hrpchassis
07-28-2008, 12:30 PM
Brent Marks Invades and Conquers at Whip City Speedway,
WESTFIELD, MA Before Saturday night, Brent Marks had never laid eyes on Whip City Speedway, so the young hot shoe can be forgiven for having a little trouble locating victory lane. He needed to find the spot after a stunning upset victory in the 1200cc Mini Sprint feature, a race which had more twists and turns than Lombard Street. Wheeling the Henchcraft house car No. 1 and utilizing the services of Rick Hench as crew chief, Marks built on a less than inspiring performance in the heat and speedily set sail in the feature.
“After the heat, we tightened up the car quite a bit,” Marks said. “The track was getting looser all night and after the changes, we had a perfect set up for the feature. It let me drive wherever I needed to and it was fast.”
The green to checkers event had four lead changes. Jon Walts led the first two laps, then Mark Dupuis took over and appeared to be headed for a win until fate intervened on lap 15 of the 20 lap event. Dupuis attempted to pass the slowing car of Josh Walts on the outside, just as Walts went high to head for the pits. The ensuing kerfuffle allowed Marc Guerard and Brent Marks get by and relegated Dupuis to third, with Jon Moore inches off his back bumper. On the last lap, master traffic runner Guerard made a rare and uncharacteristic bobble and was trapped behind a lapped car, allowing Marks, who had started eighth, to grab the lead.
Marks, a 17 year old resident of Myerstown, PA who will be starting his senior year of high school in the fall, is a member in good standing of the Pennsylvania Pygmy Posse. He has numerous 600cc Micro Sprint wins to his credit and was the overall points champ of the Florida Winternationals in both 2007 and 2008, but this was only his second start in a full sized, upright Mini Sprint. In his maiden voyage on Friday with the Central New York Mini Sprints at Albany-Saratoga Speedway, Marks won his heat and was running second in the feature until he was sidelined by a sheered bolt in the steering arm.
WESTFIELD, MA Before Saturday night, Brent Marks had never laid eyes on Whip City Speedway, so the young hot shoe can be forgiven for having a little trouble locating victory lane. He needed to find the spot after a stunning upset victory in the 1200cc Mini Sprint feature, a race which had more twists and turns than Lombard Street. Wheeling the Henchcraft house car No. 1 and utilizing the services of Rick Hench as crew chief, Marks built on a less than inspiring performance in the heat and speedily set sail in the feature.
“After the heat, we tightened up the car quite a bit,” Marks said. “The track was getting looser all night and after the changes, we had a perfect set up for the feature. It let me drive wherever I needed to and it was fast.”
The green to checkers event had four lead changes. Jon Walts led the first two laps, then Mark Dupuis took over and appeared to be headed for a win until fate intervened on lap 15 of the 20 lap event. Dupuis attempted to pass the slowing car of Josh Walts on the outside, just as Walts went high to head for the pits. The ensuing kerfuffle allowed Marc Guerard and Brent Marks get by and relegated Dupuis to third, with Jon Moore inches off his back bumper. On the last lap, master traffic runner Guerard made a rare and uncharacteristic bobble and was trapped behind a lapped car, allowing Marks, who had started eighth, to grab the lead.
Marks, a 17 year old resident of Myerstown, PA who will be starting his senior year of high school in the fall, is a member in good standing of the Pennsylvania Pygmy Posse. He has numerous 600cc Micro Sprint wins to his credit and was the overall points champ of the Florida Winternationals in both 2007 and 2008, but this was only his second start in a full sized, upright Mini Sprint. In his maiden voyage on Friday with the Central New York Mini Sprints at Albany-Saratoga Speedway, Marks won his heat and was running second in the feature until he was sidelined by a sheered bolt in the steering arm.