UNION, KY (March 30, 2013) – Scott James of Lawrenceburg, IN took the lead on lap 18 and then survived a torrid duel with Mike Marlar of Winfield, TN to win the 37th Annual Spring 50 on Saturday Night at Florence Speedway. James earned $5,000 for his win. He first won the race in 2007.
James in the Sanford Goddard, Warrior House Car held off Marlar for his first win of the season. Greg Johnson of Bedford, IN finished third, followed by ’11 Spring 50 winner, Eddie Carrier Jr. of Salt Rock, WV, and Tyler Reddick of Corning, CA completed the top five.
“We drove down last night to Knoxville, Tenn. to pick up the car, it is our back-up car, we weren’t planning on running anywhere this weekend while we were getting the main car ready, and at the last minute decided to come here, I love racing here, we have had a lot of success here before, and to win for the first time driving this Warrior Car is quite an accomplishment, we lost our brakes, and to fight off Mikey (Marlar) wow what can I say, I hoped the fans enjoyed that race.”
Johnson would lead the first 17 laps of the race, which went caution-free, before he yielded to the fourth-starting, James. Marlar, who charged from his seventh starting position moved into second at the halfway mark and from then on it was a classic battle between the two veteran drivers as James and Marlar raced through traffic several times over the last half of the event.
Marlar would keep James in his sights and just when it looked like Marlar has enough to take the lead, James would repel every challenge and keep the top spot. Meanwhile Johnson and Carrier also had spirited duel for third for a long period during the race as Johnson crossed the finish line just ahead of Carrier.
Completing the top ten were Josh McGuire, Mike Jewell, Jason Montgomery, R.J. Conley and Kent Robinson.
Marlar was the fastest qualifier among the 27 entrants with a lap of 16.128 seconds. Heat race winners were Johnson, Carrier and McGuire. Rod Conley won the consy.
37th Annual Spring 50 Late Model Finish: Scott James, Mike Marlar, Greg Johnson, Eddie Carrier Jr., Tyler Reddick, Josh McGuire, Mike Jewell, Jason Montgomery, R.J. Conley, Kent Robinson, Justin Rattliff, Joe Janowski, Jason Jameson, Robby Hensley, Tim Prince, Andrew Reaume, Wayne Chinn, James Rice, Nick Latham, Rod Conley, Mick Samson, Stephen Breeding, Michael Chilton, Steve Landrum