Kent becomes 13th different Sprint Car winner; Blaney now at 11 Mercer Modified wins
By Mike Leone
September 9, 2000
Mercer (PA)...The final regular show of the 2000 season was completed on Saturday night at Mercer Raceway Park. The following drivers recorded wins: Arnie Kent-Axa Advisors 410 Sprint Cars, Lou Blaney-Bolland Machine Big-Block Modifieds, Kenny Hardy-Miller Lite Six-Cylinder Modifieds, Andy Priest-New Castle School of Trades Sportsman Modifieds, and Matt Lux-Butterfield’s Pub Stock Cars.
Arnie Kent went wire-to-wire to win his first 20-lap Axa Advisors 410 Sprint Car Feature of the season. "I knew if I started up front I’d have a really good chance," said the New Castle, Pa. driver from victory lane. "The car has been running real good."
Kent raced into the lead at the wave of the green as Troy Preston and Mike Kekich fell into second and third. Kekich went to the outside of Preston to take second on lap five just as Preston slowed and dropped out with magneto problems. Terry Young, who started eighth, had just passed Jason Jacoby for fourth, then inherited third from Preston’s dropout. This occurred prior to the caution for newcomer, Jeff Kasbee, who came to rest with five laps completed.
When racing resumed, Young put a slider on Kekich in turns three and four. The two made slight contact with Young coming out in second on lap six. Tom Quarterson, who started ninth, passed Jacoby for fourth, then got by Kekich for third at the line on lap six, while Kekich was recovering from the contact.
Young and Quarterson closed on Kent to make it a three-car race at the halfway mark. Joe McEwen lost a wheel to bring out the second caution with 12 laps completed. Under yellow, Young exited, yielding second to Quarterson and third to Kekich. The race was stopped for the third and final time when Rob Eyler caught the guardrail and flipped into the catch fence in turns one and two with 16 laps completed.
The last four laps saw Quarterson look low on Kent and was right there, but Kent was able to hold on for his second career Mercer win in his Dr. Martello Dentistry/McElwain Chevrolet-Olds-sponsored #18. "I figured if I got a good jump I’d be alright," said the winner. "Then I seen Tommy dive underneath me and I couldn’t let this one slip away."
Quarterson was second over Kekich’s best finish of the season in third. Gary Edwards came from 10th to place fourth. Jim Chappel got by Jacoby on lap 17 to finish fifth in his first top five of the season. Rounding out the top 10 were Jacoby, Todd Bauer, Kenny Hardy, Mark Murphy, and Chris Matthews. Heat winners over the 20-car field were Quarterson and Chappel.
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By the luck of the draw, Lou Blaney started second, passed Bill Dorman on the opening lap, and led all 20 laps of the Bolland Machine Big-Block Modified Feature for his 11th win. "The race track was really, really nice," said the Hartford, Ohio veteran from victory lane. "Frank (Benic) and crew did a great job on the track tonight."
Blaney took command on the opening lap, while Dean Pearson got by Dorman for second. Carl Weatherby, who started eighth, raced to the front and was already in third on lap two when he passed Dorman. Weatherby drove by Pearson on the outside coming off turn four for second on lap four.
Weatherby put the pressure on Blaney using the outside, but was unable to get by as Blaney drove on for his 22nd overall win of 2000 in the Carpenter’s Towing/Troy-Alan Chevrolet/Colonial Metal Products-sponsored #10. Weatherby continued his strong rookie big-block season with a runner-up over Pearson. Tommy Kristyak was fourth for his first top five since July 8. Steve Young rounded out the first five. Sixth through tenth were Rodney Beltz, Carl Murdick, Andy Priest, Frank Guidace, and Don McKnight. Scoring heat wins over the 22-car field were Pearson and Blaney.
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After struggling to finish for most of the season, Kenny Hardy won his second straight 15-lap Miller Lite Six-Cylinder Modified Feature win. The Wampum, Pa. driver passed Conny Allen on the first lap and led all the way for his fifth win of the season in the Hardy Trucking #85B. Harold Michaels passed Gregg McCandless on lap three for third, then took second from Allen on lap five to finish second. McCandless was third after passing Allen on lap 13 making his first start of the season in the Rod Daye-owned #8. Allen fell to fourth over Jerry Schaffer. Michaels won the heat over the 11-car field.
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Andy Priest won his seventh 20-lap New Castle School of Trades Sportsman Modified Feature. Priest started fourth and passed Gary Bollinger and Randy Rodemoyer on the opening lap for second. Priest caught race-long leader, Rick Ryder, and made the winning move on lap six when he drove around him in turn two on the outside. Priest survived three cautions for his 19th career Mercer sportsman win to become the division’s all-time winner in the Ted Hull-owned, MPR Lumber/Griffin-sponsored #41. Gary Smoker started ninth and got by Tom Mattocks for third on lap 10, then passed Ryder on lap 12 to finish second. Gary Bollinger’s third place finish was his best performance of the season. Bill Adams was fourth over Ryder. Heat victors were Allen Ferry and Priest over the 22-car field.
