For 35 laps no driver was able to pull away to a clear advantage at Anderson Speedway on Saturday in the McGunegill Engine Performance Late Model race won by Jeff Marcum.
Rob Allman led the first 28 laps chased first by Ronnie Rose and then Jack Dossey III as the top seven drivers raced in a tight formation.
Following an Interstate Auto Auction restart on lap 25 Allman was running fender to fender with Dossey for the lead when three laps later his engine expired. At the same time Marcum was able to slip inside of Dossey in turn three.
On the first attempt to restart the race, Jason Neal got high coming off the fourth corner and brushed the outside retaining wall on the front straight. With the field checking up Kent Baledge made contact with the front straight wall and collected Joe Woodring. Woodring was able to continue but Baledge’s night was concluded.
When the race resumed Marcum was able to maintain the lead by racing in the low groove with Danny Trent able to get inside of Dossey with six laps remaining entering turn three.
Trent pressed Marcum to the finish and made a final attempt to grab the lead coming off the final corner but came up one-tenth of a second short.
Dossey finished third followed by Neal and Ronnie Rose.
For Marcum it was his second consecutive visit to the AutoFarm McCrocklin Ford Winner’s Circle after starting sixth in the field.
“That was a tough 35 laps,” Marcum said. “There was a lot of action around me, but everyone was racing clean.”
Marcum said of the two restarts with Dossey on his outside, that his car probably was a little better.
“The car was pushing,” he said of the final laps. “I knew Danny (Trent) was there. He kept bumping the back of my car.”
Dave Duncan made a charge through the field using the entire track after starting seventh in the field and working his way to third after 22 laps. He spun into the infield on lap 25 with an apparent overheating problem.
Marcum set fast time during qualifications with a lap of 13.071-seconds, just enough to better than mark of 13.09 turned in by Danny Trent with Dossey turning a 13.108.
Rob Allman led all ten laps of the fast heat race to record his second win of 2015. Rose, Dossey, Woodring and Marcum followed him to the checkers.
Duncan recorded his first win of the season in the second heat race leading from start to finish. Neal came home in second followed by Kent Baledge, David Clark and Brian Morrow.
