine problems) and 22nd on July 6 at Tri-City
Speedway in Pontoon Beach, Ill. (black-flagged after an altercation with Randy
Korte), leaving him third in the point standings and on the verge of dropping
from contention.
With a fresh engine under the hood of his Stephens Motorsports No. 34, Marlar
was re-energized at Fairbury. He came from the 12th starting spot to take the
victory by the length of a door over Babb, who has regained his usual contending
form since debuting a new Rayburn car one week ago.
Mars, who swapped the lead several times with Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark.,
before the halfway mark, settled for a third-place finish. Moyer was fourth and
Summernationals points leader Dennis Erb Jr. of Carpentersville, Ill., placed
fifth.
Steve Sheppard Jr. of New Berlin, Ill., led the races first lap but faded to a
sixth-place finish.
Erb now leads Don ONeal of Martinsville, Ind., who finished 10th, by 28 points
and Marlar by 50 points after 18 events of the 2007 UMP DIRTcar Racing
Summernationals.
With 36 dirt Late Models on hand, Moyers lap of 12.98 seconds was the best of
the group qualifying session.
Heat winners were Moyer, Mars, Sheppard and Scott Bull of Fairbury, Ill., and
the B-Mains were captured by Richie Hedrick of Urbana, Ill., and A.J. Diemel of
Navarino, Wis.
UMP DIRTcar Racing Summernationals A-Main Finish (50 laps):
1. Mike Marlar
2. Shannon Babb
3. Jimmy Mars
4. Billy Moyer
5. Dennis Erb Jr.
6. Steve Sheppard Jr.
7. Scott Bull
8. Joe Harlan
9. Brian Shirley
10. Don O'Neal
11. A.J. Diemel
12. Eddie Kirchoff
13. Kevin Weaver
14. Ryan Dauber
15. Donny Walden
16. Wes Steidinger
17. Darren Friedmen
18. Jeep VanWormer
19. John Provenzano
20. Junior Shickel
DNQ: Lee Thomason, Jay Sparks, George Scheffler, Mike Provenzano, Jeff Beyers,
Ryan Unzicker, Derek Chandler, Larry Riekert, Kyle Logue, Eric Vaughan, Mike
Mulvain, Shawn Toczek, Snooky Dehm, Lisa Shickel, Jason McBride
UMP DIRTcar Racing Summernationals Point Standings (after 18 events):
1. Dennis Erb Jr. 1,236
2. Don ONeal 1,208
3. Mike Marlar 1,186
4. Wes Steidinger 1,140
5. Jeep VanWormer 1,086
6. Steve Sheppard Jr. 1,074
7. Rodney Melvin 866
8. Randy Korte 826
9. Eddie Kirchoff 778
10. Kevin Weaver 776
11. Jason Feger 752
12. Terry Casey 686
13. Billy Moyer 650
14. A.J. Diemel 630
15. Shannon Babb 383
16. Jordan Bland 342
17. Greg Johnson 314
18. Rusty Schlenk 313
19. Ryan Dauber 297
20. Jeff Taylor 275
2007 UMP DIRTcar Racing Summernationals Schedule
6/15 Fri. Kankakee Motor Speedway/Kankakee, IL (Dennis Erb Jr.)
6/16 Sat. Kamp Motor Speedway/Boswell, IN (Dennis Erb Jr.)
6/17 Sun. Tri-State Speedway/Haubstadt, IN (Randy Korte)
6/18 Mon. Jefferson County Raceway/Mt. Vernon, IL (Randy Korte)
6/19 Tues. Lebanon I-44 Speedway/Lebanon, MO (Mike Marlar)
6/20 Wed. Highland Speedway/Highland, IL (Dennis Erb Jr.)
6/21 Thurs. Morgan County Speedway/Jacksonville, IL (Kevin Weaver)
6/22 Fri. Farmer City Raceway/Farmer City, IL (Rain Rescheduled to July
13)
6/23 Sat. I-55 Raceway/Pevely, MO (Mike Marlar)
6/24 Sun. Lincoln Speedway/Lincoln, IL (Don ONeal)
6/25 Mon. Peoria Speedway/Peoria, IL (Dennis Erb Jr.)
6/26 Tues. Poplar Bluff Speedway/Poplar Bluff, MO (Billy Moyer)
6/27 Wed. Lake Ozark Speedway/Eldon, MO (Rain)
6/28 Thurs. Paducah International Raceway/Paducah, KY (Billy Moyer)
6/29 Fri. Western Kentucky Speedway/Nebo, KY (Rain)
6/30 Sat. Clarksville Speedway/Clarksville, TN (Jeep VanWormer)
7/1 Sun. Vermilion County Speedway/Danville, IL (Don ONeal)
7/2 Mon. Midway Speedway/Crooksville, OH (Earl Pearson Jr.)
7/3 Tues. Lawrenceburg Speedway/Lawrenceburg, IN (Jeep VanWormer)
7/4 Wed. Day Off
7/5 Thurs. Macon Speedway/Macon, IL (Rain Rescheduled to July 21)
7/6 Fri. Tri-City Speedway/Pontoon Beach, IL (Don ONeal)
7/7 Sat. Fairbury (Ill.) American Legion Speedway (Mike Marlar)
7/8 Sun. Quad City Speedway/East Moline, IL
7/9 Mon. C.J. Raceway/Columbus Junction, IA
7/10 Tues. Quincy Raceway/Quincy, IL
7/11 Wed. Spoon River Speedway/Canton, IL
7/12 Thurs. LaSalle Speedway/LaSalle, IL
7/13 Fri. Farmer City Raceway/Farmer City, IL
7/14 Sat. Oakshade Raceway/Wauseon, OH
7/21 Sat. Macon Speedway/Macon, IL