{"id":1192,"date":"2022-11-03T00:42:22","date_gmt":"2022-11-03T04:42:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldofoutlawsworldfinals.com\/uncategorized\/a-warriors-call-mike-marlar-opens-world-of-outlaws-world-finals-with-victory\/"},"modified":"2022-11-03T10:36:32","modified_gmt":"2022-11-03T14:36:32","slug":"a-warriors-call-mike-marlar-opens-world-of-outlaws-world-finals-with-victory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldofoutlawsworldfinals.com\/late-models\/a-warriors-call-mike-marlar-opens-world-of-outlaws-world-finals-with-victory\/","title":{"rendered":"A WARRIOR\u2019S CALL: Mike Marlar Opens World of Outlaws World Finals With Victory"},"content":{"rendered":"
Mike Marlar clinched a World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Models title at The Dirt Track at Charlotte in 2018. However, a World Finals victory had eluded the Winfield, TN driver.<\/p>\n
That changed Wednesday night, as the \u201cWinfield Warrior\u201d drove from ninth to first to earn his fifth World of Outlaws win of 2022 and first at The Dirt Track.<\/p>\n
Mike Marlar celebrates in Victory Lane with his wife, Stacy\/Jacy Norgaard photo<\/p>\n
Shane Clanton grabbed the early lead in the 40-lap Feature, sliding Brandon Overton in Turn 4 to take the lead on Lap 1.<\/p>\n
Behind them, Marlar was methodically working through the field, picking off cars one by one on the bottom until he reached the top five on a Lap 19 restart.<\/p>\n
That restart propelled him further up the field as he swung his Longhorn Chassis under Tim McCreadie for fourth, Overton for third, and Trent Ivey for second by Lap 37 when a yellow for Tyler Erb slowed the field.<\/p>\n
It set up a single-file restart, putting Marlar behind Clanton.<\/p>\n
When the green came out, Marlar thundered to the low side as Clanton rolled the middle, keeping Marlar at bay for two laps. But on Lap 39, the window Marlar needed finally opened.<\/p>\n
He used his momentum to pull even with \u201cThe Georgia Bulldog,\u201d inching ahead as they roared into Turn 3.<\/p>\n
Mike Marlar passes Shane Clanton for the lead in Turn 3\/Jacy Norgaard photo<\/p>\n
A slide job in Turn 4 completed the pass for Marlar, who held on to score the $15,000 prize and his 13th World of Outlaws triumph.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe car was excellent tonight,\u201d Marlar said. \u201cAll night long, I thought I had a good car. I was the first car on the track in Qualifying, and the track was a little greasy, and I thought that hurt me some. We got a lucky break in the Heat (Race) when Hudson (O\u2019Neal) pushed up, and it got me to start ninth (in the Feature), and I got a lot of good restarts in that race.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had a good car, though, man. The closer I got to the front, the better it was.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even though the restart propelled him to the win, Marlar said he felt he was positioned to take the lead before the caution for Tyler Erb.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was in a real good position there before that caution came out,\u201d Marlar said. \u201cI honestly thought it\u2019d be tough to beat Shane on a little shootout here at the end with four laps to get it done.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt worked out, I had a good enough car I could pass him, and it worked out for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Clanton settled for second, falling short of his third Series win of the season by one lap.<\/p>\n
The Zebulon, GA driver said he wasn\u2019t sure if he could\u2019ve held Marlar off even if the late caution didn\u2019t come out.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is what it is,\u201d Clanton said. \u201cI don\u2019t know if I could\u2019ve held him off anyways. Dirty air is big here. The racetrack is so big, and our car has to be a little bit better to win the race.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve raced here a lot and ain\u2019t never really had clean air. I\u2019ve won a lot of Heat Races in clean air. I just know that\u2019s what we need to have. I was trying to get the lead and trying to hold on for 40 laps and made it 39.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trent Ivey, from Union, SC, grabbed the final spot on the podium. He was up to second and trying to catch Clanton before Marlar passed him on Lap 35.<\/p>\n
