BECHTELSVILLE, Pa.: High Limit Racing continues to put on some pretty good races as the series treks through central Pennsylvania.
Grandview Speedway, certainly, didn’t disappoint with three drivers competing for the win. First, it was Brent Marks. Then, it was Brad Sweet. Tyler Courtney took his turn before giving it back to Marks on the final lap.
Marks collected his second High Limit win of the season and fourth overall. As for Courtney, he suffered a gut-wrenching defeat and ninth runner-up finish of the season. Here are five talking points from a Tuesday night at the Bechtelsville, Pa., facility.
Scoring at home: It wasn’t Brent Marks’ prettiest win, but he crossed the line first and got a much-needed High Limit win on his home turf. Marks made a mistake that cost him the lead, but he regained his composure and passed Brad Sweet and then Tyler Courtney on the last lap to secure his second series win of the season and fourth overall. In Marks’ last four starts, he has an average finish of 3.75 and is now 85 points behind Courtney in the point standings. It should be noted that Marks is ahead of last year’s totals at this point in the season despite having to figure out the wicker bill change. Watch Marks through the summer months … he’s going to be a handful.
A tough loss: Tyler Courtney wasn’t about to hold back his disappointment after giving away a victory at Grandview. Instead of staying in the rubber, Courtney went to the top of Turns 1 and 2 the last lap, which allowed Marks to go by and steal the win. It was the Clauson-Marshal Racing driver’s ninth runner-up finish of the season. I understand the mistake, but Courtney is still one of the fastest cars in the country and a threat to win regardless of the competition. Courtney will be just fine and is turning the High Limit point chase into a two-horse race, which no one expected.
Abreu breaking the slump: Things were rough for Rico Abreu and his team through the first stages of the 2024 High Limit season. So much so that Abreu failed to win in the first 16 races and only had three top-five finishes. In his last three High Limit shows, he has a win and a pair of podium runs for an average result of 2.33. The wicker bill has been a huge hurdle for Abre and Co. to the point where past setups weren’t close to working. It seems crew chief Ricky Warner and Abreu are starting to come out of the slump and are finding speed heading into the summer months. Stay tuned.
Posse bright spot: There weren’t many at Grandview unless you are still hanging on to Brent Marks being a Pennsylvania Posse … well, he’s not. The highest finishing local wasn’t Anthony Macri or Danny Dietrich, it was Tyler Ross, who put together a solid night and came away with a seventh-place finish in the final rundown. Good thing Ross was at least able to see the front of the field, he is the lone Posse member to finish in the top 10. I think the central Pennsylvania locals are in a spot where they will be good against invaders at Port Royal but struggle everywhere else. Next up: the World of Outlaws in July.
Quiet improvement: It’s hard to make your mark in a series with Tyler Courtney, Brad Sweet, Brent Marks, Corey Day, and Rico Abreu. But a deeper look at Parker Price-Miller shows that he has been pretty good of late. On Tuesday night, the Indiana driver had a solid run, placing sixth in the 35-Lap main event. Price-Miller has found a little bit of speed of late, registering five-straight top-10 finishes, including a fifth-place run in the Bob Weikert Memorial Sunday night. Price-Miller is now sixth in the point standings, one spot behind Rico Abreu for a charter spot. Keep an eye on Price-Miller at Lawrenceburg this weekend.