TUCSON, Ariz. -- Ending a stretch of 16 months without a Super Late Model victory, Jimmy Mars of Menomonie, Wis., led every lap of Saturday’s Winter Extreme main event at Tucson International Raceway to claim round five of the six-race miniseries.
Mars earned $5,000 in continuing his strong start to the season with his fifth top-five finish in five races for Tucson International Raceway’s annual January event.
“Finally,” Mars said of his long-awaited return to victory lane. “We had a tough-luck year last year. It’s easy to make some wrong decisions even though you think you’re going the right direction. We just kinda backed everything up and did a little thinking this winter, and it’s been good this whole week.”
Starting from the pole, Mars cruised through the first half of the race before surviving a mid-race charge from Ryan Gustin of Marshalltown, Iowa, and later keeping John Blankenship of Williamson, W.Va., at bay in a six-lap run to the finish.
Blankenship settled for the runner-up finish after charging from the 10th starting spot, while Billy Moyer Jr. of Batesville, Ark., finished where he started in third. Gustin, while fourth-starting Tony Jackson Jr. of Lebanon, Mo., overtook outside polesitter Justin Asplin of Birch Tree, Mo., on the final lap to finish fifth.
After running fifth for most of the race, Gustin charged to second just after the race’s halfway point and cut Mars’ straightaway lead to just a few car lengths before the race’s final caution waved on lap 34. But Gustin couldn’t keep pace after the restart and dropped back to fourth at the finish.
The 40-lap race was slowed by four cautions. The first appeared on lap 10 when Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., went for a spin while battling Will Vaught of Crane, Mo., back in the pack. The race was again slowed with 16 laps complete when Kent Robinson of Bloomington, Ind., spun exiting turn two.
Jason Papich of Nipomo, Calif., caused the third yellow when he spun on lap 24 while battling Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y., for sixth. Justin Kay of Wheatland, Iowa, slowed on lap 34 to bring out the fourth and final caution.
Notes: Mars drives an MB Customs Race Car with a Pro Power engine and sponsorship from Deppe Enterprises, S&S Transport, T.L. Sinz Plumbing, Keyes Chevrolet, Baileigh Industrial and Tim’s Automotive Machine. ... Mars’ previous Super Late Model victory came at Manitowoc Expo Speedway on Aug. 17, 2012. ... Mars earned the third Tucson victory of his career and his first since 2010. His other two Arizona victories came at Central Arizona Raceway in Casa Grande in 2008. ... The Winter Extreme miniseries concludes Sunday afternoon with a $10,000-to-win event. DirtonDirt.com is providing live video coverage of the entire program.
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FINISH: (1) Jimmy Mars, (2) John Blankenship, (3) Billy Moyer Jr., (4) Ryan Gustin, (5) Tony Jackson Jr., (6) Justin Asplin, (7) Tim Fuller, (8) Jason Krohn, (9) Pat Doar, (10) Jason Hughes, (11) Max Blair, (12) Ricky Weiss, (13) Jason Papich, (14) Tony Toste, (15) Brandon Sheppard, (16) Justin Kay, (17) Shane Clanton, (18) Will Vaught, (19) Chris Simpson, (20) Kent Robinson, (21) Terry Phillips, (22) A.J. Diemel, (23) Billy Moyer, (24) Travis Dickes. Fast qualifier (among 56 cars): Jackson, 16.026 seconds. Heat winners: Mars, Doar, Jackson, Gustin, Asplin, Moyer Jr. Consolation winners: Diemel, Kay, Moyer.
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