SMITH MAKES LAST LAP PASS FOR SPRINT WIN; PRIEST CHARGES FOR FIRST MOD WIN; CAREER FIRST WINS FOR TOTH, KRONER, & BISH, JR.; BUC
Sat, Apr 24, 2004 -- Saturday Night Live
Written by: Mike Leone
Mercer Raceway Park completed its fourth show in five tries this season as 129 cars filled the pit area for the five-division program Saturday night. Celebrating with wins in the McClung Auto Body victory lane were Jamie Smith-Luxaire Heating & Cooling Sprint Cars, Andy Priest-Campbell-Peterson Trail & Turf Big-Block Modifieds, Steve Toth-Tire Express Sportsman Modifieds, Terry Kroner and Andy Buckley-Stock Cars, and Curt Bish, Jr. and Curt Bish, Sr.-Strictly Stocks.
It was Pro Football Hall of Fame Night as 100 admission tickets were given away to the Canton, Ohio facility. Renee McClelland of Mercer, Pa. was the grand prize winner of the Festival Package giveaway, which included two tickets to the sold-out Enshrinement Ceremony and two tickets to the always sold-out AFC-NFC Hall of Fame Game.
Like a snake waiting to strike, Jamie Smith pounced on his prey and snatched a career first Mercer win away from Jack Sodeman, Jr. right at the checkered flag to win his second straight 20-lap Luxaire Heating & Cooling Sprint Car feature. “I tried that for 19 laps and it didn’t work- I had to try something,” stated the Sewickley, Pa. winner when asked about his pass on the outside on the final lap. “Last week we went back to last year’s setup and we’ve been happy ever since.”
Gary Kriess, Jr. raced out into the lead at the start of the event with Sodeman trailing and Smith getting by Ralph Spithaler, J. for third. Sodeman took over the lead on lap two from Kriess with an inside move off turn two. Smith followed one lap later with a pass of Kriess for second on the bottom of turn four. By lap four, Smith was all over Sodeman just before a yellow for Jeremy Cook.
Sodeman began working lapped traffic on lap 10 and two laps later Smith was right back on Sodeman’s tail. The two raced side-by-side for the lead nearly three-wide with the lapped car of Scott Groves on lap 14 as Sodeman hung on to the lead. The final caution for a spin by Kevin Andrusky slowed action with 15 laps completed.
While Smith and Sodeman diced for the lead, Rod George worked his way from his 11th starting spot into contention getting past Spithaler for fourth on lap 13 then a smooth move to get under Kriess for third on lap 17. George ran down Sodeman and Smith, while they battled through traffic. Sodeman took the white flag with a few car lengths lead, but lapped traffic loomed ahead. Heading into turn three, Sodeman stuck on the bottom, while Smith hammered his car around the top through turns three and four. Smith cleared the lapped cars and snuck by Sodeman as they came down the homestretch to take the exciting win by less than a car-length.
“I thought that was a pretty good race,” said the humble Smith following his 28th career Mercer win in his American Agip/NAPA Auto Parts/Alternative Power Sources-sponsored #5. “You had four fast cars right there at the front and it worked out good.”
One week after flipping while leading the feature, Sodeman had to settle for a disappointing second for a career best Mercer finish. Point leader George was a close third and may have been the fastest car on the track. Kriess dropped to fourth ahead of Spithaler. Rounding out the top 10 were Jeff Banyas, Indiana’s Cameron Dodson, Arnie Kent, Chris Matthews, and Chris Shuttleworth. Heat winners over the 29-car field were George, Kriess, and Mike Shearer. Mike Dehner took his first career checkered flag winning the B main.
In almost a similar fashion of the Sprint Car feature, veteran Andy Priest stole a career first away from Rob Curtis in the closing laps of the 20-lap Campbell-Peterson Trail & Turf Big Block Modified feature. “We’ve been really good all year, but just haven’t been able to pull it off,” explained the New Castle, Pa. victor. “We had a really good track tonight. We’ve been working on this place to get it going good and I think we got something now.”
From the pole position, Curtis raced into the early lead with Andy Paden moving ahead of Dean Pearson for second on the opening lap. Priest, who started 10th, was already up to fourth on lap four when he took the spot away from last week’s winner Tim Doran. Priest moved up to third on lap eight when he passed Rick Hall with an inside move. Up front, first-year big-block driver Andy Paden closed on Curtis on lap nine. Shortly thereafter, Priest caught the front two and passed the young Paden for second in turn one on lap 11.
