Lonnie Wheatley, SAN TAN VALLEY, Ariz. (January 9, 2018) – With the initial two of six rounds of the 12th Annual Keyser Manufacturing Wild West Shootout presented by O’Reilly Auto Parts at FK Rod Ends Arizona Speedway in the books, the trio of Mike Marlar, Johnny Scott and Scott Bintz are out to the early lead in the point chases.

Going into Wednesday night’s third round of competition atop the 1/3-mile clay oval near Phoenix, Marlar leads the way in the Super Late Model ranks, Scott is atop the Modified points and Bintz is setting the pace in the X-Mods.

While Canadian Ricky Weiss and Minnesota’s Don Shaw have split victory honors in the opening two rounds of Black Diamond/Club 29 Super Late Models presented by M&W Transportation action, Marlar has posted a pair of third-place finishes to sit atop the point charts.

Marlar holds a 15-point advantage over Shaw going into Round Three with Brandon Sheppard, defending Wild West Shootout champ Bobby Pierce and Chris Simpson also among the current top five.

While nobody will capture the $250,000 Keyser Manufacturing bonus for winning all six events, Weiss and Shaw both have a shot at a $100,000 bonus if either can run the table in the remaining four events.

With a Sunday night win after a sixth-place finish in the Saturday opener, Las Cruces’ Johnny Scott holds a 20-point edge in the MVT/Border International USRA Modified presented by Arizona Differential ranks over Shane Sabraski with Justin Kay, Josh Angst and opening round winner Ricky Thornton, Jr., among the top five.

Already with a pair of podium finishes including a Saturday night win, Scott Bintz leads the way in the RHRSwag.com X-Mods presented by Barnett Harley-Davidson by just five points over Sunday night winner Cole Searing with Dewayne Tesch, Jaime Torres and Steve Muilenberg also among the top five.

The Wild West Shootout continues at FK Rod Ends Arizona Speedway on Wednesday night with racing action set to go green at 7:00 p.m. with the final three rounds set for Friday through Sunday, January 12-14.

A $5,000 winner’s share is up for grabs for the Super Late Models through the opening five nights of competition before the stakes are upped to $13,000-to-win for the January 14 finale.

Advanced tickets may be purchased online at www.wildwestshootout.net/schedule/ and ticket pricing/purchasing information can be found at www.wildwestshootout.net or by calling the Wild West Shootout office at 520-664-2074.

Wild West Shootout Hotel Information can be found at http://www.wildwestshootout.net/fan-info/lodging-2/ or by calling La Quinta Inn & Suites at 480-844-8747. The La Quinta Phoenix Mesa West is located at 902 W. Grove in Mesa, AZ.

Saturday and Sunday races will go green at 5 p.m. with Wednesday and Friday events starting at 7 p.m.

Arizona Speedway is located just minutes from Phoenix. From Phoenix, take US 60 east to Ironwood Dr., turn right (south) and go four miles, Arizona Speedway is on the right hand side. For more information, visit www.wildwestshootout.net or call 520-664-2074.

The 2018 Wild West Shootout is made possible by Keyser Manufacturing, O’Reilly Auto Parts, FK Rod Ends, Black Diamond/Club 29 Race Cars, M&W Transport, Mesilla Valley Transportation, Border International Trucks, Arizona Differential, RHR RacingSwag, Barnett Harley Davidson, Hoker Trucking, Total Seal Piston Rings, Karl Performance, Textron Off-Road, Shaw Trucking, M&S Concrete, AR Bodies, Earnhardt Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge Ram, Pro Power Engines, VP Racing Fuel, Penske Racing Shocks and Hoosier Tires.

Current Wild West Shootout Points through Round Two of Six:

