Hawley out-duels Lynch for $3,000 Sprint payoff; Kristyak picks up 3rd Mercer Modified win
Sat, Aug 17, 2002 -- 4th Annual "Sprint Slug-Out"
Written by: Mike Leone
Mercer Raceway Park completed the fourth annual “Sprint Slug-Out” Saturday night presented by AXA Advisors, LLC. Scoring big wins and celebrating in the Moore’s Auto Body victory lane were Jimmy Hawley-Luxaire Heating & Cooling Sprint Cars, Tommy Kristyak-Big-Block Modifieds, Chad Reitz-New Castle School of Trades Sportsman Modifieds, and Andy Buckley-Butterfield’s Pub Stock Cars.
Making it three wins in the past four years, Jimmy Hawley out-dueled Ed Lynch, Jr. to capture the 30-lap $3,000 to-win “Sprint Slug-Out”. “There were a lot of good race cars here,” commented the West Middlesex, Pa. winner. “Look at (Ed) Lynch; he’s someone to beat wherever he goes. I think running more laps here had an advantage on our part. It was a good race and I want to thank everyone for their support.”
Arnie Kent raced into the lead at the start of the event from the pole position, while Hawley got past Lynch for second. Lynch would get back by in turn two for second on lap two with an inside move. The two raced side-by-side the next few laps, while Kent caught traffic on lap five. Heavy lapped traffic came into play on laps six and seven making it a four-car race for lead as Jamie Smith entered the fray.
Two cautions slowed action with six and eight laps completed bunching up the field. After racing resumed, Smith got sideways off of turn four allowing Scott Bonnell to move up to fourth. Hawley and Lynch resumed their battle for second. Hawley got under Lynch in turn one on the 13th circuit to regain the second spot, and then went under Kent in turn four of the same lap to claim the top spot.
With traffic still in play, Lynch grabbed second from Kent on lap 16. Kent began to slow on lap 20 allowing Bonnell to take over third. Gary Kriess, Jr., who started 14th, made his way through the field passing Kent and then taking fourth from Smith on lap 23. As the laps ticked off, Lynch slowly gained ground on Hawley and was right on him on lap 26. Then the third and final caution was displayed for Kent, who came to rest in turn four, with 25 laps completed.
When racing resumed for the five-lap dash to the checkered, it was all Hawley who marched on to his fifth win of the year and 34th of his career at Mercer, which came aboard the Shearer family-owned, Maximum Tool & Die/Chevron East/Yoder’s Amish Shop/Young’s 24-Hour Towing/Applewood Refinishing-sponsored #25.
Lynch’s runner-up was worth $1,500. Bonnell was third for his best finish of the year. Kriess edged Smith at the line for fourth. Completing the top 10 were Gary Edwards, Kent, point champion Troy Preston, Jason Jacoby, and Andy Priest. Pup Nystrom of Kane, Pa. was 15th and was the highest finishing 360 for the first time this year earning the $150 bonus. Heat race winners were Jacoby, Edwards, and Charlie Holben over the 29-car field. Gary McCollum won the B main.
It was all Tommy Kristyak in the 25-lap Big-Block Modified feature. The Stoneboro, Pa. driver’s third win was worth $1,300. “Last week I had a good car, but sometimes you put gadgets in there that you shouldn’t be messing with,” said Kristyak from the track. “I got my seat belts undone, got them wrapped around the gas line, and everything was terrible. We made it here (victory lane) this week and I’m happy, happy, happy!”
Lonny Riggs took the early lead from the pole position as Kristyak fell into second with Tim Doran trailing. Kristyak would make the winning move on lap three following a restart for Dana Gearhart. Alan Dellinger, who started eighth, quickly made his way to the front driving by Rodney Beltz and Doran for third on lap three. Just when Dellinger began to run down Riggs and Kristyak, he got sideways in turns one and two on lap five allowing Doran to re-take third, while Jeff Schaffer came up and grabbed fourth.
However, Dellinger regained his strength racing by Schaffer for fourth on lap seven and then caught back up to Doran and Riggs on lap 13. By lap 16, Kristyak had opened up a straightaway lead over Riggs, Doran, and Dellinger. Dellinger moved back into third on lap 19 past Doran, and then went to the top of the speedway to try to pass Riggs on lap 21, but slammed the wall ending his night. On the restart, Bob Dorman and Dean Pearson tangled bringing out the third and final caution.
The four-lap shootout saw Kristyak pull away in his #26z for his 41st career Mercer big-block win. “I have to thank McCools for doing a great job on my car and tower,” said the victor. “Also, Carlin Hine for building my motors and these TEO cars are absolutely wonderful- anybody can make them go.”
Riggs held on to second ahead of Doran, who broke his tie for the point lead with Rick Hall. Jeff Schaffer was fourth for third week in a row and fourth time in seven weeks. Beltz was fifth. Rounding out the top 10 were Dorman, Hall, Frank Guidace, Pearson, and Josh Skarzenski. Taking the heat race wins over the 31-car field were Riggs, Hall, and Dellinger. Guy Griffin won the B main.
All of sudden, Chad Reitz has become the man to beat in the Sportsman Modifieds. The Franklin, Pa. racer recorded his third win in six weeks in the 25-lap $500 to-win New Castle School of Trades-sponsored feature. Guy Griffin took the lead from his pole position as Ron Eperthener, Jr. passed Zack Moran and Jim Rombold, Jr. on the opening lap for second. Eperthener took the lead away from Griffin with an inside move in turn four on lap two.
