After 37 years in the seat of a race car, Dirt Late Model Hall of Famer Jimmy Mars has announced his retirement from racing.

Mars, who started racing locally around Menomonie, Wisconsin, in 1985 at the age of 13, exploded onto the scene with his USA Nationals victory in 1996 at the Cedar Lake Speedway in New Richmond, Wisconsin, and in 1997 with his thrilling $100,000 triumph in the Dirt Late Model Dream at the Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio.

“The time has come for me to get out of the driver’s seat and have another role within Mars Racing,” Mars said. “I’m excited to work closer with our drivers, the guys here in the shop, as well as my sons Sam and Taylor as they progress in their racing careers.  Even though I’ll be in a different role, you’ll still see me at the racetrack working alongside my brother Chris (Mars) with our house car program and making sure our MB Customs drivers stay on the cutting edge of technology and information.”

With his retirement, a new era is also being ushered in for the Mars Racing team starting at the Wild West Shootout at the Vado Speedway Park in Vado, New Mexico in January.

Dustin Sorensen will be behind the wheel of the familiar yellow No. 28 MB Customs dirt late model. The 22-year-old from Rochester, Minnesota, has been hired by Mars to take over the seat of the MB Customs house car for Mars Racing.

Sorensen is fresh off picking up a $100,000 payday by capturing the 2022 Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt, following up his 2021 USRA Modified National Championship where he ended the year by sweeping all three nights of the 8th Annual Summit USRA Nationals at the Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Missouri.

“I don’t think I could be more excited and enthused to be hired on as the driver for Mars Racing in 2023,” exclaimed Sorensen, who won five USMTS main evenets in 2022. “Jimmy won a lot of big races during his career. He is someone I really look up to and it will be hard to follow in his footsteps, but I know the guys will provide me with everything possible to win races.  Having worked at Mars Race Cars for four years now while attending college in Menomonie, I know everything is in place with Mars Racing to be very, very successful.”

The feeling of excitement for 2023 and beyond is mutual for Mars.

“There are a ton of reasons why I selected Dustin to be our house car driver, but a few of them include his strong work ethic, his humility, his talent behind the wheel, his marketability to our partners, and he just flat out knows how to win races.  He has accomplished quite a lot for such a short career and I can’t wait to work closely with him and watch him grow as a driver.”

Keep up all year long with the latest news and information concerning the Mars Racing team at JimmyMarsRacing.com.

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