Brent Marks gets on the winning track with Saturday victory march at Lincoln Speedway

ABBOTTSTOWN, Pa.: Brent Marks had a career season a year ago, when he racked up 14 wins against some pretty stiff competition.

More important, he finished strong. Marks captured the World Finals finale in Charlotte, N.C., and came back to win the Sprint Showdown at BAPS Motor Speedway.

Now comes the tough part … backing it up. But if Saturday night is any indication, Marks will have little problem matching last year’s victory total.

Marks took advantage of a long green-flag run late and chased down leader Chase Dietz. Once out front, the Myerstown, Pa., driver held off a charging Buddy Kofoid to earn the victory in the 30-Lap 410 Sprint Car feature at Lincoln Speedway.

The win was Marks’ first of the season and 10^th overall at the Pigeon Hills oval. It was also his seventh top-10 finish and fourth top five in 10 events since the calendar flipped over to 2022.

“We were just really good at the end of last year and going into a new year, you have the same expectations,” Marks said. “So, that’s what we are striving to get back toward, which is a good consistent car every time we hit the track and get wins like we did tonight.

“Hats off to my guys, Heath and Fud, and all of our sponsors who continue to support our race team. We are looking forward to the rest of the season.”

Three cautions marred the opening eight laps of the event. Riley Emig took the lead from Michael Millard at the start and set the pace before Austin Bishop spun on Lap 2. Two laps later, Dylan Norris spun in Turn 2.

Emig built a one-second advantage over Chase Dietz, who took second from Trey Hivner on Lap 5, but it was short-lived. The leader spun on the cushion in Turn 3, which handed the lead over to Dietz with eight laps down.

Marks, who started ninth on the grid, was running third after the caution. He was struggling to get by second-place Brandon Rahmer, which allowed Dietz to build a .764-second advantage by the halfway point.

Finally, Marks got by Rahmer for second by the time Lap 16 was scored. Lapped traffic became an issue on Lap 17, which allowed Marks and Danny Dietrich to close the gap to a half-second by Lap 20.

Millard brought out the final caution on Lap 21, when he spun in Turn 1. The top four of Dietz, Marks, Dietrich, and Kofoid were running in close quarters and moving all over the track looking for the fast way around.

Marks hounded Dietz for the top spot and ran .106 seconds off the pace on Lap 25. One lap later, the two traded the top spot in the first and second corner before Marks nailed the top of Turns 3 and 4 and beat Dietz back to the line.

“I felt like we were all pretty even … Chase, me, Kofoid, and Danny,” Marks said. “We were all right there with each other, and you couldn’t make a mistake. Otherwise, that guy was going to capitalize.

“Lapped traffic got a little hairy with a couple of guys jumping the curb and getting tight. I really needed some momentum to get back by Chase there and just kept working the top down in three and four when he started to peel off and run the bottom. If you could catch the top right, you could carry that momentum.”

Kofoid slipped around Dietrich with five to go and chased down Dietz, making the move into second on the 27^th circuit. Lapped traffic was in play with two to go, as the USAC National Midget champion made up ground on the leader.

Marks had just enough over the last lap to hang on and beat Kofoid to the line by a mere .260 seconds at the stripe. Dietrich, Dietz, and Brandon Rahmer completed the top five.

“I was a little worried early in the race that we didn’t have a good enough car to win,” Marks said. “This thing just likes long green-flag runs, so I was just really happy that the car came in at the end.

“The track turned out to be great. I was a little worried with that rain we had earlier, but they did a great job. I appreciate everybody coming out tonight, and it was great to get our first win of the season.”

Continued Marks, “We’ve been pretty close a couple of times this year, but we’ve been off a few times. So, we’ve been working really hard to get our program back to where it was last year.”

Matt Findley kicked off the 358 Sprint Car season in central Pennsylvania with a win in the 20-Lap main event.

Findley led every lap over the race distance and took the win by .956 seconds. Frankie Herr, Chris Frank, and Jordan Strickler completed the top five.

410 Sprint Car Feature Finish, 30 Laps: 1. Brent Marks; 2. Buddy Kofoid; 3. Danny Dietrich; 4. Chase Dietz; 5. Brandon Rahmer; 6. Freddie Rahmer; 7. Justin Peck; 8. Anthony Macri; 9. Tim Glatfelter; 10. Chad Trout; 11. Tim Wagaman; 12. Aaron Bollinger; 13. Tyler Ross; 14. Dylan Norris; 15. Kyle Moody; 16. Scott Fisher; 17. Trey Hivner; 18. Austin Bishop; 19. Glenndon Forsythe; 20. Michael Millard; 21. Billy Dietrich; 22. Alan Krimes; 23. Tyler Esh; 24. Riley Emig.

DNQ: Justin Whittall; Scotty Thiel; Jordan Givler; Jimmy Siegel; Niki Young; Robbie Kendall; Devon Borden; John Walp; Zach Allman; Jon Stewart; Zane Rudisill; Brie Hershey; Skylar Gee; John Brennfleck.

358 Sprint Car Feature Finish, 20 Laps: 1. Matt Findley; 2. Kody Hartlaub; 3. Frankie Herr; 4. Chris Frank; 5. Jordan Strickler; 6. Jayden Wolf; 7. Steve Owings; 8. Cody Fletcher; 9. Kyle Keen; 10. Cameron Smith; 11. Wyatt Hinkle; 12. Brett Wanner; 13. Brett Strickler; 14. Justin Foster; 15. David Holbrook; 16. Nash Ely; 17. Logan Rumsey; 18. Ashley Cappetta; 19. Nat Tuckey; 20. John Sharpe; 21. Dylan Orwig; 22. Kyle Rohrbaugh; 23. Shane Smith; 24. Cody Phillips.