Lynch wins over $4,700 in Sprints, Dorman wins DIRT Modifieds in Mercer

Season-Finale

by Mike Leone

September 18, 1999

Mercer (PA)...Closing out the 1999 racing season Saturday evening at Mercer Raceway Park with wins were Ed Lynch, Jr. (Waste Management Sprint Cars), Bill Dorman (MercerPros.com DIRT Modifieds), and Brian Miller (Butterfield’s Pub Pure Stocks).

Making it two-for-two at Mercer this season, Ed Lynch, Jr. drove to victory in the 30-lap 3rd Annual Chuck Marsh Memorial Sprint Car Feature winning $4,725 for the night in his family owned Howard Concrete Pumping/Indy Equipment sponsored #2L. "I’ll tell you what, the track was absolutely perfect. You could run inside, outside, middle, anywhere. You can’t ask for anything more for a dirt track," said Lynch in front of the standing room only crowd.

Central Pa.’s Todd Gracey drew the #1 pill and immediately jumped out to the early lead in his first-ever appearance with Jamie Smith and Andy McKisson in tow. Lynch, who started ninth, was already in the top five on lap two taking the spot from Randy Johnson. On lap four, Lynch moved into fourth passing Scott Priester off turn four on the inside. Lynch used the same move taking third from McKisson on lap five, while Gracey entered traffic. On lap eight, Smith closed right on Gracey as Lynch caught Smith and Gracey. A great three-car battle for the lead took place for the next five laps. On lap nine, Smith nosed ahead to lead the lap, only to have Gracey return the favor on lap 10. On lap 11, Smith powered by on the backstretch for the lead. Lynch did the same on lap 12 to take second from Gracey. The winning move came on lap 13. Smith was dealing with the lap car of Mark Cassella, when Lynch powered by both on the backstretch. Tom Quarterson and Jimmy Hawley were two drivers on the move near the half-way point. Quarterson, who started 10th, passed McKisson for fourth on lap 13, while Hawley, who started 18th, did the same on lap 15. Gracey’s fine run came to an end when he dropped from the event on lap 16 moving Quarterson to third and Hawley to fourth. Hawley got the outside working to his liking driving by Quarterson for third on lap 18, then blasting by Smith at the line for second on lap 19. With 10 laps to go, Lynch had a near half-lap lead over Hawley. Lynch was running the inside, as Hawley was driving around the lap cars on the outside.

The laps ticked away as Lynch of Saltsburg, Pa. was able to hold off Hawley in the best race of the season which went non-stop in 7:55.16. "I want to thank my crew, American Racer Tires and my whole family," said Lynch in victory lane. "We knew when we came here last week which car and which engine we wanted to bring. It worked out just right and it’s great when it all comes together," Lynch added. "This is Kistler motor #1. The car was broken in half in the back. We welded it together so I named this one Squatter. It just squats and goes. It’s a real nice crowd and I hope they get to see a lot more great racing," concluded Lynch after his fifth win since Mercer reopened in 1994.

Point champion Hawley settled for second winning $2,100 for the night. Quarterson’s third-place was his best Mercer finish of the year. Smith fell to fourth over McKisson in just his second-ever appearance. Sixth through tenth were 20th starter Brian Ellenberger, Kevin Schaeffer, Mike Kekich, Arnie Kent, and Scott Priester. Heat winners over the 45-car field were William Kiley, Gracey, Schaeffer, and Priester. Troy Preston and Hawley won the two B mains. Kent edged Lynch to win $200 in the Classic Winners Dash beating Smith, Hawley, Joe McEwen, and Preston.

Bill Dorman of Stockton, Ny. made it three-for-three when starting on the pole by winning the $1,500 to-win 25-lap MercerPros.com DIRT Modified Feature in his #19. Dorman announced from victory, "This is probably my last feature. My son is going to take over next year. I really enjoy winning. This is fun," said the happy Dorman. "We were coming off the turns real good. The track was real good," added the winner. Dorman led the first two laps before Brian Swartzlander took over on lap three. Lou Blaney passed Tim Doran for third on lap three, but his 360 spin moved Doran, Jeff Schaffer, and Rodney Beltz back up a spot. Beltz, who started ninth, drove by Schaffer for fourth on lap 19. On lap 22, Greg Unrue and Greg Davis tangled. Swartzlander then spun under caution with a broken axle in the rear end. It was the second time this season Swartzlander has been at Mercer and broke while leading denying him of his first Mercer win. This gave the lead to Dorman and he was never threatened the rest of the way for his eighth win since Mercer reopened in 1994. Beltz took second from Doran coming off turn four on lap 24 dropping Doran to third at the finish. Lonny Riggs came from 11th to finish fourth after passing Schaffer for the spot on lap 22. Completing the top ten were Jerry Bickel, Jim Weller, Jeremiah Shingledecker in his big-block debut, Swartzlander, and newcomer Rob Curtis. Heat victors were Beltz, Dorman, and Blaney over the 24-car field.

Dorman completed a perfect three-for-three night winning the 10-lap DIRT Modified vs. Six-Cylinder Modified Match Race. Dorman started on the outside pole and passed Randy Ferguson on lap one and never looked back for $300 win bringing his winnings to $1,800 for the night. Lou Gentile passed Ferguson on the opening lap for second. Gentile pressured Dorman, but had to settle for second as the top six-cylinder. Carl Weatherby was third. Kenny Hardy finished fourth after starting 11th and Beltz rounded out the top five. Hardy won $50 for winning the Six-Cylinder Modified Pursuit and won another $50 for taking the dash.

