Berlin: Justin Marks race report

11th PLACE FINISH FOR MARKS AT BERLIN

CONCORD, NC (7-9-07) Justin Marks, driver of the #65 Crocs Dodge, took home the 11th place spot in his first appearance at Berlin Raceway Saturday, July 7th.

"The car was pretty good," Justin Marks said. "We were rolling real nice through the middle of the corners but just came up a little short on forward bite off turn four all night which hurt us a little."

With ten laps to go, Marks was battling leader Michael McDowell to stay on the lead lap when the caution came out placing him a controversial one lap down.

"It was kind of a weird deal. We were on a strategy to stretch the tire run as long as possible and found ourselves on the verge of going a lap down twice during the night. When the caution flew and the field was frozen, we were ahead of the leader but we were scored a lap down. Its unfortunate to be on the losing end of a judgment call like that and ultimately cost us a top-10 finish."

Having gone one lap down, Marks took the last ten laps to take care of his ride and come home a satisfying 11th place finish.

"The RAB Racing team just needed a little luck and a decent finish with a car in one piece. That's what we got Saturday night, and it was great to bring the Crocs Dodge home in good shape. The team is working hard this week to prepare for Kentucky and they need to be able to focus on preparation, not repair."

Next up for the RAB Racing crew is the WLWT Channel 5-150 at Kentucky Speedway. Marks, who was involved in a scary crash there in May, opted to return to Kentucky Speedway on July 5th for an open test that ultimately ended in another heartbreak when the right front tire blew causing him to make hard contact with the wall, destroying the car.

"I'm upset that we lost the car we were planning on taking to the race, but nonetheless we learned a lot during the test and I think it will apply to the backup car very well."

-credit: www.justinmarksracing.com