As the summer is coming to an end, so is the racing at the local speedways. On Friday and Saturday night the World of Outlaws visited Williams Grove Speedway to compete in the prestigious National Open. The rain came on Friday night pushing the preliminary feature to Saturday night following the Open Feature where Brent Marks of Myerstown claimed victory in the 61st annual National Open.
It was the second for Marks’ in the prestigious Williams Grove event, earning him $75,000. It was his fifth victory of the season at the speedway and it pushed his total five-win earnings to $120,100.
Marks won the dash and earned the pole position for the 40-lap open, but it wasn’t an easy win.
Justin Peck lined up alongside him on the front row and Daryn Pittman took the green flag from the sixth spot.
Marks led the first lap over Peck before the Indiana native made a low move in the first and second turns to take command, Pittman motored into second on the same lap, also bypassing Marks. A determined Marks then went to work claiming the top lane and getting back up to Pittman and by lap six the pair was nose to tail for the second spot.
A battle for second continued for several laps and by lap 11 the front trio were all vying for the lead.
Pittman claimed the lowside in the second turn aboard the Kreitz No. 69K and drove up off of the corner to take control.
Pittman hit the lapped traffic on the 14th tour and began putting daylight between himself and the rest of the field only to be slowed with 25 laps to go for a stopped Lance Dewease in the fourth corner.
Just prior to the caution, Marks had muscled around Peck for second. The caution flag for Dewease then became a red flag in order for teams to refuel the cars.
Pittman then led the next two laps before the red flag appeared for a two-car flip in the first turn when Logan Schuchart and James McFadden connected after McFadden spun.
Pittman would pull out to a 1.452 second lead on the restart but Marks made his move with 20 laps to go.
Marks was using the top while Pittman was equally committed to using the bottom and middle lanes and Marks was finally able to claim the top in turns three and four with 18 laps left. Pittman was able to keep Marks within striking distance for the next six laps until the leader hit the rear of the field with 12 laps remaining, that’s when Marks began pulling away in his No. 19M to post his 20th career oval win by 2.431 seconds.
Pittman finished second again in the race, pushing his total to six runner-ups.
“I would have gladly walked away and you’d never see me here again if I had won the National Open,” Pittman admitted.
Rico Abreu claimed third followed by Sheldon Haudenschild and outlaws point leader Brad Sweet. Sixth through 10th went to Peck, David Gravel, Donny Schatz, Danny Dietrich and Tyler Courtney.
Following the National Open, the postponed Preliminary from Friday night was spun off with outlaws high point man Sweet scoring his second win of the season at the track.
California’s Sweet started second in the 25-lap main and chased Tyler Courtney for the first five laps before a caution flag regrouped the field. Sweet used a slide job in the third and fourth turns on the restart to get the lead before driving away to his third career checkers at Williams Grove.
Freddie Rahmer’s run earned him the 2023 Lawrence Chevrolet Sprint Car Track Title.
The championship is the third of his career at Williams Grove having taken the first two in 2017 and in 2020.
