Mike Marlar and team owner Ronnie Delk have mutually parted ways, effective immediately.
Following the weekend’s Dirt Track World Championship at Eldora Speedway, where Marlar officially finished 21st, the pair brought a close to a 10-year partnership that saw Marlar behind the wheel of the No. 157.
“My first weekend with Ronnie was in late October 2013, at Smoky Mountain Speedway,” Marlar said in the release. “The first night we broke an engine, and I thought we might be finished before we even got started. But that wasn’t Ronnie’s style; he came to my shop the next morning with an engine in the back of his truck. We put it in, and we won $10,000 that night. Then it was off to the races. Ronnie and I have accomplished a lot in the past decade, and he’s been the absolute best friend and car owner a person could ever ask for.”
The pair both has ‘optimistic looks’ for the future, but Delk’s 2024 plans were not announced with the release. Marlar intends to announce his 2024 plans, ‘in the next week or so.’
“My partnership with Mikey has been a great thing,” Delk said. “I’ve enjoyed it, and we’ve built something we can both be really proud of. We have achieved a lot of cool things together in racing, and now we want to expand that partnership to other things.”
“My relationship with Ronnie goes way beyond the traditional one of a driver and owner,” Marlar said. “We’re great friends; he’s my greatest ally, and he has enriched my life. In the past ten seasons I have never pulled on the track without knowing that I had the best equipment available, and that Ronnie fully believed in me. He built a premier team from the ground up, and I can never thank him enough for the opportunity of being his driver. It’s been an extraordinary partnership, and I am excited for the next chapter of our journey together.”
Marlar will be helping out Delk’s son, Jared, as a pit crew member in his third Crown Vic race over the weekend.