Priest set his sights on Curtis and was all over the leader on laps 13-17. Curtis was able to edge Priest for the lead on lap 16, but Priest just made the pass entering turn one on lap 17 when the yellow was displayed for a spin by Tommy Marshall III. Priest got a great restart and used a similar move to take the lead again in turn one on lap 18. Priest then pulled away in the last three laps to win easily for the 11th time of his career in a big-block at Mercer in his McElwain Motors-sponsored, Speed Palace #21N.
Curtis’ runner-up tied his career best big-block finish on July 28, 2001. Dave Murdick passed Paden for third on lap 17. Paden dropped to fourth for his best big-block outing. Rodney Beltz was fifth after starting 18th. Completing the top 10 were Pearson, Hall, Carl Weatherby, Doran, and Steve Young. Picking up heat race wins were Doran, Weatherby, and Tommy Kristyak over the season-high 30-car field. Carl Murdick won the B main.
Third-year racer Steve Toth dominated the 20-lap Tire Express Sportsman Modified feature for his first career win. “The car is awesome- I have no complaints,” said the elated New Castle, Pa. driver after the popular win. “Great motor, great car. I can’t thank everyone enough. We rebuilt the entire car and got a new Rombold motor.”
Jim Rombold, Jr. raced past Jim Slater at the start of the event for the lead, while Toth passed Kevin Green and Slater for second before a lap was completed. Kevin Thompson drove by Slater for third on lap two. Toth’s winning move came on lap three when he got past Rombold off turn two. Thompson followed in second past Rombold.
Once in front, Toth drove through lapped traffic like a veteran and only had to endure one caution to claim the victory. Steve is the son of former racer and well-known car owner Ernie Toth, who now co-owns the #25, which is sponsored by Phil Fitts Ford, Bob McCann’s Auto Service, E.D. Fee Transfer, and Plotts Transmission.
Thompson closed the gap on Toth on the last lap to finish second, which was his best sportsman finish since June 13, 1998. Jeff Schaffer and Ron Eperthener, Jr. came from 11th and 12th to finish third and fourth respectively. Rombold dropped to fifth, but tied a career best finish. Recording heat race wins were Frank Guidace, Schaffer, and Toth over the 24-car field.
Andy Buckley opened the night capturing last week’s 15-lap fogged-out Stock Car make-up feature. “It’s a real bitey, get it up and go track,” explained the Stoneboro, Pa. racer. “I really like this. I’m not for that tip-toeing around train racing.”
Terry Kroner led the first three laps before Buckley made an inside move on lap four for the winning pass. Only one caution slowed Buckley, who also won a make-up feature to start the night three years ago in his MPR Lumber/Kristyak’s Korner-sponsored #965. Buckley’s 15th career win ties him for second with Gary Robinson on the all-time Stock Car win list. Kroner was second ahead of John Reiser, Mike Aley, and Rick Lanigan.
After six years of trying and being close on many occasions, Terry Kroner finally captured that elusive first career win in the 15-lap Stock Car feature. “The car worked really well,” described the Portersville, Pa. resident. “This is a brand new car that we tore up a couple weeks ago. I have to thank my crew for getting it back together.”
Shaun Hooks led the first three laps before pitting under caution handing the lead to Kroner. Kroner would stave off a furious challenge by Bobby Whitling and Rusty Moore, who were all over the leader. Kroner’s win came in his Harmarville Contractors Equipment/Tom’s Cleaning Service/Trinity Metals-sponsored #67. Whitling passed Moore for second on lap 13 and was all over Kroner on the final lap, but had to settle for second. Moore, Buckley, and Andy Thompson completed the first five. Hooks, Doug Iorio, Moore, and Whitling won the heats over the season-high 38-car field. Bill Lanigan won the B main.
Curt Bish, Sr. made it two-for-two winning last week’s 12-lap “Redneck Racers Shotgun Series” Strictly Stock fogged-out make-up feature. The Oil City, Pa. racer led all the way in the non-stop race for the victory in his Dennis Baker Construction/Gravett Painting-sponsored #00. Joe Blake was second over Curt Bish, Jr., Wearne Cook, and Carl Feely.
In the night’s regularly scheduled 12-lap Strictly Stock event, Curt Bish, Jr. kept it all in the family by capturing his first career win. The Titusville, Pa. driver led from green-to-checkered in the non-stop event in his Dennis Bake Construction/A&C Buffet-sponsored #00X. Blake was a close second for the second straight race. Feely, Bish, Sr., and Cook were third through fifth.
