ANDERSON – For the fourteenth time Jeff Marcum won a Champion Racing Association Sportsman Late Model race.
Marcum now trails all-time leader Jason Atkinson in the record books with 15 wins.
Marcum led 74 of the 75 laps at Anderson Speedway Saturday surviving three restarts in the process and winning by 2.9-seconds over fast qualifier Cassten Everidge.
The inversion after qualifying put Jordan West and point leader Zach Stacy on the front row. The first caution flag waved on the opening lap when JP Crabtree spun in turn three as the field stacked up.
The fourth caution flag waved on lap 24 when Greg Stilwell and Danny Trent got together in turn two while batting for the fourth spot.
On the restart Ryder VanAlst got loose on the front straight and collected the cars of Stilwell, Stacy, Glynn Neal and Tanner Ballard.
From there Marcum opened a comfortable lead over Eberidge, Stacy, Trent and VanAlst.
The final caution flag waved on lap 56 when Everidge spun on the front straight and was able to continue after replacing a flat left rear tire.
Everidge quickly moved back through the field to run second to Marcum with 16 laps remaining, but was never able to mount a charge.
Trent finished third followed by Stacy and VanAlst.
“I wanted to take advantage of the good tires early,” Marcum said in the Riley & Sons Victory Lane. “The track was slick and we didn’t practice much today, knew what we had.
“I just wanted to get out front and manage the tires,” he said.
In a tune-up for a 150-lap feature event next Saturday for the CRA Street Stocks, Anderson’s Andrew Cook recorded his first career win in Vores Welding & Steel Street Stock action.
There was a lot of intense action during the 35-lap feature as the drivers were not adverse to trading paint.
Dawson Phillips took the lead on the second lap and remained in front until contact with James Kirby on lap 10 sent both drivers to the tail of the field. That put Ricky Craig on the point but on lap 15 he got into a tangle with Jimmy Kirby which ended both their nights.
Cook inherited the lead and was passed by James Kirby on the restart, but Kirby’s night ended on lap 17 with a transmission problem.
Phillips recovered to finish second followed by John Robbins, Rickie Tharp and Dylan Hoppes.
Sam Johnson passed Robbins on lap ten to claim his first win of 2024 in the Legends Division. Johnny Weaver led the first two laps before being passed by Robbins. At the finish Johnson won by less than a half-second over Robbins with Xavier King coming home in third.
Austin Pursley led the entire distance to win the Marcum’s Welding Front Wheel Drive feature for the second time this year. Hoppes came home in second followed by first-time competitor Josh Hague.
