QUINCY, IL — July 7, 2019 — Brian Shirley was in command early on Sunday night at Quincy Raceways, but a caution midway through the Feature allowed second-place running Mike Marlar to close the gap and eventually pass Shirley for the sixth DIRTcar Summer Nationals victory of his career.
Rusty Schlenk, of McClure, Ohio, set the front row with points leader Bobby Pierce in the 40-lap, $5,000-to-win Feature. Pierce pounded the outside groove, but Schlenk answered right back and took the lead.
The track surface was perfect as drivers could run the bottom, middle or top. Shirley took advantage of lapped traffic that slowed Schlenk and jumped to the lead. Marlar marched his way into second after starting fifth, battling a a tight racecar on the exit of the corners until he set more downforce on the right front by diamonding the corners to find speed.
Lapped traffic made it interesting as Shirley raced cautiously knowing a championship is on the line, but Marlar took it three-wide twice to split lapped traffic and take the lead. Marlar jumped off the top and secured the bottom as Shirley was knocking on the door. A few laps later Marlar would extended his lead by a half-straightaway to win the 10th visit for the DIRTcar Summer Nationals to the Quincy Raceways.
DIRTcar Summer Nationals Late Model Feature (40 Laps) – 1. 157-Mike Marlar [5]; 2. 3S-Brian Shirley [3]; 3. CJ1-Rusty Schlenk [1]; 4. 99JR-Frank Heckenast, Jr. [7]; 5. 32-Bobby Pierce [2]; 6. 40B-Kyle Bronson [4]; 7. O-Dewayne Keifer [9]; 8. 33F-Ricky Frankel [16]; 9. 56-Jamie Wilson [12]; 10. 13-David Jaeger [6]; 11. 4G-Bob Gardner [10]; 12. 93-Jay Johnson [15]; 13. 31AUS-Paul Stubber [19]; 14. 16H-Mike Hammerle [18]; 15. 6-Cliff Powell [20]; 16. 7B-Mark Burgtorf [14]; 17. 99H-Dylan Hoover [8]; 18. 16-Rusty Griffaw [21]; 19. 45DW-Denny Woodworth [11]; 20. 45M-Melvin Linder [17]; 21. 25F-Jason Feger [13]; KSE Hard Charger Award: 33F-Ricky Frankel[+8]
