Mike Marlar climbs from his car in victory lane after scoring his second Knoxville Nationals Dirt Late Model victory on Saturday night at Iowa’s Knoxville Raceway. Photo: LODLMS Media/Twitter
Mike Marlar became the first driver in the 14-year history of the Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals to win in back-to-back years – taking the $40,000 top prize on Saturday night at Iowa’s Knoxville Raceway.
Marlar took the lead from race-leader Josh Richards on lap 92 and then sped away for the win in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series-sanctioned event.
Jonathan Davenport made a valiant charge in the last five laps to finish second after pitting for a right-front, flat tire on lap 50. Jared Landers, the 2015 winner of the race came home third, with Jimmy Mars and Jimmy Owens completing the top five drivers.
Davenport, from Blairsville, Georgia, led the first 19 laps of the race until Richards took over the point. Richards then held the top spot until Marlar got by him late in the race. Richards had a right-front tire go down, putting him into the turn three wall. Richards changed the tire and ran just a few more laps before calling it a night. He was credited with an 18th place finish as his points lead over Tim McCreadie shrunk to just 90 points.
Marlar returned to defend his crown-jewel victory.
“Tonight makes me feel really good about being a racecar driver,” Marlar said. That wasn’t a race, that was a battle right there. With 25 to go, I thought man I need to start going and give it all I had. I let Jared Landers get by me and then I got back by him when he got high in turn one. I thought now I am good. I could run this thing to death. I think I could do it.
“There was a caution as soon as I got passed by Landers. Luckily, I got back by him on the restart. I don’t think Josh was at his best when I caught him and passed him for the lead. I think he was having an issue. This is awesome. I want to thank Josh and Jerry for their help. Without them I couldn’t do this. They are back at the shop everyday working on the car. My car owner Ronnie Delk and my wife Stacy, thanks for all they do.
Davenport came up just short of his first win in the event.
“I had a plan on that last restart and it just worked out,” said Davenport. “I wondered where everyone was going. Everybody took off and went to the bottom of the track. They just left the door open for me and I took advantage of it. Our car wasn’t any good in traffic for whatever reason. The best car won the race. Josh must have been pretty good too. He passed me early on. I just to thank my guys for getting me back out there after we pitted.”
Landers sat out last year’s event due to an injury and returned this weekend to score two podium finishes.
“I hurt my tires by lap 50,” he said. “I was worried about it. I got up there with Josh and I had some good momentum going and I jumped the cushion and it hurt me. I cost us that spot. I will take a top-three. That was a lot of laps there. I hadn’t raced that hard for a while.”
Brandon Sheppard, Hudson O’Neal, Bobby Pierce, Steve Francis, and Tim McCreadie rounded out the top ten.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Knoxville Raceway – Knoxville, IA
Knoxville Nationals – September 16, 2017
| FINISH | START | CAR # | DRIVER NAME | HOMETOWN | EARNINGS |
| 1 | 1 | 157 | Mike Marlar | Winfield, TN | $40,000 |
| 2 | 2 | 49 | Jonathan Davenport | Blairsville, GA | $20,000 |
| 3 | 7 | 1777 | Jared Landers | Batesville, AR | $10,000 |
| 4 | 10 | 28m | Jimmy Mars | Menomonie, WI | $8,750 |
| 5 | 11 | 20 | Jimmy Owens | Newport, TN | $8,300 |
| 6 | 4 | 1S | Brandon Sheppard | New Berlin, IL | $7,000 |
| 7 | 22 | 71 | Hudson O’Neal | Martinsville, IN | $7,300 |
| 8 | 19 | 32 | Bobby Pierce | Oakwood, IL | $6,000 |
| 9 | 27 | 15 | Steve Francis | Bowling Green, KY | $6,200 |
| 10 | 6 | 39 | Tim McCreadie | Watertown, NY | $5,700 |
| 11 | 8 | 32S | Chris Simpson | Oxford, IA | $4,500 |
| 12 | 18 | 18 | Chase Junghans | Manhattan, KS | $4,000 |
| 13 | 12 | 0 | Scott Bloomquist | Mooresburg, TN | $4,500 |
| 14 | 21 | 1 | Earl Pearson, Jr. | Jacksonville, FL | $4,200 |
| 15 | 16 | 17m | Dale McDowell | Chickamauga, GA | $3,300 |
| 16 | 25 | 0 | Jesse Stovall | Billings, MO | $3,200 |
| 17 | 30 | B1 | Brent Larson | Lake Elmo, MN | $3,100 |
| 18 | 3 | 1R | Josh Richards | Shinnston, WV | $3,900 |
| 19 | 26 | 40B | Kyle Bronson | Brandon, FL | $2,900 |
| 20 | 20 | 20S | Rodney Sanders | Happy, TX | $2,800 |
| 21 | 23 | C8 | Timothy Culp | Prattsville, AR | $2,700 |
| 22 | 9 | 14 | Darrell Lanigan | Union, KY | $3,300 |
| 23 | 17 | 18B | Shannon Babb | Mowequa, IL | $2,500 |
| 24 | 5 | 5 | Don O’Neal | Martinsville, IN | $3,300 |
| 25 | 28 | 91 | Tyler Erb | New Waverly, TX | $2,500 |
| 26 | 13 | 25 | Chad Simpson | Mt. Vernon, IA | $2,500 |
| 27 | 14 | 22 | Gregg Satterlee | Rochester Mills, PA | $3,200 |
| 28 | 24 | 7R | Kent Robinson | Bloomington, IN | $2,500 |
| 29 | 31 | 28 | Dennis Erb, Jr. | Carpentersville, IL | $3,200 |
| 30 | 15 | 3s | Brian Shirley | Chatham, IL | $2,500 |
| 31 | 29 | 29 | Spencer Diercks | Davenport, IA | $2,500 |
| 32 | 32 | 99B | Boom Briggs | Bear Lake, PA | $3,200 |
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