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Matt Lux of Franklin, Pa. was declared the winner of the 15-lap Butterfield’s Pub Stock Car Feature after a last lap crash between Gary Robinson and Bobby Whitling. Whitling started the event from the pole as Robinson passed Jim Riffenberrick, Greg Beach, and Rick Anthony for second on the opening. Robinson chased Whitling until making the pass for the lead on lap six by going to the outside racing off turn four. The two put on quite a battle, while Matt Lux, who started seventh, passed Riffenberrick for third on lap 11, then ran down the front two. Lux caught Whitling and Robinson with the white flag waving. Rounding the final turn, Whitling got a good run off the bottom. The two made contact with Robinson going hard into the wall just shy of the finish line. Whitling crossed the line first, but was moved to the tail of the running order for rough driving. This gave Lux the win in his Dulaney’s Garage/Jez Heating & Cooling-sponsored #21. Riffenberrick was second over Brian Miller, Gary Miller, Jr., and Anthony. Taking heat wins over the season-high 40-car field were Robinson, Brian Miller, Riffenberrick, and Kevin Thompson. Andy Buckley and Bob Sloss won the two B mains.
Axa Advisors 410 Sprint Car Feature Finish: 1. ARNIE KENT 2. Tom Quarterson 3. Mike Kekich 4. Gary Edwards 5. Jim Chappel 6. Jason Jacoby 7. Todd Bauer 8. Kenny Hardy 9. Mark Murphy 10. Chris Matthews 11. Buddy Cochran 12. John Toth III 13. Rob Eyler 14. Joe McEwen 15. Terry Young 16. Troy Preston 17. Jeff Kasbee 18. Kevin Andrusky 19. Gary McCollum 20. Brad Ellenberger-DNS.
Bolland Machine Big-Block Modified Feature Finish: 1. LOU BLANEY 2. Carl Weatherby 3. Dean Pearson 4. Tommy Kristyak 5. Steve Young 6. Rodney Beltz 7. Carl Murdick 8. Andy Priest 9. Frank Guidace 10. Don McKnight 11. Bill Dorman 12. Mark Sevin 13. Jerry Bickel 14. Rich Ferguson 15. Skip Moore 16. Rick Hall 17. Dave Harbaugh 18. John Braymer 19. Steve Barr 20. Rob Curtis 21. George Davis 22. Ed Alcorn-DNS.
Miller Lite Six-Cylinder Modified Feature Finish: 1. KENNY HARDY 2. Harold Michaels 3. Gregg McCandless 4. Conny Allen 5. Jerry Schaffer 6. Jerry Bowser 7. Mark McEwen 8. Lou Gentile 9. Randy Ferguson 10. Rick Kress 11. Stan Bell-DNS.
New Castle School of Trades Sportsman Modified Feature Finish: 1. ANDY PRIEST 2. Gary Smoker 3. Gary Bollinger 4. Bill Adams 5. Rick Ryder 6. J.D. Whitman 7. Greg Unrue 8. Andy Paden 9. Chanda Reitz 10. Scott Kay 11. Fred Sasse 12. Dave Shook 13. Leroy Johnson, Jr. 14. Tom Mattocks 15. Barry Bulfone 16. Dave Cogswell 17. Allen Ferry 18. Randy Rodemoyer 19. Curt Matthews 20. John Buchanan 21. Ron Eperthener, Jr.-DNS 22. Doug Ehrenberg-DNS.
Butterfield’s Pub Stock Car Feature Finish: 1. MATT LUX 2. Jim Riffenberrick 3. Brian Miller 4. Gary Miller, Jr. 5. Rick Anthony 6. Kevin Thompson 7. Mike Aley 8. Jim Brunson 9. Ed Hays 10. Bob Sloss 11. Jeff Kravec 12. Jim Davis 13. Greg Beach 14. Carl Davis 15. Tim Deutsch 16. John Reiser 17. Dave Wagner, Jr. 18. Bob Garris 19. Dave Ferringer 20. Bobby Whitling 21. Gary Robinson 22. John Beniston 23. Terry Wheeler 24. Andy Buckley DNQ-Willie Aley, Rich Howell, Tim Zuschlag, Tom Vincent, Dan Fedorchak, Bill Fox, Chuck Kerr, Bill Haas, Ray Bailey, Jr., Bill Kirschner, Sr., Kevin Miller, Dan Michaud, Don Greenlee, Glenn Pupino, Shaun Hooks, Gary Norman.