What won the race: Retaking control after Wil Herrington tangled with a lapped car and spun on the 24th lap, polesitter Tanner English of Benton, Ky., survived Friday's rough-and-tumble 40-lap MARS Championship Series debut at Benton Speedway. English led all but three laps (1-20, 24-40) and outran his father-in-law Rodney Melvin by 1.455 seconds for the $5,000 paycheck, his first series victory of the season and 18th of his career.

Quotable: "I thought I had it in the bag. I had a big lead there, but I started getting real tight through the race and I couldn’t enter (turn one) how I wanted to. Started hitting that hole and getting crossed up and about the time I got really crossed up, Wil (Herrington) was there to take advantage and got by me there," English said. "I hate that (misfortune) for him. He was, by far, the best car I feel like and probably had the race won."

Key notes: English survived Benton's rough surface for his sixth feature win of the season and first MARS tour victory since Sept. 19, 2025, at the Brownstown (Ill.) Bullring. ... Fourth-starting Wil Herrington, making his debut aboard Steve Lampley's No. 33 Rocket, slipped by English for the lead on lap 21 only to tangle with the lapped car driven by 12-year-old Callan Hill a few laps later. Herrington's right front launched over Hill's left rear before landing hard and flattening Herrington's left-rear tire, causing him to spin. ... Rodney Melvin, making his season debut, inherited the runner-up spot on a lap-31 restart, but never seriously challenged English. ... A large bump formed in turn one, creating calamity and leading to multiple rollover wrecks throughout the 40-lap feature and second-running Billy Moyer's near rollover on the third lap. ... Fourth-running Dylan Thornton went for a barrel-rolling wreck on the fifth lap requiring a a 10-minute red flag; he wasn't hurt. ... Points leader Ryan Unzicker restarted fourth on lap 24 before spinning in turn one, triggering a multicar melee that sent Myles Moos's car upside down and on top of Unzicker's driver's side; Moos and Bob Gardner were eliminated in the lap-24 mess (no one was hurt). ... Unzicker, who also had two turn-one spins in his heat race, rallied to finish third. ... Besides the turn-one carnage and Herrington's mishap, the race was slowed three other times, including for Brandon Carpenter (lap 10), third-running Clay Stuckey (lap 14 with suspension damage) and second-running Jason Feger (lap-30 flat tire). ... Feger rallied to finish fifth with fresh rubber. ... The main event lasted nearly 40 minutes and ended at 11 p.m. ... Matt Cooper and Dustin Martin scratched.

On the move: Ryan Unzicker of El Paso, Ill., started 21st and finished third.

Winner's sponsors: English's AK Race Car is powered by a Pro-Built Racing Engine and sponsored by Thoroughbred Auto Auction, Seay Motors, Bailey’s Trucking, Riggs Fiber, Bad Boy Mowers, M&M Painting & Construction, SI Towing & Recovery, Chase Motorsports Coach & Trailer, Melvin’s Towing, Rural Route Repair, Minon Construction, Custom Automotive, Supreme Enterprises LLC, DeFew’s Body Shop, Bel-O Cooling & Heating, Daikin, AFCO Brake Systems, Bilstein Shocks, BASE Racing Fuel, BASE Oil and Accelo Racewear.

Points chase: After Benton: 1. Ryan Unzicker (847); 2. Jason Feger (756); 3. Dylan Thornton (704); 4. Daniel Adam (600); 5. Jake Little (588).

Current weather: Clear, 75°F

Car count: 23

Fast qualifier: Tanner English

Time: 13.716 seconds

Polesitter: Tanner English

Heat race winners: Tanner English, Billy Moyer, Jason Feger

Next series race: August 29, I-55 Federated Raceway Park (Pevely, MO) $5,000