Luxaire Heating & Cooling Sprint Cars: 1. JAMIE SMITH 2. Jack Sodeman, Jr. 3. Rod George 4. Gary Kriess, Jr. 5. Ralph Spithaler, Jr. 6. Jeff Banyas 7. Cameron Dodson 8. Arnie Kent 9. Chris Matthews 10. Chris Shuttleworth 11. Charlie Holben 12. Jamie Martin 13. Chad Levingston 14. Kevin Andrusky 15. Gary Edwards 16. Vaughn Nystrom 17. Scott Groves 18. Butch Beasley 19. Jason Dolick 20. Jimmy Barill 21. Paul Kapuchuck 22. Jeremy Cook 23. Mike Shearer 24. Mike Dehner DNQ: Jerry Yoder, Dan McEwen, Bill Underwood, Randy Years, Eric Williams.
Campbell-Peterson Trail & Turf Big-Block Modifieds: 1. ANDY PRIEST 2. Rob Curtis 3. Dave Murdick 4. Andy Paden 5. Rodney Beltz 6. Dean Pearson 7. Rick Hall 8. Carl Weatherby 9. Tim Doran 10. Steve Young 11. Tommy Kristyak 12. Jeremy Paup 13. Tommy Marshall III 14. Steve Barr 15. Skip Moore 16. Terry Young 17. Joe Crawford 18. Dave Schrader 19. Carl Murdick 20. Randy Ferguson 21. Jeff Baker 22. Lonny Riggs 23. Rick Kress 24. Frank Guidace DNQ: Lee Miller, Dave Reges, Travis Shingledecker, Arnie Kent, Chad Reitz, Garrett Krummert.
Tire Express Sportsman Modifieds: 1. STEVE TOTH 2. Kevin Thompson 3. Jeff Schaffer 4. Ron Eperthener, Jr. 5. Jim Rombold, Jr. 6. Rick Hall 7. Jay Priest 8. Jim Slater 9. Frank Guidace 10. Mike Anderson 11. Rich Whitney 12. Alex Anderson 13. Jerry O’Rock, Jr. 14. Fred Sasse 15. Kristin Jordan 16. Gary Smoker 17. Leroy Johnson, Jr. 18. Joe Gibson 19. Jeff Walters 20. Kevin Green 21. Branden Porter 22. Jerry Schaffer-DNS 23. Rich Ferguson-DNS 24. Matt Reeher-DNS.
Stock Cars (4/17/04 make-up): 1. ANDY BUCKLEY 2. Terry Kroner 3. John Reiser 4. Mike Aley 5. Rick Lanigan 6. Rusty Moore 7. Andy Thompson 8. Dave Ferringer 9. Gary Johns 10. Bill Lanigan 11. Shaun Hooks 12. Tim Zuschlag 13. Carl Ealy 14. Ryan Moyer 15. Brian Booher 16. Doug Iorio, Jr. 17. Chris Brown 18. Doug Iorio 19. Joe Updegraff 20. Ed Cornell 21. Clyde Roberts 22. Jarrot Moore 23. Rick Norco 24. Erick Cwynar 25. Russ Coyne-DNS 26. Jim Brunson-DNS DNQ: Matthew Cwynar, Gary Sullivan, Don Folkmire, Cody Smith, Gary Norman, Matthew Allen, Bobby Whitling, Daryl Leeworthy.
Stock Cars: 1. TERRY KRONER 2. Bobby Whitling 3. Rusty Moore 4. Andy Buckley 5. Andy Thompson 6. Rick Norco 7. Ron Iorio 8. Rick Lanigan 9. Mike Aley 10. John Reiser 11. Doug Iorio 12. Gary Johns 13. Bill Schall, Jr. 14. Gary Sullivan 15. Clyde Roberts 16. Bill Lanigan 17. Russ Kapalin 18. Matt Keith 19. Carl Ealy 20. Scott Myers 21. Shaun Hooks 22. Gary Norman 23. Doug Iorio, Jr. 24. Brian Booher-DSQ (light) DNQ: Matthew Allen, Tim Zuschlag, Ryan Moyer, Matthew Cwynar, Erick Cwynar, Jack Keesey, Daryl Leeworthy, Chris Brown, Cody Smith, Tim Balach, Joe Updegraff, Ed Cornell, Jarrot Moore, Dave Ferringer.
Strictly Stocks (4/17/04 make-up): 1. CURT BISH, SR. 2. Joe Blake 3. Curt Bish, Jr. 4. Wearne Cook 5. Carl Feely, Jr. 6. Randy Ealy 7. Jesse DeLoe-DNS 8. Lauren Simmons-DNS 9. Jeff Manners-DNS.
Strictly Stocks: 1. CURT BISH, JR. 2. Joe Blake 3. Carl Feely, Jr. 4. Curt Bish, Sr. 5. Wearne Cook 6. Ronnie Boyd 7. Chad Myers 8. Randy Ealy-DNS.