LAST LAP PASSES GIVE GEORGE & RIGGS 2ND SPRINT & MOD WINS AT MERCER; #2 FOR BOOHER IN STOCKS; HIMES EDGES DUNMIRE IN MICROS; SHAFFER WINS STRICTLIES
By Mike Leone
May 7, 2005
Mercer, PA…After two weeks of rain, Mercer Raceway Park completed its third show of the 2005 campaign on Saturday night. Five drivers celebrated in the Hoosier Tire Mid-Atlantic victory lane including Rod George-Luxaire Heating & Cooling Sprint Cars, Lonny Riggs-Campbell-Peterson Trail & Turf Modifieds, Mike Himes-Tommy Gale Trailers 270 Micro Sprints, Brian Booher-Tire Express Stock Cars, and Bryan Shaffer-Maurer’s Trading Post Strictly Stocks. Scott Kerins of Greenville, Pa. won the opening round of “The Gladiator Series” Demo Derby for the first time.
For the second time in as many races, Rod George charged through the field and ran down race leader Arnie Kent to score the victory in the 20-lap Luxaire Heating & Sprint Car Feature. This week’s win came with a thrilling last lap pass that had the fans on their feet. “Arnie had me covered again,” said the humble Kittanning, Pa. veteran. “We got into lapped traffic and it worked out for us. I didn’t even know he was in the lead. I’m sure he has one coming pretty soon.”
Jason Dolick raced passed pole-sitter Paul Kapuchuck for the early lead. Kent and Tom Quarterson moved into second and third by passing Kapuchuck on lap two following a restart for the race’s only caution. Running the outside, Kent ran down Dolick and was on the leader on lap five. One lap later, Kent had the lead from Dolick sneaking past off the outside of turn two. George, who was handicapped to the 11th starting spot, made his presence known just before halfway taking fourth away from Bob Felmlee.
At the halfway point, Kent was cruising with straightaway lead on Dolick and a half-lap lead on eventual winner George. Quarterson finally worked his way past Dolick on lap 10 with an inside move off turn four. George dropped Dolick back to fourth on lap 12 and quickly caught Quarterson one lap later. Lap 14 saw George go under Quarterson off turn four for runner-up. Kent now had more than a straightaway advantage on George and barring a caution it seemed nearly impossible that George would be able to run him down two races in a row.
As the laps ticked off, George cut into Kent’s lead every lap. With three laps to go, George had the deficit down to a half-straightaway and now appeared he would have a shot at the leader. Lapped cars were just enough that allowed George to close right in on Kent’s tail and the two were side-by-side on lap 19. With the white flag waving, George powered to the inside of Kent in turn one and came out with the lead through turn two.
Kent tried one last desperation move through turns three and four, but looped his mount as George crossed the checkered flag first in a thrilling finish. “We changed cars, tires, and everything this year and I’ve been really good every night,” revealed the driver of the Delp Family Powder Coating/Ankle & Foot Care/Stanley-sponsored #4. “This track is great! How many tracks can run the top to the bottom? There is racing all over. It’s just super track conditions.”
Kent’s spin moved Quarterson, Scott Bonnell, Doug Stanley, and Bob Felmlee into positions two through five for their best finishes of the season. Dolick, Jared Zimbardi, Kent were sixth through eighth as Kapuchuck and Jamie Martin completed the top 10 and earned $150 and $100 respectively for being the two highest finishing 360s. Felmlee and George won the heat races.
Like George, Lonny Riggs made it two in a row in the Modifieds with an exciting last lap pass of Gary Smoker to win the wild 20-lap Campbell-Peterson Trail & Turf-sponsored event. “We were coming down the backstretch and Gary got behind a couple lapped cars,” explained the Volant, Pa. winner. “He slowed quite a bit and got off the backstretch. I made a hard move to the bottom and he got a run back down on us and two cars can’t fit in the same spot.”
Garrett Krummert took off with the lead from the pole position as Kevin Hoffman made his way to second and Riggs moved up three spots on the first lap to third. The race’s only two cautions slowed action with one lap completed as the last 19 went non-stop. Riggs and Smoker, who started eighth, were both able to get by Hoffman for second and third on lap three. Smoker looked strong taking second from Riggs on lap six.
Krummert was bogged down in heavy traffic slowing the leader and allowed Smoker to make a daring move into the lead on lap seven. By the halfway point, Smoker began to pull away. Krummert struggled to lap Jeff Stuchel as Riggs didn’t hesitate passing both to take over second on lap 13.
Riggs slowly cut into Smoker’s lead, but it didn’t appear until the final lap that he would have a shot at the win. On the last lap, a swarm of heavy traffic allowed Riggs to close right in on the leader in turns one and two. Smoker and Riggs were each fishing for a place to sneak through traffic as each took their own path. Smoker got high on the backstretch as Riggs seized the opportunity and ducked low. The two made contact in turns three and four with Riggs coming through and taking the checkered flag first for his 16th career win in the Merle Black-owned, Iron Bridge Inn-sponsored #58.
Krummert held off 10th starter Ron Eperthener, Jr. for his career best finish in third. Hoffman dropped to fifth. Sixth through tenth were Rick Hall, Steve Toth, Brad Rapp, Mike Anderson, and Jim Rombold, Jr. Winning the heats over the season-high 25-car field were Anderson, Smoker, and Riggs.
The Micro Sprints made their first of five appearances for their Tommy Gale Trailers 270 Series and it was Mike Himes barely holding off Steve Dunmire for his first win in the 15-lap, $500 to-win feature. “I thought he (Dunmire) had me coming off (turn) four ,” revealed the Summerville, Pa. racer. “He was really pressuring me the last couple laps pretty hard.”
