For 40 laps of the Wild West Shootout finale race on Sunday night, it looked like regional up-and-comer Jake Timm would be putting on a cowboy hat at the end of the night.
Although, that was until a caution came out with 10 laps remaining, bunching up the field and allowing a red hot Mike Marlar to take home his second win of the week in New Mexico.
For a majority of the race, it didn’t look like Marlar had anything for Timm. Even for the first 20 laps it looked like Ricky Weiss would blow the doors off of Marlar in the race.
After Marlar got by Weiss, the caution flag came out just in the nick of time.
“Really, I didn’t have anything for him, man that kid did a heck of a job,” Marlar said during his postrace interview on FloRacing. “I was a little off early so I was managing my tires and I guess it paid off. I’d love to say we had a plan there, but we just let it play out.”
Marlar said the only plan he followed was for the race-winning pass that came on the ensuing restart.
“He was just a little wide leaving the corner and then, under caution, I packed the track down a little bit and sure enough it stuck right down,” Marlar said on the broadcast.
The move would give the No. 157 the lead, but another yellow would sour the moods of some big names ahead of the start of Florida speedweeks.
Weiss was moving up the track on the backstretch to set up his entry to turns 3 and 4 when his right rear quarterpanel caught too much of Tyler Erb’s car.
Erb and Weiss both spun, collecting Brandon Sheppard with them ending each of the trio’s race and weekends overall.
Marlar had different fortunes, though, holding onto the lead and gaining a $28,000 check for winning the finale race and capturing the week long championship purse.
“This race track’s just awesome man, it’s such a nice facility,” Marlar said. “I don’t know what the future holds but it’s the best track out west for sure.”
Next, the fender fans turn their eyes to the east, as the World of Outlaws and Lucas Oil Dirt Late Model tours kick off their seasons in the pair of weekends to come.
Wild West Shootout Finale Night Results
Vado Speedway Park
1. Mike Marlar
2. Earl Pearson Jr.
3. Jake Timm
4. Bobby Pierce
5. Stormy Scott
6. Terry Phillips
7. Mason Oberkramer
8. Cody Laney
9. Kyle Beard
10. Dustin Walker
11. Tyler Erb
12. Ricky Weiss
13. Brandon Sheppard
14. Rusty Schlenk
15. Garrett Alberson
16. Don Shaw
17. Johnny Scott
18. Kent Rosevear
19. Jim Whistler
20. Jason Papich
21. Rob Mayea
22. Rodney Sanders
23. Cole Farmer
24. Steve Stultz
