By Bob Miller
BECHTELSVILLE, PA (May 28, 2024) – Brent Marks of Myerstown, PA claimed his first NAPA Auto Parts Thunder on the Hill Racing Series event win in dramatic fashion on Tuesday night at Grandview Speedway. The event, presented by Levan Machine and Truck Equipment and RichMar Florist, featured the highly competitive Kubota High Limit 410 Sprint Car Series at the Bechtelsville oval.
Marks’ victory – his second on the Kubota High Limit Sprint Car Series season – was hard fought. He regained the lead on the final lap, sneaking by to score the $20,000 top prize, along with a $2,000 bonus from Pioneer Pole Buildings as a Pennsylvania-based racer.
“It’s about damn time we won a race here,” Marks, a veteran at the Grandview oval, stated during victory lane ceremonies. “What an amazing night, this has been a long time coming and this win means a lot to me.” Marks, a Pennsylvania local has been to Grandview numerous times but never made it to victory lane. On Tuesday night, he changed all that topping a field of some forty-three 410 sprint cars.
Starting on the pole after winning the FK Rod Ends Dash, Marks set a blistering pace early in the main event, closely followed by Brad Sweet of Grass Valley, CA.
The pair weaved in and out of lapped traffic, creating thrilling moments as the lap counter clicked away. Slower cars erased the gap between the top five competitors which included defending race winner Rico Abreu and High Limit Series Standings leader and Tyler Courtney.
With top-five nose-to-tail, Marks shot to the inside lane to avoid an upcoming lapped car and with just 10 laps remaining, allowed Brad Sweet to take the top spot. Sweet’s lead was short-lived as a few circuits later his car got sideways in turn 4, handing the lead back to Marks and giving Courtney the second position.
Capitalizing on difficult-to-navigate lapped traffic, Courtney charged hard into the lead with 3 laps remaining taking the white flag for the final lap as the race leader. He set his sights on the $20,000 payday and darted to the high side of one-third-mile oval to get around a lapped car.
“I got impatient early on and lost the lead to Brad. Then got it back. When Tyler got by me, I thought ‘Not this again.’ and just tried to run as hard as I could to stay on his bumper and hope he would leave a door open.”
Marks remained relentless, seizing the opportunity when Courtney misjudged a move around a lapped car. Marks snuck inside, battling side-by-side down the backstretch and ultimately edged him to the finish as the checkered flag flew, claiming his first win at Grandview Speedway.
Courtney would settle for second in the finish with Abreu in third, Sweet in fourth and Corey Day in the fifth position.
Marks swept the events he competed in winning the FK Rod Ends and his heat race event. Brad Sweet set the quick time with a lap of 11.848 around the one-third mile speedway.
Gage Phillips of Fleetwood, PA won the 12-Lap F&L Doors Outlaw Vintage Racing Series Modified feature event by a full straightaway lead. Mike Stofflet finished in second, followed by Rich Baker, Kevin Kuser, and Dom DeGlas. The Sportsman portion of the Outlaw Vintage Racing Series doubleheader was won by Sven Olsen of Virginville, PA. Finishing in second was J.R. Roth, Scott Schaeffer, and Jake Foster rounded out the field.
The NAPA Auto Parts Thunder on the Hill Racing Series returns on Tuesday, June 11 when Pioneer Pole Buildings presents the 17th running of the Jesse Hockett Classic for the AMSOIL USAC National Sprint Car Series with 40 Laps and $6,000 to win, plus the 358 NASCAR Modifieds in a 30 Lap, $3,000 to win. Gates open at 5 PM, with racing at 7:30 PM. For advance tickets and more information call 443-513-4456