Danny Holtgraver blasted into the early lead past pole-sitter Jimmy Arnold. Himes, who started sixth, took over second from Todd Hover on lap three. Himes’ winning move came on the seventh circuit when he drove under Holtgraver in turn one.
Dunmire, who won last year’s “Little Guy Nationals” worked his way from ninth to contention as he passed Hover for third on lap eight and Holtgraver for second on lap 11. Dunmire was all over Himes in the closing laps and got a great run off turn four on the final lap, but Himes moved low and held on to win by one-half car-length to become the ninth different winner in ten races run at the track. Karlin Miller was third after starting 11th. Hover dropped to fourth over J.J. Metheney. Joey Sanger, Dunmire, and Miller won the heats over the 26-car field.
Brian Booher drove another impressive race coming from the 11th starting spot to win for the second time in three races in the 15-lap Tire Express Stock Car feature. “The track was awesome,” expressed the Sandy Lake, Pa. victor. “You could run anywhere. I have to thank everyone. We have a ton of sponsors and they put together a nice package for me.”
Front row racers Rod Laskey and Andy Buckley raced hard side-by-side in the opening laps, while Dave Ferringer charged from sixth to third by lap four. On lap eight, Ferringer caught Laskey and Buckley making it a three-car race. A lapped car got into Laskey ending his fine run in second and moved Ferringer to runner-up.
When racing resumed, Booher pressured Ferringer and Buckley and the trio were three-wide coming down the backstretch for the lead. Booher got a great run off the inside and powered into the lead. In turns three and four, Buckley got into Ferringer sending the two spinning and collected last time’s winner, Terry Wheeler.
Booher would survive one more caution, which came when William Smiley spun in turn four on the last lap. Booher went on for his ninth career win in the Terry Hoover-owned, Ed & Jerry’s Auto Service/Harry & Tim Roofing-sponsored #00H. Gary Norman and Andy Thompson battled hard for second making contact, but Norman was able to edge Thompson the position. Thompson has finished second or third all three nights and has the early point lead over Booher. Doug Iorio, Jr. was a career best fourth ahead of Tim Deutsch. Heats went to Thompson and Booher over the 19-car field.
Seventeen-year-old Bryan Shaffer captured his first win of the season and second of his career in the 12-lap Maurer’s Trading Post Strictly Stock feature. Shaffer passed pole-sitter Patrick Heckman on lap two and was never seriously challenged driving a smooth race through traffic for the victory in his #77. Carl Ealy matched his career best finish on opening with another runner-up. Paul Reiser and Everett Wade finished third and fourth for their career best finishes. Ronnie Boyd made his season debut and was fifth. Topping the heat races over the season-high 16-car field were Jay Adams and Randy Ealy.
Luxaire Heating & Cooling Sprint Cars: 1. ROD GEORGE 2. Tom Quarterson 3. Scott Bonnell 4. Doug Stanley 5. Bob Felmlee 6. Jason Dolick 7. Jared Zimbardi 8. Arnie Kent 9. Paul Kapuchuck 10. Jamie Martin 11. Mark Murphy 12. Rob Eyler 13. Butch Beasley 14. Dave Wagner.
Campbell-Peterson Trail & Turf (358) Modifieds: 1. LONNY RIGGS 2. Gary Smoker 3. Garrett Krummert 4. Ron Eperthener, Jr. 5. Kevin Hoffman 6. Rick Hall 7. Steve Toth 8. Brad Rapp 9. Mike Anderson 10. Jim Rombold, Jr. 11. Matt Reeher 12. Jeff Stuchel 13. Fred Sasse 14. Zack Moran 15. Jr. Baker 16. Jimmy Holden 17. Travis Bell 18. Jim Thompson 19. Ben Porter 20. Steve Barr 21. Rick Kress 22. Kevin Green 23. Nick Ritchey 24. Tommy Kristyak-DNS 25. Bill Adams-DNS.
Tommy Gale Trailers 270 Micro Sprints: 1. MIKE HIMES ($500) 2. Steve Dunmire 3. Karlin Miller 4. Todd Hoover 5. J.J. Metheney 6. Joey Sanger 7. Ed Zimmerman 8. Mike Mecklem 9. Jimmy Arnold 10. Ryan McAndrew 11. Adam King 12. Robert Fink 13. Kevin McCoy 14. Mikey Schall 15. Danny Holtgraver 16. George Hobaugh (Jr.) 17. Chris Best 18. J.J. Kapuchuck 19. Jeff Bacha 20. Brian Riddle 21. Mike Kerr 22. Nate Stein 23. John Dohmen-DNS 24. Sean McAndrew-DNS 25. Keith Walsh, Jr.-DNS 26. Ken Downer-DNS.
Tire Express Stock Cars: 1. BRIAN BOOHER 2. Gary Norman 3. Andy Thompson 4. Doug Iorio, Jr. 5. Tim Deutsch 6. Dave Ferringer 7. Rick Norco 8. Tony Spaghetti 9. Andy Buckley 10. Cody Smith 11. Mike Pegher, Jr. 12. Rod Laskey 13. Terry Wheeler 14. Bill Vance, Jr. 15. William Smiley 16. Terry Kroner 17. Bill Lanigan 18. Tim Zuschlag 19. John Reiser.
Maurer’s Trading Post Strictly Stocks: 1. BRYAN SHAFFER 2. Carl Ealy 3. Paul Reiser 4. Everett Wade 5. Ronnie Boyd 6. Curt Bish, Jr. 7. Curt Bish, Sr. 8. Wearne Cook 9. Jim Boring 10. William Morrison III 11. Lauren Simmons 12. Patrick Heckman 13. Randy Ealy 14. Jay Adams 15. Carl Feely, Jr.-DNS 16. Lester Kerr-DNS.