Bluegrass Speedway

2221 New Haven Road

Bardstown, Kentucky 40004

 

2009 Official Media Release #11 (For Immediate Distribution: April 25, 2009)

 

Mike Marlar Masters 12th Annual Spring Sizzler at Bluegrass Speedway

           

Bardstown, KY-April 25, 2009- The O’Reilly Battle of the Bluegrass DirtCar Series presented by Graphic Impressions would visit Bluegrass Speedway on Saturday evening and Winfield, TN native Mike Marlar would win his third straight Spring Sizzler event by picking up the $3,000 payday in the 12th Annual Spring Sizzler event.  Other feature event winners included Jason Wheatley of Loretto, KY in Modified action and Timmy Glazer of Bardstown, KY in the Street Stock division.

                    

The start of the 30 lap, 15 mile sprint would see Victor Lee jump to the race lead, with Mike Marlar, Greg Johnson, Michael Chilton, and Dustin Linville in pursuit.  By lap 4, Lee was build a nice lead, while Linville would challenge Chilton for the fourth position.  But by lap 7, Marlar would begin to start reeling in Lee and start to mount a challenge.  The pair would duel side by side for the lead on lap 10, with Lee able to hold off Marlar’s charge at this point.  Lee would start working slower traffic on lap 12, with the caution waving one circuit later for a slowed D.J. Wells at the topside of turn two.  With the Delaware double-file restarts in use, Johnson would slidejob past Marlar in turn two for second, with Chilton and Linville dueling door to door for fourth.  Lap 17 would see the final caution flag of the event wave as Cody Mahoney and Ed Behn would spin in turn four.  This restart would see Marlar return a slidejob pass on Johnson to reclaim the runner-up spot and would immediately begin to challenge Lee for the race lead.  Marlar would fire a slider at Lee for a momentary change for lead in turn four on lap 20, but Lee would dive back under Marlar off of turn four to have the lead at the stripe.  The lead duo race side by side through turns one and two and down the backchute until Marlar would drive past Lee off of turn four to take the lead on lap 21 and immediately begin to pull away a bit.  By this point, Chilton and Linville had resumed their battle for the fourth spot, with Linville the position on lap 25, only to have Chilton reclaim the position one trip later.  With Marlar now pulling even further away at the point, Johnson would challenge Lee for second, with Linville finally going to fourth for good on lap 28.  The final two circuits would see the top five unchanged, with Marlar’s coming behind the wheel of his Doors-N-More/DWT Racing/G&R Hydraulics/Marlar and Son Auto Dismantling/Performance Battery/Stephens Trucking/Wayne Bowen Racing Supply sponsored #157 Rocket Chassis, Estes Race Engines powered machine.  Lee, Johnson, Linville, and Chilton would complete the top five.   The remainder of the top ten at the finish would be Kevin Claycomb, Justin Rattliff, Jason Keltner, 16th starting Jordan Bland, and 2008 Bluegrass Speedway Super Late Model track champion Dustin Neat.  In preliminary action, Mike Jewell was the top qualifier among 28 entries with a lap of 16.090 seconds.  Heat race checkered flags went to Marlar, Chilton, and Lee, with Bland winning the B-Main.  Series provisionals went to Larry Gray, Jr. and Ed Behn, while Larry Greer earned the track provisional.             

 

The 20 lap Modified main event would see Jason Wheatley stave off early challenges from Josh Lucas and eventually drive away from the field as the 2008 Modified track champion would pick up his first feature win at Bluegrass Speedway for the ’09 season aboard the Kaylee and Tommy Wheatley owned, B&W Metals/Wheatley Tile Flooring/ Wheatley Seamless Gutters/Wheatley Auto Sales/Brian Wheatley Landscaping/VFM Manufacturing/Cozy Corner/Rosewood Golf Course/Gootee and Mattingly Heating and Cooling/Central Kentucky Plumbing and Electrical/Brady Excavating/St. Joe Garage/ Nukem Graphics/Wayne Bowen Racing Supply/Knapp Siding sponsored #7 Larry Shaw Race Cars, Mullins Race Engines powered machine.  Michael England would win a mid-race duel of slidejobs with Josh Lucas to take second, while Benji Lee would scoot past Dion Benningfield late in the going to take the fourth position.  Johnny Lee would head up the second five finishers at the drop of the checkered flag, followed by Rocky Wilson, Joe Mattingly, Gary Parks, and Jeremy Hisel.  Twenty entries would see race victories by scored by Wheatley and Lucas.

