ANDERSON – For the fourteenth time Jeff Marcum won a Champion Racing Association Sportsman Late Model race.
Marcum now trails all-time leader Jason Atkinson in the record books with 15 wins.
Marcum led 74 of the 75 laps at Anderson Speedway Saturday surviving three restarts in the process and winning by 2.9-seconds over fast qualifier Cassten Everidge.
The inversion after qualifying put Jordan West and point leader Zach Stacy on the front row. The first caution flag waved on the opening lap when JP Crabtree spun in turn three as the field stacked up.
Only one circuit was completed when Ryder VanAlst came to a stop in turn three with a flat tire.
Stacy was on the point at the start with Marcum running second on the restart. Marcum got the jump and passed Stacy with an outside move entering turn one.
The fourth caution flag waved on lap 24 when Greg Stilwell and Danny Trent got together in turn two while batting for the fourth spot.
On the restart VanAlst got loose on the front straight and collected the cars of Stilwell, Stacy, Glynn Neal and Tanner Ballard.
From there Marcum opened a comfortable lead over Eberidge, Stacy, Trent and VanAlst.
The final caution flag waved on lap 56 when Everidge spun on the front straight and was able to continue after replacing a flat left rear tire.
Everidge quickly moved back through the field to run second to Marcum with 16 laps remaining, but was never able to mount a charge.
Trent finished third followed by Stacy and VanAlst.
“I wanted to take advantage of the good tires early,” Marcum said in the Riley & Sons Victory Lane. “The track was slick and we didn’t practice much today, knew what we had.
“I just wanted to get out front and manage the tires,” he said.
Marcum said closing in on the record number of wins is “huge” based on the level of competition in the series.
Everidge said the story of his season has been a lack of luck.
“We had a second place car, we finished where we were supposed to,” he said. “We’ll come back in a few weeks and try to have something a little bit better. The track was slick tonight and I like a slick track.”
Trent said he had a good car and tangled with West causing him to put on a rear tire with 100 laps on it.
“The car was racy, but the right rear was worn out,” he said. “Found something out because we have been struggling with this chassis.”
Race Statistics: Time of Race; 56 minutes; 30.176-seconds: Winning margin; 2.919-seconds: Lead changes: 1 among 2 drivers; Lap leaders; Zach Stacy, 1; Jeff Marcum, 2-75; Cautions; 6 and 1 red flag
