Brent Marks

Brent Marks earned his third win of the season and first career at Port Royal Speedway Saturday night. (Paul Chaplin | pchaplin@pennlive.com)

PORT ROYAL: Brent Marks has just about experienced everything that can possibly happen behind the wheel of a Sprint Car.

All in four months.

Marks has flipped. He's wrecked while leading. He's had bad luck and made mistakes on the racetrack.

But the Myerstown ace has persevered. He's shaken off the bad luck, the mishaps, and has turned the corner to enjoy success. Welcome to the ebb and flow of Sprint Car racing.

Marks made it two-for-two on the weekend in the 25-lap feature at Port Royal Speedway, collecting a $3,000 payday. He also visited Victory Lane on Friday night at Williams Grove Speedway.

"This season is turning around," Marks said. "This is awesome, getting two wins in a row. Especially at Port Royal Speedway.

"I felt like I've had so many wins taken away from me here, and it's special to be standing here on the stage [in Victory Lane]. It was an awesome night, and awesome weekend."

Marks is the 10th different winner in 11 410 Sprint Car events at the Juniata County oval. He is the 175th different winner at the facility.

This one wasn't easy.

Sure, Marks started on the front row. But he was challenged a couple times over the race distance by cagey Rick Lafferty.

Ryan Taylor got the jump from the poll, but Marks shot to the inside of Turn 1 to grab the top spot. Taylor settled into second, with Doug Esh and Lafferty in tow.

Lafferty hugged the bottom of the speedway. He took third from Esh on lap 2 and second from Taylor coming down the frontstretch one lap later.

Marks was slicing through the middle. He opened up a half-straightaway lead by lap 5 but lost it when Dan Shetler rolled to a stop on the backstretch.

On the restart, Marks surged ahead. Meanwhile, Greg Hodnett ducked under Mike Wagner and Taylor coming down the fronstretch for fourth at the completion of lap 6.

Marks stretched his advantage to a full straightaway by lap 10. But the lead was wiped out when Nate Snyder stopped at the exit of Turn 4 with a flat tire on lap 14.

Hodnett advanced to third when the race went back to green. He set up Esh coming out of Turn 4, while Marks blasted out to a half-straightaway lead.

"There was a nice moisture strip in the middle," Marks said. "I was planning on pounding the top, but I found that strip during slow laps and held it there as long as I could.

"Port Royal has been really fun this year. They widened the turns, and it made the track real racy. I went from seventh to third in the heat race, and I should be able to do that every week."

Things got shaky for Marks in the closing laps. Lafferty was glued to the bottom and closed to within two car-lengths by lap 20.

The front two cars were side-by-side in Turn 2 on lap 21. Marks used the middle to pull out front and maintain the top spot, but Lafferty was still lurking.

Marks made the winning move in Turn 1 on the last lap. He stuck his mount between the lapped car of Jordan Givler and the inside wall to pull off the pass and was able to hold off Lafferty the rest of the way.

"I was a sitting duck out front," Marks said. "Rick showed me his nose, and I went down. He had the better car tonight, but I wasn't going to give up my first win at Port Royal."

Said Lafferty, "I showed the nose, and he caught on. It's tough to tell if [Brent] was slowing down. There were lapped cars and a lot of bad air. Things didn't work out for me, and he did a good job."

Blane Heimbach was on the move late, passing Hodnett on lap 21 and catching the top two at the finish. Lance Dewease was fifth.

Tim Smith Jr. set a track record in the 20-lap Late Model feature, claiming his first career win at the oval in 7:14.004.

Mike Lupfer, Matt Parks, Rance Garlock and Tim Wilson completed the top five. Tyler Bear won the 20-lap 305 Sprint Car feature.

LINCOLN: Brian Montieth scored his second win of the season at the Abbottstown oval. Alan Krimes was second, followed by Danny Dietrich, Ryan Wilson and Billy Dietrich.

Chase Dietz won an early scrum with Chris Arnold and CJ Tracy and claimed the 20-lap 358 Sprint Car feature. Jeff Rohrbaugh, Matt Campbell, Tyler Ross and Chandler Leiby completed the top five.

SELINSGROVE: Mark Smith passed Derek Locke on lap 15 and held off TJ Stutts late to earn the victory in the United Racing Club event. He earned $2,500.

Stutts, Locke, Larry Kelleher and Jason Clauss completed the top five. Scott Haus was victorious in the 25-lap Late Model feature.

WILLIAMS GROVE: Steve Wilbur, who started third, scored the victory in the Super Sportsman feature. Alan Sagi won the 20-lap 358 Late Model feature, his first ever win at Williams Grove Speedway.