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Mike Leone
MERCER, Penn. (May 10) - Mercer Raceway Park was back in action on Saturday night with four new winners. Celebrating in the Hoosier Tire victory lane were Scott Bonnell-Luxaire Heating & Cooling Sprint Cars, Garrett Krummert-Tire Express Modifieds, Rusty Moore-McElwain Motors FASTRAK Late Models, Rod Jones-Big Daddy's Speed Center Mod Lites, and Bill Fuchs-M&D Paving Mini Stocks. It was free Beaver County Night presented by Image Factory Signs & Graphics and $10 Family Night presented by Auto Service Express & Armstrong.
Rusty Moore made a name for himself in the 1990s and early 2000s as a standout Stock Car racer in the region. After taking a few years off from racing, Moore decided to make a return to racing when the FASTRAK Late Models were added at Mercer in 2008. It only took Moore three nights in a Late Model to return to victory lane in the 20-lap McElwain Motors FASTRAK-sanctioned event. "It hooked up pretty good and the track is in real nice shape," acknowledged the New Castle, Pa. driver.
Moore took charge of the event on the opening lap past pole-sitter Steve D'Apolito, but got sideways coming off turn four on lap three allowing D'Apolito to regain the lead. D'Apolito's lead though was short lived as Moore overtook D'Apolito on lap four following a restart. Tom Snyder, Jr. was making his first Mercer appearance of the season and raced his way into contention. After starting ninth, Snyder made a three-wide pass of Frank Guidace and D'Apolito to take second on lap eight before a caution slowed action.
On the ensuing restart, Moore and Snyder made contact in turn one and the contact sent Snyder pit side. Moore survived two more cautions before the final seven laps went green-to-checkered as he stretched his advantage to a half-straightaway at the checkered flag in his #17M over seventh starting Brian Booher. Kevin Meadows edged D'Apolito for third. Bobby Powell came from 13th to finish fifth. Completing the top 10 were Steve Hollabaugh, Dave Airgood, Jr., Mike Anderson (Jr.), J.R. Wright, and Calvin Clay. Topping the heats over the season-high 20-car field were Snyder and Booher.
McElwain Motors FASTRAK Late Models (20 laps): 1. RUSTY MOORE 2. Brian Booher 3. Kevin Meadows 4. Steve D'Apolito 5. Bobby Powell 6. Steve Hollabaugh 7. Dave Airgood, Jr. 8. Mike Anderson (Jr.) 9. J.R. Wright 10. Calvin Clay 11. Bert Cleer 12. Frank Guidace 13. Gary Miller, Jr. 14. Scott Myers 15. Tom Snyder, Jr. 16. Ben Black 17. Justin Kann 18. Scott Jones 19. Bill Vance, Jr. 20. Paul Reiser-DNS.
Scott Bonnell put an end to his slow start in 2008 by leading wire-to-wire in the non-stop 20-lap Luxaire Heating & Cooling Sprint Car feature for his first overall win of the season. "It was like a Sunday drive- pretty easy," expressed the Girard, Pa. driver in victory lane after the second consecutive non-stop Sprint Car feature. "The guys had the thing hooked up tonight- it was real decent. Traffic has been tough all year. When the car has been real good it's not so bad because you're carrying so much speed. Everyone pretty much stayed out of my way and I caught traffic right so it was to my benefit."
Bonnell grabbed the lead from pole-sitter Brent Matus entering turn one on lap one. Rob Eyler, Arnie Kent, and sixth starting Rod George all passed Matus racing off the top side of turn two on laps two, three, and five respectively. Eyler closed on Bonnell on lap seven and by the halfway point the top four racers pulled away from the field.
Though Eyler stayed within striking distance the entire race, Bonnell was able to make the right moves in lapped traffic to hold on for his fifth career "410" win at Mercer in his Bonnell's Collision Center/Sikkens Automotive Paint/Simpson-sponsored #3B. It was his seventh career win overall at Mercer including two "360" wins and 18th of his career overall.
Eyler, Kent, and George were a close second, third, and fourth. Mike Lutz passed Brent Matus on lap 19 to finish fifth. Matus dropped to sixth over newcomers Gale Ruth, Jr., Todd Bauer, Jeremy Cook, and Sheila Rankin. Heat winners were Bonnell and George.
They always say the first one is the hardest and that's certainly come true for defending track champion Garrett Krummert. Last year, Krummert won his first career race in a Mod Lite and came back the following race to do again. After being shutout of victory lane in his first five years of Modified racing, Krummert made it two in a row in the 20-lap Tire Express Modified feature.
"I could get used to standing up here every week- this is pretty cool," said the elated New Castle, Pa. victor. "The last couple years I got impatient and drove over my head. I had to do what I had to do and if we finish second we'll have to take second, but we were a little better than that tonight. I have to thank the guys back in the pits. I was terrible in the heat and I was yelling and complaining. I'm sure I'm miserable to work with, but these guys are awesome and without them I wouldn't be here."
Rick Hall grabbed the early lead past pole-sitter Randy Brown, while Krummert followed in second overtaking Jimmy Holden and Brown. Krummert wasted little time taking the top spot away from Hall on lap two following a restart. All eyes were on 2006 champion Frank Guidace as he charged from seventh to split Hall and Holden for second on lap four.