Late Models
1 157 Mike Marlar 134
2 42s Don Shaw 119
3 B5 Brandon Sheppard 117
4 32p Bobby Pierce 103
5 32 Chris Simpson 95
6 75 Terry Phillips 94
7 2T Ryan Gustin 93
8 O1 Garrett Alberson 93
9 7w Ricky Weiss 88
10 86 Kyle Beard 77
11 89 Mike Spatola 71
12 97 Cade Dillard 62
13 20 Rodney Sanders 61
14 0 Jake O’Neil 60
15 54X David Braeazale 55
16 18 Chase Junghans 53
17 16 Austin Siebert 51
18 96rc R.C. Whitwell 45
19 44X Clint Smith 41
20 90 Lance Matthees 41
21 37W Scott Ward 40
22 3k Tanner Kelick 39
23 32b Clay Daly 33
24 15 Justin Duty 33
25 15k Justin Kay 32
26 6 Ricky Thornton, Jr. 32
27 12 Nick Bartels 28
28 7D Austin Theiss 24
29 17 Billy Franklin 10
30 18x Cody Barnett 10
31 98 Jason Rauen 10
32 51 Joey Moriarty 9
33 10n Rob Sanders 9
34 44 Eric Mass 8
35 7DX Jake Davis 8
36 37x Robert Mayea 8
37 28 John Cornell 7
38 3x Lyndon Bolt 7
39 22 Jonathan Ortega 6
40 15x John Duty 6
41 6T Terry Carter 6
42 38 Thomas Hunziker 6
43 91t Tony Toste 6
44 45 Dustin Bluhm 5
45 78s Steve Stultz 5
46 54 Carlos Ahumanda 4
47 5 David Deetz 4
48 78 Ed Peters 4
49 7mm Michael Maresca 3
50 6 Casey Skyberg 2
51 J17 Jake Gallardo 2
52 26 Jon Brinkley 2
53 9 Mike Masters 1

Modifieds
1 1ST Johnny Scott 126
2 7A Shane Sabraski 106
3 15K Justin Kay 94
4 99 Josh Angst 91
5 20RT Ricky Thornton Jr 87
6 7K Jason Krohn 84
7 30 Matt Leer 84
8 23 Matt Gilbertson 81
9 69 Lucas Schott 80
10 2J Blake Jegtvig 73
11 2A Casey Arneson 71
12 0 Jake O’Neil 66
13 2s Stormy Scott 64
14 71 Dustin Strand 54
15 6D Dylan Goplen 53
16 10c Chad Olsen 51
17 23 Adam Cates 50
18 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr 49
19 19sb Lance Mari 44
20 29d Brad Dierks 43
21 44 Christy Barnett 43
22 18Z Zane DeVilbiss 40
23 6 Casey Skyberg 38
24 J17 Jake Gallardo 33
25 G17 Fito Gallardo 33
26 19 Lucas Rodin 31
27 1TPO Tyler Peterson 27
28 96 RC Whitwell 25
29 160 Michael Maggard 24
30 75 Spencer Wilson 18
31 131 Royal Jones 14
32 5m Anthony Madrid 11
33 81X Brian Ruhlman 9
34 71H Jesse Hoskins 8
35 21 Austin Bonner 7
36 77X Austin Kuehl 7
37 A1 Phil Dixon 6
38 36 Ryan Cousins 6
39 4 Billy Vogel 5
40 65S Carlos Ahumada Sr 4
41 196 Joey Olschowka 4
42 7 Ken McCleskey 4
43 F27 Lynnsee Provence 4
44 X57 Richie Davis 4
45 33 Steve Muilenberg 4
46 121 Tim Tharp 4
47 111 Bumper Jones 3
48 2 Rusty Koleman 2
49 L8 Brian Schultz 1
50 8a Al Giesbrecht 1
51 81 Scott Hansen 1

X-Modifieds
1 1s Scott Bintz 142
2 0 Cole Searing 137
3 30 Dewayne Tesch 118
4 44GT Jaime Torres 96
5 39 Steve Muilenburg 90
6 3J Josh Cain 84
7 19 Lucas Rodin 82
8 99 Shawn Fernkes 82
9 55 Mike Hailmann 76
10 782 Miah Christensen 65
11 7 Donavon Flores 59
12 10c Cole Hauglend 56
13 31 Scott Hansen 54
14 14 Shawn Strong 53
15 17az Neil Eckhart 50
16 88 Nathan Smith 49
17 777 Mike Rosales 47
18 16 Jason VandeKamp 45
19 2 Jesse Haynie 44
20 5C Preston Carr 38
21 32 Eric Hauglane 32
22 6 Dean Eggebraaten 30
23 57x Chad Horst 30
24 20 Mark Harrison 28
25 82 Sherman Barnett 27
26 7T Joseph Thomas 27
27 51W Ronald Webster 27
28 6C Calvin Caitlin 24
29 67 Rex Conrad 20
30 71 Dustin Strand 15
31 81X Matt Spardy 9
32 15 Speedy Madrid 9
33 56 Terry Bahr 8
34 75C Bo Partain 7
35 171 Jed smith 7
36 271 Kelly Hagel 6
37 11 Richie Jones 5
38 5m Justin Minx 5
39 5 Daniel Anders 4
40 28 Peyton George 4
41 7d Heath Dry 2
42 7g Dennis Gates 2
43 34 James Meile 2