Trent Ivey scored his first podium of 2022 with the World of Outlaws\/Jacy Norgaard photo<\/p>\n
Even though he fell to third, he said he was happy to run up front against some of the best drivers in the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was so content just to race behind Shane,\u201d Ivey said. \u201cI just couldn\u2019t get quite close enough, but like you said, I\u2019m just going to ride and take wherever we finish at that point.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had no idea Mikey was coming like that, and I knew Shane knew that I was coming. Shane protected, and I tried to change my line up, and Mikey slid by me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Overton crossed the line fourth after starting on the pole. The Evans, GA driver, said he was fighting the handling of his Longhorn Chassis throughout the race.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just wasn\u2019t balanced,\u201d Overton said. \u201cThe first time we were behind anybody all night and I would get into traffic, it was like, wheelieing and picking the nose off the ground. It was hard to drive.<\/p>\n
\u201cHell, I don\u2019t know. I kind of got better as the fuel burned off. We were good early; we just have to adjust a little bit for the race. I feel like I know which direction to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tim McCreadie, the 2006 World of Outlaws champion, rounded out the top five.<\/p>\n
Max Blair finished ninth, gaining two points on Tanner English, who finished 10th in the race for Rookie of the Year.<\/p>\n
The Benton, KY driver leads Blair by 18 points with two races remaining in the 2022 season.<\/p>\n
UP NEXT:<\/strong> The Most Powerful Late Models on the Planet<\/em> return to The Dirt Track at Charlotte on Thursday, Nov. 3, for night two of the World of Outlaws World Finals, along with the Super DIRTcar Series Big Block Modifieds. On Friday, Nov. 4, fans get to meet the World of Outlaws stars during the World Finals Fan Fest from 2-4 p.m. Drivers will be signing autographs and playing games with the fans.<\/p>\n FOR TICKETS:\u00a0CLICK HERE.<\/a><\/p>\n If you can\u2019t make it to the track, watch all the action live on\u00a0DIRTVision \u2013 either online on with the DIRTVision App<\/a>.<\/p>\n CASE Construction Equipment Feature (40 Laps):<\/strong> 1. 157-Mike Marlar[9]; 2. 25-Shane Clanton[2]; 3. 88-Trent Ivey[3]; 4. 76-Brandon Overton[1]; 5. 39-Tim McCreadie[6]; 6. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[8]; 7. 20-Jimmy Owens[5]; 8. 18D-Daulton Wilson[18]; 9. 111V-Max Blair[10]; 10. 81E-Tanner English[14]; 11. 7W-Ricky Weiss[21]; 12. 17M-Dale McDowell[4]; 13. 1H-Hudson O\u2019Neal[15]; 14. 1-Josh Richards[13]; 15. 11-Gordy Gundaker[24]; 16. 24D-Michael Brown[11]; 17. 19R-Ryan Gustin[25]; 18. 8-Kyle Strickler[17]; 19. B1-Brent Larson[26]; 20. 32-Dustin Mitchell[16]; 21. 44-Chris Madden[7]; 22. 42-Cla Knight[19]; 23. 1T-Tyler Erb[20]; 24. 7-Ross Robinson[23]; 25. 99B-Boom Briggs[27]; 26. 93-Carson Ferguson[22]; 27. 15-Dale Hollidge[12] FOX FACTORY HARD CHARGER:<\/strong> Daulton Wilson [+10]<\/p>\n The post A WARRIOR\u2019S CALL: Mike Marlar Opens World of Outlaws World Finals With Victory<\/a> appeared first on World of Outlaws<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Mike Marlar clinched a World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Models title at The Dirt Track at Charlotte in 2018. However, a World Finals victory had eluded the Winfield, TN driver. That changed Wednesday night, as the \u201cWinfield Warrior\u201d drove from ninth to first to earn his fifth World of Outlaws win of 2022 … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":1193,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-late-models"],"yoast_head":"\n