Spencer Diercks wins at Farley Speedway after Mike Marlar light at scales

FARLEY — Spencer Diercks just turned 21 years old, but celebrating a race win will have to wait.

He's got to work Tuesday.

But you better believe, the first chance he can, the Davenport racer is going to celebrate into the wee hours of whatever morning he can after he was ruled the winner of the Corn Belt Clash Open Late Model main event at Farley Speedway on Monday night, taking home $10,000 for his first win.

He was ruled the winner after Mike Marlar, who took the checkered flag first, was 30 pounds light at the scales. Conventional or not, Diercks was giddy over the win.

He'll just have to wait to celebrate.

'I was just hoping for a top five, honestly,' Diercks said. 'I've got to go to work tomorrow, so it probably won't ever set in, honestly.

'You've got to be there at the end, whether they're light at the scales or have a flat tire or whatever. We were there. We got it, and that's all that counts.'

Diercks inherited the win, but it wasn't a gift.

The young racer started on the outside of the front row, next to his racing idol, legendary Late Model racer Scott Bloomquist. Diercks ran second to Bloomquist for the first third of the race, before Marlar moved to second and ran down Bloomquist for the lead at halfway.

From there, all three raced within single car lengths of each other, going side by side on a couple of occasions in lapped traffic.

All through that time, Diercks raced door-to-door with two of the best Late Model racers in the country — one of which is considered the best ever, and the other who has several big wins this season.

Diercks said it was hard not to be nervous sitting on the grid before the race. It was harder still when he was racing the pair of them through lapped traffic — at one point passing Bloomquist under green to take second away.

He watched and learned. He took the win because he put himself in position to do so.

'You have no idea how many jitters there were in the car at the start of that race,' Diercks said. 'When the fans go nuts, like him or hate him, (Bloomquist) is the greatest. He's my idol, honestly. I wish I was wearing my Scott Bloomquist shirt right now. Honestly, I just sat back and watched and saw what he did.'

Diercks won ahead of Shane Clanton, Rodney Sanders, Chad Simpson and Justin Kay, all of whom were moved up a spot after Marlar was disqualified at the scales.

Cars are required to weigh 2,350 pounds at the end of the race. Other sanctioning bodies allow a fuel burnoff clause, which typically is one pound per lap. Per Corn Belt Clash rules, however, there is no fuel burnoff rule, and race officials made that clear at the driver's meeting.

Marlar, though, missed the meeting. He had just pulled into Farley Speedway and was unloading his car on the opposite side of the pits. The Tennessee native was understandably frustrated after the races, but acknowledged the rule — and his tardiness to the racetrack, which kept him from hearing it in the first place.

'I got here late because of a traffic accident (on Highway 20), so we just didn't know the rule,' Marlar said. 'They're a little behind the times on that rule. (But) a rule's a rule. The series that DQ'd me, at least they've got some backbone and some integrity and enforce their rules. That's good to see. I don't have anything bad to say about getting DQ'd whatsoever, it's just a series of events that went into not being able to go to the pit meeting and not knowing that rule.'

As for Bloomquist, he was credited with ninth after suffering a flat right rear tire with three laps to go.

He was one of the big draws of the night for fans who packed the grandstand nearly full at Farley Speedway, along with fan favorite and Muscatine native Brian Birkhofer. 'Birky,' as he's known to his fans, did not finish after clipping the inside guard rail early in the race.

Diercks topped them all, and will give it another shot Tuesday night at West Liberty, where Bloomquist and Birkhofer are expected back — but not Marlar, who said he's headed home to prepare for a $50,000 to win race in Florence, Ky.

The young racer said in Victory Lane he thought he wore his Bloomquist shirt the other day.

More than a few fans might have his shirts after Monday.

'We've struggled the past year and a half, honestly,' Diercks said. 'This is phenomenal.'

l Comments: (319) 368-8884; jeremiah.davis@thegazette.com