Jared Marks Excited About Iowa Speedway Debut

Topics:  Jared Marks, Prairie Meadows 200

Chris Knight
Knight Motorsports Management
Tony Marks Racing
July 13, 2011

NEWTON, Iowa (July 13, 2011) - - Jared Marks, one of the future full-time stars in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards for Tony Marks Racing (TMR) will continue his limited schedule behind the wheel of the No. 8 Mad Croc Energy / VR-12 / Dodge Motorsports Dodge Charger this Saturday at Iowa Speedway for the running of the Prairie Meadows 200.

Marks, fresh off an intense learning session at Berlin (Mich.) Raceway from 2010 ARCA champion Patrick Sheltra; the Napoleon, Ohio native hopes to take some of the input he received there and apply it towards his third career ARCA start at the .875-mile paved oval.

Not only confidence from Sheltra but his recent 12th place finish at Winchester (Ind.) Speedway has the 16-year old optimistic about the 11th race of the 2011 ARCA season.

“I feel really good going into my first ARCA race at Iowa this upcoming weekend,” said Marks. “I feel like i can take the things I have learned these past two races and translate them into a solid finish for TMR this weekend. This is a huge race for myself and all of TMR; seeing as it is the first race on television that we are running two cars but we aren't worried about it. We are going to keep building high quality race cars and I'm going to keep giving my 100 percent efforts on the track.”

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

“I’m satisfied with our performance so far on the 8 team,” added Marks. “We have been able to be fast in practice, and qualify well, we just haven’t’ got quite the finishes we deserve. I owe it all to everyone at TMR and my sponsors for giving me the equipment necessary to compete with the veterans of the sport.”

Of course, finishing the race is Mark’s top priority and after the wealth of experience he’s recently embraced, it would not be a surprise if the No. 8 Mad Croc Energy / VR-12 / Dodge Motorsports Dodge Charger was in the top-10 rundown by the conclusion of Saturday’s contest.

“Maryeve and Patrick have delivered top-10 runs for TMR, now it’s my turn,” sounded Marks. “I thought we were going to seal the deal at Winchester, but we ran into some tire problems, like much of the field did and we were left knocking on the door of a top-10. Hopefully, I can keep my momentum up and remained focused and everything should pan out.”

He continued, “As a team we’ve never been to Iowa. Comfort will be one of my major goals for practice on Friday. From there we can work on our No. 8 Mad Croc Energy / VR-12 / Dodge Motorsports Dodge Charger and look towards getting both TMR cars up front.”

The Prairie Meadows 200 (200 laps / 175 miles) is the 11th of 19 events on the 2011 ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards schedule. The sixth ever ARCA race at Iowa Speedway is a two-day show. Practice begins Friday, July 15th with an hour and twenty minute practice session planned from 3:00 p.m. – 4:20 p.m. A final fifty minute session has been etched in from 5:30 p.m. – 6:20 p.m. Menards Pole by Ansell qualifying is slated for race day, Saturday July 16th set to begin at 12:10 p.m. The event will take the green flag shortly after 4:15 p.m. The event will air live on SPEED. Additional event coverage including live timing and scoring throughout the 1,323rd 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.

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TEAM COMMUNICATIONS CONTACT:

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