Jared Marks Hopes To Leave His Mark At Lucas Oil Raceway

Topics:  Jared Marks, Ansell Protective Gloves 200

Chris Knight
Knight Motorsports Management
Tony Marks Racing
July 25, 2011

CLERMONT, Indiana (July 25, 2011) - - Undoubtedly, Jared Marks has been impressive in his first three ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards contests in a second Tony Marks Racing (TMR) entry. With three top-15 finishes entering Thursday night’s Ansell Protective Gloves 200 at Lucas Oil Raceway (LOR) at Indianapolis, it would not be a surprise if the 17-year old recorded his first career top-10 run.

In his ARCA Racing Series debut at Toledo Speedway, Marks finished 13th. In his second race at Winchester (Ind.) Speedway, Marks rebounded from a tire failure to notch 12th. Most recently, two weeks ago at Iowa Speedway, Marks battled unbearable heat to an 11th place finish in his No. 8 Mad Croc Energy / Dodge Motorsports / VR-12 Dodge Charger.

If his finishing efforts continue to spin an upward climb, Marks, in theory should record a 10th place finish in the 12th race of the season. However, the Napoleon, Ohio native wouldn’t mind finishing even higher.

“It sure has been fun racing in the ARCA Racing Series with Mad Croc, Dodge, VR-12 and Tony Marks Racing,” said Marks, a development driver for TMR. “It’s been very satisfying to see our finishes go in the right direction and I am anxious for a top-10. Hopefully, we’ll be able to accomplish that on Thursday night.”

To add a boost to Marks’ fourth ARCA Racing Series event of the season, the high school student has prior experience around Lucas Oil Raceway when he competed in a CRA Late Model event last summer. Still, Marks knows that his learning curve will be steep this week, but the avid late model competitor believes he can overcome any potential setbacks he may endure.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to test at all of the race tracks that I’ve raced at thus far. This week though, it’s a little different story,” Marks sounded. “We didn’t test, but I have raced there before. I know there a huge difference between a Late Model and an ARCA car but the extra laps certainly help. Utilizing as much of the hour and a half practice time as possible will no doubt put us in a better position for the race.

When the green flag drops though, none of that makes a difference. It will be about racing hard and keeping our No. 8 Mad Croc Energy / Dodge Motorsports / VR-12 Dodge Charger on the lead lap. Hopefully, when it’s all said and done, we hope we’ll have something to be happy about.”

The added pressure of being a teammate, not to mention driving for his father can be daunting for any teenager but for this cool, calm and collective rising phenom, he sees the opportunity laid upon him as a chance to continue to prove himself.

“As a team, we’ve learned a bunch when we’ve taken two cars to the track,” Marks sounded. “We would not be able to gain that experience or knowledge anywhere else. Maryeve is a great teammate and friend. We were racing near each other a lot at Iowa Speedway and I’m hoping we can do the same on Thursday night.”

For father, Tony Marks the opportunity to see a second car fielded by TMR speaks volumes for his rookie team not to mention the humbleness he’s experienced with his son at the helm.

“Jared has proven that he can compete with the best of the best in ARCA,” said the Ohio entrepreneur. “Maryeve has as well. This is a good team with a huge talent pool in and outside the race cars. Lucas Oil Raceway is another “new” piece to our rookie season, so we just look to come away with the best finish possible for both cars.”

The Ansell Protective Gloves 200 (200 laps / 137 miles) is the 12th of 19 events on the 2011 ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards schedule. The eighth ever ARCA race at Lucas Oil Raceway is a one-day show. Practice begins Thursday, July 28 with an hour and a half practice session planned from 1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Menards Pole by Ansell qualifying is slated for later in the day set to begin at 4:30 p.m. The event will take the green flag shortly after 7:00 p.m. The event will air live on SPEED. Additional event coverage including live timing and scoring throughout the 1,324th race for the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards since it was formed in 1953 will be available through the ARCA Racing Network (ARN) online at arcaracing.com presented by ARCANation.com. All times are local.

For additional information on TMT, Inc. please visit; tmtcompanies.net.

To learn more about Tony Marks Racing, please click over to Tmr-racing.com

See the buzz that VR-12 is creating by clicking over to their website at VR-12.com.

About Tony Marks Racing (TMR):

Tony Marks Racing was founded in 2009 through the passion for racing of team owner and former driver Tony Marks. Marks is the successful owner of TMT, Inc., a logistics, warehousing and packaging company with over 400 employees whose customers are mainly comprised of Fortune 100 companies.

Marks began his racing career in 1985 getting behind the wheel of everything from drag racers, Dirt Late Models, SCCA Formula Fords, USAC F2000 Open Wheel and ARCA cars. Tony personally raced until 2005 amassing numerous wins, championships and track records along the way until he then changed his focus from driver to owner and began building racing programs for his children Jared (16 years old) and Rachel (13 years old). Under the auspices of TMR, Jared began his racing career in 2002 in quarter midgets and now competes in late model, CRA, ASA and ARCA Series events while Rachel continues her development program racing quarter midgets and Bandoleros.

TMR has been at the forefront of charitable giving through its’ “Driving Against Hunger” and “Million Meal Challenge” race programs which have raised over $200,000 for Forgotten Harvest in 2010 at the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series events at Michigan International Speedway.

For the NASCAR events TMR along with TMT, Inc. partnered with Forgotten Harvest for the “Million Meal Challenge For Our Kids” which helps to bridge the hunger gap while schools are out of session and feeds 20,000 children per day in the Detroit metro area. Forgotten Harvest was significantly displayed on the entry of Chase Austin during both the Truck and Nationwide events at Michigan International Speedway along with logos of “Million Meal Challenge” sponsors Walgreen’s, United Race Group, Holyfield’s Choice Alka-Power Water and Vitamin Spice. Evander Holyfield was also instrumental in the challenge, acting as Grand Marshall for the August race and announcing his “Fight Against Hunger” on behalf of Forgotten Harvest.

As the first race team to “Drive Against Hunger” through their partnership with Forgotten Harvest, TMR plans to continue their alliance with Forgotten Harvest and once again “Drive Against Hunger” during the 2011 season.

###

TEAM COMMUNICATIONS CONTACT:

NAME: Chris Knight, Knight Motorsports Management
PHONE: 239.834.9797
EMAIL: chris@chrisknightpr.com