Mars Cruises to Nascar Re/Max 'Rookie of the Year' title

LaCrosse, WI- Jimmy Mars showed no signs of concealing his excitement after crossing the finish line fourth at the LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway on Sunday afternoon.

After driving past the front stretch where the top three finishers had positioned their cars, Jimmy drove his ParkerStore Monte Carlo to the top of turn two and delighted the fans by spinning a series of 360° burnouts. The smoke from the tires was so intense that the crowd actually lost visibility of the car. When Jimmy's car came to a stop, the fans were standing on their feet clapping and shouting their appreciation for the new 'Rookie of the Year' title holder.

"This is totally awesome," said Jimmy. "At the beginning of the year our goal was to come out and learn the art of asphalt racing, and to win the 'Rookie of the Year' title. We struggled a little at the beginning of the year, but we all dug down and worked hard to pull this off."

The ParkerStore team opened the weekend by qualifying third, only a fraction of a second off the pole-sitter's pace. Through a roll of the dice, the Nascar Re/Max officials elected to invert the top ten qualifiers. This put Jimmy in the eighth starting position for the main event. The Nascar Re/Max Challenge Series event was the headliner for this year's Oktoberfest race festivities in LaCrosse. There were over 600 cars registered to compete during the 4-day program.

Mars jumped off to a strong start at the drop of the green flag, and continued his march forward for the remainder of the afternoon. Prior to the team's pit stop, Jimmy was running a strong second and challenging Jason Schuler for the lead. Mars and the other lead cars pitted around lap 120 during a caution period. "We weren't really happy with the car right after the pit stop," added Jimmy. "The car was really loose, but when the tires started to heat up, the car started to feel pretty good again."

Mars exited the pits in the eleventh position. Several cars on the lead lap had made their pit stop during an earlier caution and remained on the track. Jimmy was able to continue his move to the front until settling in at the fourth position on lap 193. "We were running fairly conservative in some of the situations," stated Jimmy. "Our biggest goal, was to win the 'Rookie of the Year' award, and we did not want to get tied up in an incident that could jeopardize that."

The 'Rookie of the Year' title was on the line for this final Re/Max event and three drivers were tied for the honor, Jamie McMurray, David Feiler and Mars. After the Re/Max officials inverted the top ten drivers, Jamie McMurray was sitting in the pole position. McMurray led the first segment of the race and looked very strong until his tires started to fade on lap 70. After McMurray pitted, he faded back in the field and eventually retired his car for the afternoon.

"I've never seen these guys so calm and confident before a big race," said John Mars, Jimmy and Chris's father. "The guys came out this year and showed that they could compete with the best drivers in Re/Max. We're all proud of what they have accomplished this season."

The Mars brothers are now considering running a few dirt events to cap off the 1999 racing season before formalizing their plans for 2000. "We're looking at several opportunities for next season, concluded Jimmy. We're really lucky to have the ParkerStores on as a sponsor. They have stuck with us through both the good and bad times. It's the kind of relationship you need to be successful in racing."

Everyone at Parker Hannifin and the ParkerStores are proud to be part of the Mars brothers 1999 racing campaign and look forward to more rewarding accomplishments in the future.

(John Strand-October 11, 1999)