Kubota A Feature (35 Laps): 1. 19-Brent Marks[1]; 2. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[3]; 3. 24-Rico Abreu[5]; 4. 49-Brad Sweet[4]; 5. 14-Corey Day[8]; 6. 9P-Parker Price Miller[13]; 7. 5R-Tyler Ross[2]; 8. 88-Tanner Thorson[14]; 9. 5-Spencer Bayston[11]; 10. 26-Zeb Wise[12]; 11. 13-Justin Peck[6]; 12. 39M-Anthony Macri[10]; 13. 48-Danny Dietrich[15]; 14. 83-James McFadden[17]; 15. 16T-Cole Macedo[19]; 16. 2MD-Cap Henry[18]; 17. 91-Kyle Reinhardt[20]; 18. 10X-Reese Nowotarski[7]; 19. 9-Kasey Kahne[22]; 20. 42-Sye Lynch[16]; 21. 1A-Jacob Allen[25]; 22. 5W-Lucas Wolfe[23]; 23. 11-TJ Stutts[21]; 24. 1-Brenham Crouch[26]; 25. 39-Briggs Danner[24]; 26. 8-Cory Eliason[9]
B Feature (12 Laps): 1. 11-TJ Stutts[1]; 2. 9-Kasey Kahne[4]; 3. 5W-Lucas Wolfe[2]; 4. 39-Briggs Danner[3]; 5. 1A-Jacob Allen[9]; 6. 1-Brenham Crouch[8]; 7. 17-Dylan Norris[6]; 8. 10-Mark Smith[11]; 9. 10B-Kerry Madsen[12]; 10. 55-Chris Windom[7]; 11. 5T-Ryan Timms[5]; 12. 51-Freddie Rahmer[13]; 13. 66-Ryan Newton[14]; 14. 35-Austin Bishop[10]
C Feature (8 Laps): 1. 51-Freddie Rahmer[4]; 2. 66-Ryan Newton[2]; 3. 19A-Aaron Bollinger[1]; 4. 79-Jordan Thomas[7]; 5. 20B-Tim Buckwalter[10]; 6. 67-JJ Loss[5]; 7. 11T-Mike Thompson[8]; 8. 16TH-Kevin Newton[6]; 9. (DNF) 20-Ryan Taylor[3]; 10. (DNF) V60-Jordyn Charge[9]
FK Rod Ends Dash (7 Laps): 1. 19-Brent Marks[2]; 2. 5R-Tyler Ross[4]; 3. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[3]; 4. 49-Brad Sweet[6]; 5. 24-Rico Abreu[5]; 6. 13-Justin Peck[8]; 7. 10X-Reese Nowotarski[1]; 8. 14-Corey Day[7]
TJ Forged Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 19-Brent Marks[1]; 2. 8-Cory Eliason[2]; 3. 5-Spencer Bayston[5]; 4. 48-Danny Dietrich[6]; 5. 49-Brad Sweet[4]; 6. 39-Briggs Danner[8]; 7. 55-Chris Windom[3]; 8. 1A-Jacob Allen[9]; 9. 19A-Aaron Bollinger[11]; 10. 67-JJ Loss[10]; 11. 79-Jordan Thomas[7]
DMI Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 10X-Reese Nowotarski[1]; 2. 5R-Tyler Ross[2]; 3. 9P-Parker Price Miller[3]; 4. 83-James McFadden[9]; 5. 16T-Cole Macedo[6]; 6. 5T-Ryan Timms[5]; 7. 11-TJ Stutts[4]; 8. 10-Mark Smith[8]; 9. 20-Ryan Taylor[7]; 10. V60-Jordyn Charge[10]
BR Motorsports Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[2]; 2. 39M-Anthony Macri[1]; 3. 13-Justin Peck[4]; 4. 88-Tanner Thorson[3]; 5. 2MD-Cap Henry[5]; 6. 9-Kasey Kahne[7]; 7. 5W-Lucas Wolfe[6]; 8. 35-Austin Bishop[10]; 9. 66-Ryan Newton[11]; 10. 16TH-Kevin Newton[8]; 11. 20B-Tim Buckwalter[9]
Winters Performance Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 14-Corey Day[1]; 2. 26-Zeb Wise[2]; 3. 24-Rico Abreu[4]; 4. 42-Sye Lynch[5]; 5. 91-Kyle Reinhardt[3]; 6. 17-Dylan Norris[6]; 7. 1-Brenham Crouch[7]; 8. 10B-Kerry Madsen[8]; 9. 51-Freddie Rahmer[9]; 10. 11T-Mike Thompson[10]
Capital Custom Trailers Qualifying A: 1. 49-Brad Sweet, 00:11.848[3]; 2. 11-TJ Stutts, 00:11.851[1]; 3. 19-Brent Marks, 00:11.876[10]; 4. 10X-Reese Nowotarski, 00:11.946[8]; 5. 8-Cory Eliason, 00:11.951[15]; 6. 5R-Tyler Ross, 00:11.998[4]; 7. 55-Chris Windom, 00:12.007[2]; 8. 9P-Parker Price Miller, 00:12.036[12]; 9. 5-Spencer Bayston, 00:12.104[5]; 10. 5T-Ryan Timms, 00:12.114[14]; 11. 48-Danny Dietrich, 00:12.132[13]; 12. 16T-Cole Macedo, 00:12.164[19]; 13. 79-Jordan Thomas, 00:12.170[6]; 14. 20-Ryan Taylor, 00:12.189[9]; 15. 39-Briggs Danner, 00:12.229[11]; 16. 10-Mark Smith, 00:12.239[7]; 17. 1A-Jacob Allen, 00:12.267[16]; 18. 83-James McFadden, 00:12.347[20]; 19. 67-JJ Loss, 00:12.552[17]; 20. V60-Jordyn Charge, 00:12.614[18]; 21. 19A-Aaron Bollinger, 00:12.829[21]
Capital Custom Trailers Qualifying B: 1. 13-Justin Peck, 00:11.939[14]; 2. 24-Rico Abreu, 00:11.995[21]; 3. 39M-Anthony Macri, 00:12.008[20]; 4. 14-Corey Day, 00:12.097[4]; 5. 7BC-Tyler Courtney, 00:12.121[15]; 6. 26-Zeb Wise, 00:12.126[13]; 7. 88-Tanner Thorson, 00:12.159[11]; 8. 91-Kyle Reinhardt, 00:12.305[17]; 9. 2MD-Cap Henry, 00:12.320[18]; 10. 42-Sye Lynch, 00:12.340[6]; 11. 5W-Lucas Wolfe, 00:12.349[8]; 12. 17-Dylan Norris, 00:12.378[12]; 13. 9-Kasey Kahne, 00:12.413[9]; 14. 1-Brenham Crouch, 00:12.419[7]; 15. 16TH-Kevin Newton, 00:12.477[2]; 16. 10B-Kerry Madsen, 00:12.478[19]; 17. 20B-Tim Buckwalter, 00:12.509[10]; 18. 51-Freddie Rahmer, 00:12.561[5]; 19. 35-Austin Bishop, 00:12.586[1]; 20. 11T-Mike Thompson, 00:12.919[3]; 21. 66-Ryan Newton, 00:12.927[16]