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MARS VICTORIOUS IN 29TH ANNUAL DIRT TRACK WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
AT LAWRENCEBURG
by: James Essex
LAWRENCEBURG, Ind. (October 18) - Picking up his third $50,000 win of 2009
Jimmy Mars of Menomonie, WI won the 29th Annual Dirt Track World
Championship Presented by 4m.net on Sunday afternoon at Lawrenceburg
Speedway. The 37-year-old racer held off Brady Smith of Solon Springs, WI
for the victory which was his first in the dirt late model racing crown
jewel event which was held at Lawrenceburg for the first time. Trailing the
pair of Wisconsin standouts to the finish line were Rick Eckert of York, PA,
Earl Pearson Jr. of Jacksonville, FL and Steve Francis of Ashland, KY.
Ray Cook and Mars made up the front row for the 100-lap event as Cook
grabbed the early lead of the race followed by Mars, Eckert, Francis and
Jimmy Owens. Cook looked strong from the outset pushing his lead up to
three-car length in the early going on the sun-bathed race track.
It took Cook only nine laps before he started to pick up the tail end of the
field as both Mars and Eckert sliced into his lead as all three cars were
running neck and neck by the eleventh circuit. With 15 laps scored the top
five from the onset remained the same as the battle for the lead was getting
intense in traffic.
The trio of Cook, Mars and Eckert were then joined by Francis and Shane
Clanton who had passed Owens for fifth on lap 22 and was on the move as the
top five were all on the same straightaway of each other with a quarter of
the race in the record books.
Cook held the lead until lap 28 when Mars made his move for the points
passing Cook to take over the lead of the race. Once Mars was in front he
started to immediately open up some distance between himself and the tight
battle among Cook, Eckert, Francis and Clanton.
The first caution of the race flew on lap 34 for a slowing Jason Feger which
would bunch the field up for a Delaware double file-restart. An exciting
restart would ensue with Eckert clearing Cook for second a lap into the
restart as Mars continued to show the way.
A long green flag stretch of racing would then see the front-running Mars
continued to look solid as a terrific battle for second was going on between
the cars of Eckert, Cook, Clanton and Francis. Clanton climbed to third
around Cook on lap 46 using the low line on the race track as Mars continued
to pace the field at the half-way mark of the event.
In traffic Mars saw his lead shrink as Eckert and the rest of the field
behind him started to track down Mars. Eckert closed right up to Mars on lap
62 and the pair went side-by-by side for the top spot. For two laps the due
raced hard with each other as Mars would carry his momentum off the corners
to keep the lead.
Eckert then made a slide job move on lap 65 in turn four grabbing the lead
momentarily from Mars, but Mars fought back and a lap later he was back out
in front as Clanton stuck his nose in the hunt for the lead making it a
fantastic three-car race for the lead.
Once Mars got back in front of Eckert, he picked up the pace and started to
open up some distance between himself, Eckert and Clanton. With Mars back in
control of the race the second caution would come out with 74 laps scored
for Clint Smith, whom was about to be lapped by Mars, who at this point of
the race had put three lapped cars between himself and the second place
running Eckert.
On the restart Mars continued to show his prowess in leading the race as
Francis became a player for the top spot as he passed Clanton for third on
lap 75 and then started to put the heat on Eckert for second just as the
third and final caution of the race came out for Brian Birkhofer with 76
laps complete.
The final restart of the race would see Francis get by Eckert for second as
he then set his sights on Mars as a new contender was starting to emerge
with tenth place starting Brady Smith who had been quietly running in the
top ten for the entire race came out of nowhere as he was up to third
putting the pressure on Francis for the second spot with twenty laps
remaining.
Smith then hounded Francis for several laps finally getting by him on lap
87. With 13 to go Mars looked like he was well on his way to victory lane,
but Smith quickly shot down that notion as closed right on the rear deck lid
on Mars with ten to go.
Mars, who had run most of the race using the top line around the high-banked
track, would see Smith gain ground on the bottom as he then moved down a
line when he saw Smith out of the corner of his eye trying to pull even in
the final five laps.
Moving down on the track was a smart move for Mars because it looked like
Smith had the momentum down there and was going to steal the win away from
Mars, but Mars was able to keep Smith at bay in the final laps as he went on
to score an incredible third $50,000 win of the 2009 racing season. His
other lucrative wins came in the USA Nationals at Cedar Lake (WI) Speedway
and the North-South 100 at Florence (KY) Speedway a race he won on the final
lap.
It also marked another impressive win for the M-B Custom Chassis in which
Mars and his brother Chris and fellow driver Brian Birkhofer have a made a
staple in victory lane over the last year. Smith in his Mid-States
Equipment/Big Red Motorsports/Bloomquist Race Cars Monte Carlo SS would
finish second after starting tenth followed by Eckert in the Raye Vest
Excavating/Ritchie Sandblasting/Bloomquist Race Cars Cadillac, 13th starting
Earl Pearson, Jr. in the Bobby Labonte Racing/Lucas Oil Slickmist/MasterSbilt
who made a last lap pass on Francis who was driving the Tim Logan
Racing/Morehead Auto Truck Parts Sales/Rocket by Logan GTO to snare the
fourth spot.