The field got bunched up for the final time with 11 laps completed for a caution by Jr. Baker. Guidace tried everything over the remaining nine non-stop laps, but Krummert was too much in his McElwain Motors/Sherwin Williams/Automotive Finishes-sponsored #29 for his fourth career win overall. Lonny Riggs was third after passing Holden on lap 12. Holden dropped to fourth over Hall. Sixth through 10th were Jeff Schaffer in his brother's #4, Gary Smoker, Brian Fink in the John Brown #67J, and newcomers Ron Eperthener, Jr. and Mike Stine. Heat winners over the season-high 20-car field were Holden and Stine.
For the first nine laps it looked the 15-lap Big Daddy's Speed Center Mod Lite feature was going to go non-stop as Levi Spinneweber appeared headed for his first career win, but five accidents including two red flags completely changed the complexion of the event. When all was said and done defending champion Rod Jones was in victory lane for the first time in 2008.
The event's first caution was for a spin by George Englert with nine laps completed, then three separate accidents with 10 laps completed slowed action. The latter was when Kenny Meadows and Spinneweber made contact on a restart, which ensued a six-car melee that saw Bryan Martin get upside down and 15-year-old Bud Watson make hard contact. Both drivers were okay.
When action resumed, point leader Todd Canter, who was running 13th on lap 10, was handed the lead. Canter though never led a lap as Jones shot through the pack from sixth and led lap 11. Jones went on for his 11th career Mod Lite win and 13th overall at Mercer in the Dave Jones-owned, Jones Performance-sponsored #820. Canter was second over another strong run by 15-year-old Alan Knepper, Dave Jones, and rookie Mylan Markovich in his second race. Winning the heats over the 20-car field were Rod Jones and Canter.
Last year Bill Fuchs was a three-time winner in the Mini Stocks. This year, it was Fuchs who ended Chris Myers' perfect streak of three heat wins and three feature wins by claiming his first win of the season in the 12-lap M&D Paving-sponsored event. The Greenville, Pa. driver took over from pole-sitter and rookie Tyler Powell and was never seriously challenged for his fourth career win in his #10. Steve Mowery made the long tow from Olean, New York to finish second after passing Wally Stearns, Jr. on the final lap. Stearns had another good run to finish third. Dan McEwen was fourth over 14th starter Pete Blazczak. Heat winners were McEwen and Fuchs over the 18-car field.
Luxaire Heating & Cooling Sprint Cars (20 laps): 1. SCOTT BONNELL (3B) 2. Rob Eyler (5a) 3. Arnie Kent (18) 4. Rod George (4) 5. Mike Lutz (Chappel 8) 6. Brent Matus (33) 7. Gale Ruth, Jr. (5x) 8. Todd Bauer (45) 9. Jeremy Cook (5L) 10. Sheila Rankin (6) 11. Joe Butera (Matus 3J) 12. Lindsay Enscoe (96) 13. Gary Rankin (16).
Tire Express 358 Modifieds (20 laps): 1. GARRETT KRUMMERT 2. Frank Guidace 3. Lonny Riggs 4. Jimmy Holden 5. Rick Hall 6. Jeff Schaffer (4) 7. Gary Smoker (516) 8. Brian Fink 9. Ron Eperthener, Jr. 10. Mike Stine 11. Randy Brown 12. Dillon McElrath 13. Mark Frankhouser 14. Fred Sasse 15. Jr. Baker 16. Kevin Green 17. Eric Gabany 18. Matt Reeher 19. Jim Thompson 20. Matt Howsare-DNS.
Big Daddy's Speed Center Mod Lites (15 laps): 1. ROD JONES 2. Todd Canter 3. Alan Knepper 4. Dave Jones 5. Mylan Markovich 6. George Englert 7. Bob Latchaw 8. Kotie Kirkbride 9. Bill Stivason 10. Chad Yeager 11. Levi Spinneweber 12. Terry Young 13. Kenny Meadows 14. Bud Watson 15. Mark Marcucci 16. Mike Evans 17. Bryan Martin 18. J.J. Metheney 19. Arnie Kent 20. Lynn Knepper-DNS.
M&D Paving Mini Stocks (12 laps): 1. BILL FUCHS 2. Steve Mowery 3. Wally Stearns, Jr. 4. Dan McEwen 5. Pete Blazczak 6. Chris Myers 7. Tyler Powell 8. John Shannon 9. Mike McConnell 10. Kris Anderson 11. Ed Haylett 12. Sam Kloos 13. Rudolph Troples 14. Dan Nagy 15. Curtis Brown 16. Dillon Kineston 17. Scott Gilliland 18. Mike Mathieson-DNS.
Upcoming Events:
5/17 "Saturday Night Live!" Sprints, Modifieds, FASTRAK Late Models, Mod Lites, & Mini Stocks. Free general admission for all Crawford County residents presented by the Oncology Center of the Meadville Medical Center. AutoMart.com Corp. Night. Gates open at 4:30 p.m. with hot laps at 6:30 and racing at 7.
5/24 All-American "Spring Nationals" World Championship Pulling Event presented by Semi Service Express. Big Rig Semis, Smoker Tractors, Street Semis, Street Diesel 4x4 Trucks. Pulling begins at 6:30 PM. Rain date Sunday, May 25 at 5 PM.
5/26 "Steel Valley Memorial Day Classic" presented by Auto Service Express. FASTRAK Northeast Late Model Touring Series ($1,200), Sprint Cars ($1,500), Ken Carbone Stock Memorial ($1,000), STAR's Mod Lites ($500), & Mini Stocks. Ray Baselj Benefit & BBQ Dinner. Racing at 6 PM.
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