Reitz, who started sixth, raced past Rombold for third on lap seven. Then on lap nine, the lapped car of Jerry O’Rock slowed Eperthener coming off turn four. This made it three-wide coming down to the start-finish line as Reitz edged ahead of Griffin for second. Reitz then had the lead going into in turn one on the 10th lap and never looked back
While Reitz went unchallenged to the win in his Lite Craft Manufacturing/Venango Glass/Oakland Products-sponsored #9, the battled raged behind. Andy Paden passed Griffin on lap 17 for third then got Eperthener on lap 21 to finish second. Gary Smoker came from eleventh to place third after passing Eperthener for third on lap 22. Eperthener dropped to fourth over a career best finish by Dave Cogswell. Heat victors over the 22-car field were Eperthener and Bill Adams.
It’s been an up and down year for defending track champion Andy Buckley. The Stoneboro, Pa. racer made some amends Saturday night by capturing the 20-lap $500 to-win Butterfield’s Pub Stock Car feature for his third win. From the pole position, Tim Deutsch led the opening lap until Dave Ferringer nosed ahead to lead lap two. On lap three, Deutsch exited the track moving Buckley to second and Rusty Moore to third. Buckley caught Ferringer on lap four and the two raced side-by-side over the course of the next seven laps before Buckley edged ahead on the outside of lap 11. This came right before the first caution was displayed for point leader Shaun Hooks with 11 laps completed.
Last week’s winner, Gary Miller, Jr. had charged into third, but got into Ferringer on lap 14. Miller was sent to the tail for rough driving and Ferringer was done for the event. This allowed Moore and Norman to inherit second and third. Norman powered by Moore for second on lap 16 as Bobby Whitling followed in third. Whitling, who started 15th, continued his charge taking second from Norman on lap 19 at the start-finish line. Whitling proceeded to run down Buckley on the final lap, but ran out of laps as he came up a couple car lengths short. Buckley’s 11th career Mercer win came in his Hapeman Electronics/Atwell Perrine Excavating-sponsored #965. Third through fifth were Norman, Moore, and Kevin Thompson. Scoring heat race wins over the 34-car field were Deutsch, Norman, and Buckley. Willie Aley won the B main.
Luxaire Heating & Cooling Sprint Cars (30 laps): 1. JIMMY HAWLEY ($3,000) 2. Ed Lynch, Jr. 3. Scott Bonnell 4. Gary Kriess, Jr. 5. Jamie Smith 6. Gary Edwards 7. Arnie Kent 8. Troy Preston 9. Jason Jacoby 10. Andy Priest 11. Brian Woodhall 12. Ricky Ferkel 13. Charlie Holben 14. Jack Sodeman, Jr. 15. Pup Nystrom 16. Butch Beasley 17. Bill Kiley 18. Todd Bauer 19. Brent Matus 20. Deana Barbara 21. Randy Kriegisch 22. Rob Eyler 23. Gary McCollum 24. Scott Priester DNQ-Gale Ruth, Jr., Paul Kish, Dave Wagner, Dale Blaney, Paul Kapuchuck.
Big-Block Modifieds (25 laps): 1. TOMMY KRISTYAK ($1,300) 2. Lonny Riggs 3. Tim Doran 4. Jeff Schaffer 5. Rodney Beltz 6. Bob Dorman 7. Rick Hall 8. Frank Guidace 9. Dean Pearson 10. Josh Skarzenski 11. Kenny Hardy 12. Guy Griffin 13. Carl Murdick 14. John Buchanan 15. Rich Ferguson 16. Doug Fleeger 17. Lee Miller 18. Tommy Marshall III 19. Alan Dellinger 20. Chetter Johnson 21. Adam Siegel 22. Dana Gearhart 23. Scott Kay 24. Justin Broerman DNQ-Rick Kress, Adam Kozar, Ed Alcorn, Howard Duff, Jeff Baker, Ken Schaffer, Keith Nagy.
New Castle School of Trades Sportsman Modifieds (25 laps): 1. CHAD REITZ ($500) 2. Andy Paden 3. Gary Smoker 4. Ron Eperthener, Jr. 5. Dave Cogswell 6. Jim Rombold, Jr. 7. Randy Rodemoyer 8. Guy Griffin 9. Bill Adams 10. Steve Toth 11. Fred Sasse 12. Matt Reeher 13. Morgan Sasse 14. Fred Maxwell 15. Zack Moran 16. Jim Schaffer 17. Rick Hall 18. Kevin Latshaw 19. John Jones 20. Mike Gibson 21. Jerry O’Rock-DSQ 22. Steve Young-DNS.
Butterfield’s Pub Stock Cars (20 laps): 1. ANDY BUCKLEY ($500) 2. Bobby Whitling 3. Gary Norman 4. Rusty Moore 5. Kevin Thompson 6. Mike Aley 7. Willie Aley 8. Terry Kroner 9. Rick Norco 10. Ron Iorio 11. Shaun Hooks 12. Duane Grinnell 13. Brian Miller 14. Rick Anthony 15. Jim Brunson 16. Gary Laurie 17. Bobby Heim 18. Phil Kaufman 19. Doug Iorio 20. Gary Miller, Jr. 21. Tim Zuschlag 22. Dave Ferringer 23. Tim Deutsch 24. Gary Sullivan 25. Lynn Hostetler-DNS DNQ-Clyde Roberts, Scott Hooks, Stacy Neubecker, Vince Felicetty, Bill Schall, Jr., Bill Lanigan, Brian Carothers, George Kafantaris, Bob Sloss.