3/30/2026
Marysville Raceway
Larsen Cruises to Second Career Win
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Marysville Raceway; dennis@gagepromotions.com
Nick Larsen Cruises to Second Career Win at Marysville
MARYSVILLE, Calif., March 28, 2026…Oroville’s Nick Larsen led all 25-laps to secure his first winged 360 main event of the season at Marysville Raceway. Larsen is now a two-time winner at Marysville. The sprint car main event was marred with three failed attempts to get the first lap completed. On the fourth attempt the officials instructed the drivers to start single file.
While Larsen led all the laps and stayed out of trouble, it was complete mayhem behind him. Lap four was adventurous. It started when second place Austin Taborski and Carson Hall rubbed wheels coming out of turn two. Taborski came to a stop. On the restart, Hall was now in second spot with Bobby Butler gaining ground. The two raced into turn three and contact ensued. Butler flipped over and came to a stop. Hall also spun to a stop. Under the red flag things got heated between Butler and Hall. Once the issues were put to rest, the race resumed with Larsen still up front. Dryver Dothage now emerged as the second-place driver. On lap seven, he stopped in turn one. Collected in the altercation is Jayden Bunch, who earlier in the race was involved in a crash in turn two. This now moved Adriana DeMartini back to the second spot.
DeMartini had spun on the third start which put her back to the rear of the field. It was a good comeback for her as she avoided the wrecks in front of her and grabbed the second spot.
With all the delays and wreckage, the race was shortened from 25 laps, to 20. Larsen held a comfortable advantage over DeMartini at the checkered flag. Caleb Debem finished in third spot. It was a solid finish for the former Watsonville Speedway champion. Dothage was able to work his way back to fourth. Craig Swim held on for an impressive top five finish. DeMartini and Hall were winners of their eight-lap heat race. Jayden Bunch set the fastest lap in qualifying at 12.726.
Buddy Kniss led all 25-laps to win the Xtreme Late Model feature. The race was held in honor of Danny Oliver. A solid car count of 15 drivers entered this race tonight. Kniss started the race up front and was the most consistent driver. Up until lap 14, Anthony Slaney and Rod Oliver battled for the second spot. The two collided on lap 15, resulting in both spinning to a stop. Both were able to restart and move up quite a bit. Oliver worked his way back to a third-place finish. Slaney crossed the line in sixth. After Oliver and Slaney spun, it allowed Matt Micheli to move into second. Micheli tried to chase down Kniss but was never able to close in. Kniss held a 1.681 second lead at the checkered flag over Micheli. Coming home fourth was Randy Shafer. Rounding out the top was Paul Guglielmoni. Micheli won the first eight lap heat race. Oliver won the second heat race. Shafer was solid in picking up the win in heat three.
Buddy Olschowka led all 20-laps to win the IMCA Sport Mod main event. Jimmy Ford held the second spot for most of the race. On lap 16, Phil Marino passed Ford for second. Marino closed in on Olschowka but was never able to challenge for the win. Olschowka was the dominant driver in the main event and got the well-deserved win. Marino crossed the line in second. Ford did a great job all night and finished third. Shaun Merritt drifted back to seventh at the start but roared back to a fourth-place finish. Thomas Reynolds continued his hot streak and finished fifth. The top three in points had a rough night. Dan Brown Jr, Mike Merritt, and Cole Fear were unable to finish all 20 laps. Olschowka swept the night of racing by winning the first heat race. Mike Merritt dominated the second heat race.
Make it two for two during the Hobby Stock main event. Toby Merrifield passed Roy Smith on the second lap and went on to lead the final 18 to win his second consecutive feature at Marysville Raceway. At the halfway point Kyle Cheney moved into the second spot. Cheney pushed Merrifield hard for the win. Kevin Thomas made a great move to pass Howard Law late in the race for second. On lap 18, Jason Clayton Sr. stopped in turn two. At that point he was running in the fourth spot. This set up a two-lap dash for the win. Merrifield held strong to hold off a hard charging Cheney. It was another rewarding win for Merrifield. Cheney was second. Thomas came home in third, a season’s best. Law came home fourth. Jace Badeker was fast all night. He was in the second spot until lap eight when he was involved in a yellow. He restarted 13th and drove back up to the fifth-place finish. Both Ryan Smith and Jacob Bright passed many cars and finished sixth and seventh. Roy Smith won the first heat race. With the win in heat two, Merrifield swept the night of racing. Third heat race winner was Badeker.
Full results can be found here: https://speedhive.mylaps.com/events/3443251
Photo courtesy of Jessica Cucuk.
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Submitted By: troy hennig