TOLEDO, Ohio (May 12, 2011) – – After a mixture of various forms of Late Model competition this season, 16-year old Jared Marks will finally be able to make his stock car debut in Sunday’s Menards 200 presented by Federated Car Care at Toledo Speedway.
Marks will drive a second entry for Tony Marks Racing (TMR), one of the newest multi-car programs in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards. The Napoleon, Ohio native will be a teammate to Rookie of the Year candidate and one of the sanction bodies’ most popular stars Maryeve Dufault.
Balancing a racing career, juggling the focus and attentiveness of a balanced education and still trying to enjoy the fundamentals of being a teenager, the driver of the No. 8 VR-12 / Dodge Motorsports Dodge Charger leans on Toledo Speedway to temporarily erase his mind of those worries and focus on a solid finish in his inaugural ARCA debut.
Last month, the TMR development driver competed in the JEGS / CRA All-Stars Tour opener at Toledo Speedway in the VR-12 / Easter Bunny 100 presented by Jegs in his No. 5 VR-12 / Dodge Motorsports Dodge but an early race incident not of his doing sidelined the phenom – giving this weekend’s rematch an extra push.
“There are some butterflies in my stomach, but I’m sure they will go away by the time I take the green flag on Sunday,” said Marks. “Because of TMR, VR-12 and Dodge Motorsports, I’m able to make my ARCA debut literally in my own backyard and I cannot tell you what that means to me.”
Earlier this year, Marks along with Dufault participated in the open-test session at the defying Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway producing his first official on-track laps in a 3400-pound race car. While the breathtaking 2.5-mile superspeedway of Daytona resembles nothing like the fast and tricky short track of Toledo Speedway, Marks had the opportunity to recently participate in a private test at the half-mile oval and was extremely satisfied with the results.
“I feel like the test went better than expected,” offered Marks. “We made several runs and worked on the setup extensively. I’m sure the weather conditions this weekend may change from the test but hopefully we’ll be balanced enough that we can adapt and have a strong presence heading into the race.”
The goal for this weekend? Finish the race.
“Realistically, the goal is to complete all 200 laps and hopefully be in the top-15,” sounded Marks. “It’s an important race for TMR because of our presence with VR-12 and Dodge Motorsports and of course having two cars. I want to learn a ton this weekend but I want to be competitive too.”
Tony Marks, a successful entrepreneur from Ohio will play two roles this weekend at Toledo Speedway. In addition to car owner, Marks has to sit back and watch his son live out his dream.
“This is a racing family and it excites me that Tony Marks Racing with the help of VR 12 and Dodge Motorsports that we’ve been able to put two cars on the track this weekend at Toledo,” sounded Tony Marks. “We’ve been extremely satisfied with the progression of Maryeve in the series. Jared has a lot of talent and it will only be a matter of time before everyone sees what all of our sponsors see in him as well.”
Before their duties this weekend, both Marks and Dufault will make a stop at Grogan’s Towne Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram on Thursday May 12 from 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. The duo will meet with fans, sign autographs and promote the upcoming Menards 200. The fan event, scheduled from 5-7 p.m., will also feature a live radio remote from Toledo’s K100 Country. The ARCA pace cars will be on site, as will the ARCA safety vehicle – a Dodge Journey supplied by Grogan’s Towne. Dufault’s show car, a Tony Marks Racing Dodge, will appear at the event.
Grogan’s Towne Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram is located at 6100 Telegraph Road, just south of the Michigan / Ohio border.
The Menards 200 presented by Federated Car Care (200 laps / 100 miles) is the fourth of 19 events on the 2011 ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards schedule. The 69th ARCA race at Toledo Speedway is a two-day show. Practice begins Saturday, May 14th with an hour and a half practice session planned from 12:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. Menards pole qualifying presented by Ansell is set for later in the day slated to begin at 3:30 p.m. An hour and 15 minute on-track autograph session has been etched in from 12:00 p.m. – 1:15 p.m. on race day (Sunday). The contest will take the green flag shortly after 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 15. The race will not be televised nationally but event coverage including live timing and scoring throughout the weekend will be available through the ARCA Racing Network (ARN) online at arcaracing.com presented by ARCANation.com. For the second consecutive race at Toledo Speedway, the anticipated thriller will be available locally on television through the Buckeye CableSystem Sports Network (BCSN) Sunday night at 9:00 p.m. 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.
Quench yourself with Victory Water, see how at Victoryh20.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.