Brian Miller of New Wilmington, Pa. won his second 15-lap Butterfield’s Pub Pure Stock Feature of the season. Miller passed Allan Hudzik on the opening lap and led the rest of the way for the $500 win in the Terry Hoover owned #99B. Brian Booher passed Hudzik for third on lap two, then inherited second when John Reiser spun on lap five. Booher recorded his third straight top two finish in second. Jim Brunson came from eight to finish third over Hudzik and Rick Anthony. Brunson, Gary Robinson, Jim Davis, and Reiser won the heats over the 39-car field. Rich Howell won the B main.

Sprint Notes...Lynch’s $4,725 winnings included $3,000 from the track, $1,000 from the Marsh Family, $500 in lap money, $100 to the winning crew from Mercer American Legion, and $125 for finishing second in the dash....Mike Kekich’s seventh place was his 15th top ten in 16 races this year with his worst finish being an 11th on the August 14 show when there were 46 cars...Craig Rankin, who won 13 races at Tri-City and Sportsman’s, made his first appearance since April 11, 1998. Rankin passed eight cars in the B main to transfer to the feature, then moved up 13 spots in the feature to finish 11th...Johnny Beaber was driving the Dan Leech #1B in one of his former cars for the first time since 1996 and finished 14th...Mark Cassella made his first start of the season driving the Dan Covell #81 and finished 17th...Ralph Spithaler, Jr., Mike Shearer, Jamie McKinney, Brian Rivers, and central Pa.’s Shawn Weaver made their first appearances....The total sprint purse was $17,205...The August 14 $2,000 to-win show and this show went over great with the compeitors and fans alike drawing 46 and 45 cars respectively along with the best racing of the year. Look for more similar shows in 2000...The 50/50 was a record at $1,686...The standing room only crowd got see 114 cars participate in 21 events along with an excellent fireworks display for regular admision prices of $10 for adults.

September 18, 1999 Results

3rd Annual Chuck Marsh Memorial Sprint Car Feature Finish:

(with total winnings in parentheses):

1. ED LYNCH, JR. ($4,725)

2. Jimmy Hawley ($2,100)

3. Tom Quarterson ($1,000)

4. Jamie Smith ($875)

5. Andy McKisson ($500)

6. Brian Ellenberger ($475)

7. Kevin Schaeffer ($425)

8. Mike Kekich ($400)

9. Arnie Kent ($600)

10. Scott Priester ($350)

11. Craig Rankin ($325)

12. Randy Johnson ($260)

13. Staple Nash ($240)

14. Johnny Beaber ($230)

15. Rod Jones ($225)

16. Doug Kekich ($295)

17. Mark Cassella ($265)

18. Brad Ellenberger ($235)

19. Todd Gracey ($455)

20. William Kiley ($200)

21. Troy Preston ($275)

22. Ralph Spithaler, Jr. ($200)

23. Gary Kriess, Jr. ($200)

24. Scott Bonnell ($200)

DNQ-Phil Mott ($100), Skip Dougherty ($100), Tommy Marshall III($100), Buddy Cochran ($100), Joe McEwen ($150), Jason Jacoby ($100), Gary Rankin ($100), Jamie McKinney ($100), Brent Matus ($100), Kevin Andrusky ($100), Mike Shearer ($100), Shawn Weaver ($100), Charlie Holben ($100), Paul Kapuchuck ($100), Gary Edwards ($100), Mike Latsch ($100), Jack Sodeman, Jr. ($100), Brian Rivers ($100), Sheila Rankin ($100), Bob Lime ($100), Glenn Noland ($100).

MercerPros.com DIRT Modified Feature Finish:

1. BILL DORMAN ($1,500)

2. Rodney Beltz 3. Tim Doran 4. Lonny Riggs 5. Jeff Schaffer 6. Jerry Bickel 7. Jim Weller 8. Jeremiah Shingledecker 9. Brian Swartzlander 10. Rob Curtis 11. Dave Reges 12. Greg Unrue 13. Greg Davis 14. Lou Blaney 15. Randy Snider 16. Scott Kay 17. Rich Ferguson 18. Steve Barr 19. Tim Shepard 20. Gary Smoker 21. Kevin Bolland 22. Randy Chronister 23. Carl Murdick 24. Andy Priest-DNS.

DIRT Modified vs. Six-Cylinder Modified Match Race Finish Finish:

1. BILL DORMAN ($300)

2. Lou Gentile 3. Carl Weatherby 4. Kenny Hardy 5. Rodney Beltz 6. Lonny Riggs 7. Carl Murdick 8. Jerry Bickel 9. Frank Guidace 10. Harold Michaels 11. Randy Ferguson 12. Lou Blaney-DNS 13. Tim Doran-DNS.

Butterfield’s Pub Pure Stock Feature Finish:

1. BRIAN MILLER ($500)

2. Brian Booher 3. Jim Brunson 4. Allan Hudzik 5. Rick Anthony 6. Leroy Johnson, Jr. 7. Jim Riffenberrick 8. John Beniston 9. Jim Davis 10. Rick Norco 11. Gary Miller, Jr. 12. Terry Kroner 13. Dwight Boice 14. Gary Robinson 15. Pat Hile 16. Tim Mailliard 17. Rich Howell 18. Chuck Taylor 19. Albert Hays 20. John Reiser 21. Andy Buckley 22. Chuck Kerr 23. Mike Aley 24. George Davis 25. Dave Harbaugh-DNS DNQ-Mark Felicetty, J.B. Dandy, John Hobbs, Sr., Ken Bailey, Frank Eckart, Mike Turner, Tommy Dembowski, Mark Covert, Adam Aley, Dennis Patterson, Keith Nagy, Willie Aley, Ed Hays, Gary Reiber.