 

The 12 lap Street Stock feature event would see ’07 division champion Timmy Glazer lead the way in picking up his first feature victory of the season in the seat of his Tech 1/Cecil Transmissions sponsored #93 Chevy Monte Carlo.  Johnny Cecil would hold off Brad Leake at the end of the event to claim runner-up honors, with fourth and fifth going to last week’s winner Mike Cozzin, Jr. and Joe Walker.  The rest of the rundown would be Steve Thompson, Willie Edelen, and Jason Bartley.  Nine entries saw Glazer set quick time at 20.395 seconds, with Johnny Cecil winning the heat.

 

SUMMARY- Bluegrass Speedway-Bardstown, KY-April 25, 2009

O’Reilly Battle of the Bluegrass DirtCar Series Super Late Models (28 entries)

Racing Optics Top Qualifier- Mike Jewell 16.090      

Wayne Bowen Racing Supply Heat #1(Top 5 Advance)- Mike Marlar, Greg Johnson, David Webb, Mike Jewell, Eric Wells, Chris Combs, Larry Greer, Larry Gray, Jr., Ed Behn (DNS-Brandon Fouts)  

Graphic Impressions Heat #2 (Top 5 Advance)- Michael Chilton, Justin Rattliff, Jason Keltner, Tim Tungate, Tyrel Todd, Jordan Bland, Daniel Williams, Cody Mahoney, Steve Barnett          

C.J. Rayburn Race Cars Heat #3 (Top 5 Advance)- Victor Lee, Dustin Linville, Kevin Claycomb, Dustin Neat, Aaron Hatton, D.J. Wells, Shannon Thornsberry, Frankie Coomer, Terry Keltner                                   

All Star Performance B-Main (Top 5 Advance)- Jordan Bland, Chris Combs, Cody Mahoney, Shannon Thornsberry, D.J. Wells, Ed Behn, Larry Gray, Jr. Frankie Coomer, Terry Keltner, Daniel Williams, Larry Greer (DNS-Steve Barnett, Brandon Fouts)                    

Series Provisionals- Larry Gray, Jr., Ed Behn 

Track Provisional- Larry Greer

12th Annual Spring Sizzler- Mike Marlar, Victor Lee, Greg Johnson, Dustin Linville, Michael Chilton, Kevin Claycomb, Justin Rattliff, Jason Keltner, Jordan Bland, Dustin Neat, Tim Tungate, Mike Jewell, Chris Combs, Eric Wells, Shannon Thornsberry, Cody Mahoney, David Webb, Ed Behn, Tyrel Todd, Larry Gray, Jr., D.J. Wells, Larry Greer, Aaron Hatton 

 

Modifieds (20 entries)

1st Heat- Jason Wheatley, Jason Riney, Rocky Wilson, Johnny Lee

2nd Heat- Josh Lucas, Michael England, Dion Benningfield, Brad Schlosser

Feature- Jason Wheatley, Michael England, Josh Lucas, Benji Lee, Dion Benningfield, Johnny Lee, Rocky Wilson, Joe Mattingly, Gary Parks, Jeremy Hisel, Sam Huffer, Randall Basham, Brad Schlosser, Jason Riney, Elliott Despain, Randy Turpin, Joe David Humphrey, Whit Saylers, Richard Musick (DNS- Robbie Gullion)

 

Street Stocks (9 entries)

Top Qualifier- Timmy Glazer 20.395

Heat- Johnny Cecil, Timmy Glazer, Mike Cozzin, Jr., Brad Leake

Feature- Timmy Glazer, Johnny Cecil, Brad Leake, Mike Cozzin, Jr., Joe Walker, Steve Thompson, Willie Edelen, Jason Bartley (DNS-Shane Lafollette)