RPW Column: Mike Gular Uses A Fast Car & A Little Bit Of Luck To Win Wednesday At Delaware
News Director 
Column By: BOBBY CHALMERS / RPW – DELMAR, DE – If not for a caution with a handful of laps left Wednesday night at Delaware International, Jordan Watson would have a guaranteed starting spot in the Speed Showcase at Port Royal Speedway this coming October.
However, the key word in that was “if.”
In turn, Mike Gular stood in victory lane at the Delmar, DE oval holding the $4,000 check and a locked in spot at the Speed Palace in a few months.
Gular, who has been on fire so far this year, picked up his second win in five days Wednesday evening. He was also victorious on Saturday at Grandview Speedway.
To say the driver of the 2A is on fire right now would be an understatement.
“Damn, this feels good,” Gular said. “This is two-in-a-row for us. We got a big one on Saturday and we haven’t had a start to a season like this in a long time. This really feels good.”
Gular was mired in the back half of the top five during the late stages of the 30-lap event, but was able to get his way into the runner-up spot with just a few laps remaining.
Then, the turning point of the race. Louden Reimert, who was running second at the time, came to rest in turn four.
That was the yellow flag Gular needed.
“We were real tight in the beginning of the feature,” he said. “My crew chief, Ron, told me to wait until the last half of the race. It’s going to come to you and boy, he was right.”
He listened to the guy setting up the car, and it in the end, it paid off with a victory.
“He told me what to do and I just milked it around the bottom,” he said. “That’s when I realized we were pretty good and when I had a shot, I knew I just had to get up along side Jordan. I had to get him wound up on the cushion and he did.”
The last time the Modifieds were at Delaware, Gular let the checkered flag slip through his fingers. This time, however, he wasn’t going to let that happen.
“We came down here tonight trying to gain some redemption and we did that,” he said. “Thanks to Brett (Deyo) and all the fans for coming out tonight. Thanks to (car owner) Terry Fasnacht for giving me awesome cars as well as Ron and Winslow for busting their ass back in the pits. We only had two guys here tonight and I can’t thank them enough.”
Jordan Watson very nearly came away with the victory on Wednesday evening. Unfortunately, it wasn’t just the late caution that ended up biting him.
“We’ve been fighting a really bad carburetor issue,” Watson said. “It’s ridiculous to be honest. We lost that race because of the carburetor problems.”
What exactly was happening to the #1J that Watson knew he was in trouble?
“The motor was dead in the middle of the corners,” he said. “It’s just one of those deals we have to get figured out. We need to find out what’s going on. It cost us here the last time and we put different carburetors on to try and resolve the issue.”
That’s what Watson feels lost him the race. If the carburetor was working properly, he felt as if would have been in victory lane.
“The longer we ran, the more the engine shuts off,” he said. “It wasn’t that he (Gular) made me jump the cushion. I was pretty much running with a three-legged horse.”
Third place on the night was East Greenbush, NY invader David Schilling.
Schilling led a good portion of the feature event but a mid-race restart cost him the lead. At one point he fell back to fourth but was able to claw his way back to the podium when the 30-laps were complete.
“I really think we had the car to win tonight,” Schilling said. “We were good enough but had a lot of driver error.”
Even with the disappointment of not closing the deal, Schilling was very happy to finish in the top three.
“To come out of here with a top three after a couple bad runs in-a-row is a good moral boost,” he said. “It’s good to come to a place I’m not familiar with and get comfortable and be able to make adjustments.”
As happy as he is with the third place, you could tell there was dejection in Schilling’s voice. He knew victory was in his grasp.
“It’s disappointing,” he said. “I probably should have won that race especially being out in clean air. I just didn’t have good restarts a few times, running the wrong lines on the track and just doing stupid stuff. That’s a part of learning, though.”
Ryan Godown and Matt Stangle completed the top five.
Dylan Betts captured the Little Lincoln feature while Jerry Hill walked away victorious in the Delaware Super Truck main event and the Delmarva Charger feature was won by Joey Waters.
Modified Feature Finish (30 laps): MIKE GULAR, Jordan Watson, David Schilling, Ryan Godown, Matt Stangle, Rick Laubach, Danny Bouc, Austin Hubbard, Ryan Krachun, Brandon Grosso, Carson Wright, Joseph Watson, Sean Metz, Bobby Watkins, Brett Ballard, Drew Simmons, Louden Reimert, Danny Hieber, John Willman, Jimmy Horton, H.J. Bunting, Jeff Marker
Did Not Start: Ryan Watt, Ryan Riddle, James Hill
Ad-Art Sign Company Top Spec Small-Block Bonus ($250): Sean Metz
Little Lincoln Feature Finish (12 laps): DYLAN BETTS, Jordan Herbert, Tyler White, Kirk Lawson, Eric Reed, Bryan Piercy, Mel Joseph, Jr., MJ White, Andrew Hopkins, Ryan Walsen
Delaware Super Truck Feature Finish (12 laps): JERRY HILL, Zack Phillps, David Smith, Greg Nailor, L.J. Walburt, Thomas Jackson, Dylan Todd, Troy Hopkins, Tony Guinta, Dan Streebig
Delmarva Charger Feature Finish (12 laps): JOEY WATERS, Jay Lowman, Ashley Merritt, Randy Merritt, Robbie Strain, John Bailey, Billy Cummings, Michael Harmon, Jr., Garren Morris, Tyler Hottle