Completing the top ten were Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, GA, Josh Richards
of Shinnston, WV, Tim McCreadie of Watertown, NY, Eddie Carrier, Jr. of Salt
Rock, WV and Ray Cook of Brasstown, NC. Carrier was the Hard Charger of the
Race finishing ninth after starting in 20th.
In victory lane Mars couldn't believe he held on for the win. "I had my
hands full out there, I didn't know whether to go low or high, the sun was
in my eyes going into three, Ray (Cook) was awesome at the beginning and he
and I had a heck of a good race there for while and we got around him, the
here comes Eckert and Brady, I didn't know where I needed to be here, so I
finally decided to move down low, for a day race you couldn't ask for a
better race," said Mars who became the seventh different winner of the race
in the last seven years.
"I have to thank Carl Short for putting on such a great event and sticking
his neck out despite the bad weather when we got here, it turned out great
with the weather today, this is unbelievable, like I said we've had a great
year, I have to thank my brother Chris and my crew guys Andy and Russ and
Dave Deppe for all of his help, if it wasn't for those people we couldn't do
this, I saw Brady there a few times and I said we might be in trouble
because he was getting traction down there and I went down there a little
and saw what he was doing, I said to myself don't screw up now and when I
saw the five to go signal and tried to be smooth the rest of the way and it
paid off," said the winner.
Mars' M-B Customs Malibu is sponsored by Deppe Enterprises, Baileigh
Industrial, BSB Manufacturing, Chevytown USA.com, Mid-States Equipment
Company, T.L. Sinz Plumbing and Heating, VP Racing Fuels, Hoosier Tires and
Integra Racing Shocks.
Smith who nearly pulled off the win said afterwards if he could have cleared
Mars he might have been too able to be standing in victory lane where Mars
was. "We gave it all we had I thought a couple of times I was going to get
by him, but he did what he had to do, we had a good clean race out there, it
was really a great fun race to run, he came down where I was running a few
times and that was the difference, we are disappointed we didn't win, we
shouldn't be ashamed to finish second against these guys today, he is one of
the best if not the best right now, we'll take second and go home and try to
get better next time."
Also on the racing card was the sprint car main event which was taken by
Robert Ballou of Fishers, IN. and the open wheel modified feature which was
won by Jason Wheatley of Loretto, KY.
In the 25 lap $5,000 to win sprint car finale Ballou took the lead from
Brady Short of Bedford, IN who led the first ten laps of the race. Ballou
who used the top line around the track to take the lead then had to fight
off the repeated challenges from Short who was trucking along on the bottom
groove of the track. Short made one last ditch effort on the final lap to as
coming off of turn number four heading to the checkers he got a run on
Ballou, but Ballou was able to hold him off by just one car length for the
win in the MPHG Promotions Inc owned Triple X Chassis care sponsored by JC
Plew, Behavior Consultants, Hinchman Uniforms and Circle Wheels.
Trailing Ballou and Short across the finish line were John Memmer of
Evansville, IN, Nic Faas of Brownsburg, IN and Jeff Bland Jr. of
Bloomington, IN.
In the 30 lap open wheel modified main Jason Wheatley fought off the early
advances of Jared Landers as he eventually cruised on for the $3,000 victory
in his Larry Shaw Chassis. Wheatley and Landers had a torrid battle for the
lead in the early going until Landers had an incident with the wall coming
off of turn four ending his night.
Wheatley then went unchallenged the rest of the way to secure the win. A
near photo-finish for second saw Doug Adkins of West Portsmouth, OH barely
edge out Skylar Marlar of Winfield, TN. Shelby Miles of Bloomington, IN was
fourth followed by Rick Corbin of Independence, KY.
Wheatley's Mullins Racing Engines powered car is sponsored by B&W Metals,
Rosewood Golf Course, St. Joe Garage, VFM Manufacturing, Wheatley Seamless
Gutters, Wheatley Tile Flooring, Wheatley Auto Sales, Brady Excavating,
Ginter and Mattingly Heating and Air, Bryan Wheatley Landscaping,
Springfield Auto and Farm Supply, Central Kentucky Electrical and Plumbing,
and Nukum Graphics.
29th Annual Dirt Track World Championship Late Model Finish: Jimmy Mars,
Brady Smith, Rick Eckert, Earl Pearson Jr., Steve Francis, Shane Clanton,
Josh Richards, Tim McCreadie, Eddie Carrier Jr., Ray Cook, Scott Bloomquist,
Darrell Lanigan, Dale McDowell, Jason Feger, Tim Dohm, Jeep VanWormer, Frank
Heckenast Jr., Clint Smith, Jimmy Owens, Brian Birkhofer, Austin Hubbard,
Don O'Neal, Steve Casebolt, Matt Lux, Jordan Bland, Dan Schlieper
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