You don’t expect a 41-year old driver, who has never competed in the NASCAR National Series ranks to record a top-five finish in their first outing, especially when they are driving for a team that had just one top-10 finish in their history. However, that’s exactly what Mike Marlar pulled off with Reaume Brothers Racing Thursday night at Eldora Speedway.
The 2018 World of Outlaws Late Model champion, and veteran of dirt racing, ran well and kept his nose clean the majority of the 150-lap Dirt Derby at Eldora.
In the closing laps, Marlar was planted firmly in the top-five and he surged to a solid fourth-place finish. For Marlar, Thursday night was a dream come true.
“It was awesome,” said Marlar. “Every guy when he starts racing dreams to get to run a NASCAR race and to have my first one go this well is unbelievable. I would like to thank everyone, the Reaume Brothers, Smithbilt Homes. It was just an awesome race.”
This marks not only an incredible finish for Marlar, but it is also the best finish ever for the Reaume Brothers Racing team. The previous best finish by the Reaume Brothers team was a sixth-place effort by Josh Reaume at Daytona in February.
Another interesting nugget, is that it was a controversial weekend for Marlar and his team as they were forced to peel the sponsorship decals off of their No. 33 race truck on Wednesday.
The team showed up with sponsorship from Marathon Oil, which is a conflict with NASCAR’s official Fuel Provider — Sunoco.
Smithbilt Homes stepped up and added their logos to the truck and it paid off with a solid finish.
