Hawley Wins $2,000 in Sprints, While Blaney Wins DIRT Mod Tour at Mercer
by Mike Leone
August 14, 1999
Mercer (PA)...Highlighting wins on a big night of racing Saturday evening at Mercer Raceway Park were Jimmy Hawley (Waste Management Sprint Cars) and Lou Blaney (MercerPros.com DIRT Modifieds). Other winners were Lou Gentile (Miller Lite/Amsoil Six-Cylinder Modifieds), Rob Kristyak (Quaker Steak & Lube West-Penn Limited Modifieds), and Brian Booher (Butterfield’s Pub Pure Stocks).
Jimmy Hawley of West Middlesex, Pa. was victorious in the 25-lap $2,000 Waste Management Sprint Car Feature for his sixth win. "There were a lot of good cars here. With Vicki (Emig) putting up this money and Tri-City (Speedway) tomorrow, hopefully all these guys will be there. It’s real competitive and great for the fans, and there are a lot of great race cars," said Hawley in victory lane.
Doug Kekich and Rob Eyler, two locals cars making their first appearances, made up the front row. Kekich took the early lead until the caution for Jack Sodeman, Jr., who spun with one lap completed. Kekich exited the race handing the lead to Eyler with Byron Reed and Arnie Kent directly behind. Hawley started the event from eighth and cracked the top five passing Brad Ellenberger on lap two. On lap three, Hawley disposed of Scott Priester for fourth, and the following lap moved into third passing Arnie Kent.
Eyler, who is a rookie Sprint Car driver after making the jump from the Micro Sprints, was doing a great job out in front. Lap traffic proved to be critical as the leaders caught the back-markers on lap seven. While Reed and Hawley were closing on Eyler, Reed got bogged down in traffic on the frontstretch allowing Hawley to edge by at the start-finish line for second. Smoke began to appear from Eyler’s car and Hawley made the winning pass on the backstretch driving by on lap eight. Reed got by Eyler the next lap for second and Troy Preston followed making the move on Eyler on the 12th circuit. Two cautions, one for Tommy Burns, Jr. and the other for Charlie Holben, with 17 and 18 laps completed were the only things that slowed Hawley. When the checkers waved, Hawley in the Dr. John and Debi Crawford owned #cIII had better than a straightaway margin over Reed, who made his first Mercer start of the season. "The track was real nice. It was easy to pass on. I’ve got to take my hat off to everyone on my crew. They work on it five or six days a week and know what to do to give me a great race car," said Hawley after his 19th win on the circuit.
Preston was third after starting ninth. Mark Keegan, who started 13th in his first Mercer start of the year, got around Eyler for fourth on lap 22 dropping Eyler to fifth. Priester, central Pa.’s Mike Wagner, Jamie Smith, and Brad Ellenberger completed the top ten. Heat winners were Burns, Gary McCann, Eyler, Reed, and Smith over the season-high 46-car field. South Central Ohio’s Jim Nier and Charlie Holben won the two B mains.
Lou Blaney of Hartford, Ohio came out on top of the 25-lap Bicknell Racing Products DIRT Modified Tour ‘99 race #5 for his first tour win of the season and fifth Mercer win of the season in the Colonial Metals/Troy-Alan Chevrolet/Carpenter’s Towing #10 . Blaney was somewhat somber in victory lane, "I really hit Scott (Gurdak) and he wrecked down there and I apologize for it. It kind of hurt my night." Guy Griffin jumped into the lead from the pole as Gurdak raced by Randy Myers for second. On lap two, following a restart, Blaney got into Gurdak sending him around and collected nine cars including Tim Engles, Dick Rankin, Bill Dorman, Joe Crawford, Lonny Riggs, Carl Murdick, Troy Schaffer, and Steve Barr. Brian Swartzlander then brought out the third caution with one lap completed when he spun his mount.
When racing finally settled down, Griffin reaffirmed his lead over Blaney, while Jeff Schaffer was now up to third from the 15th starting position. On lap 10 and 11, Blaney applied heavy pressure to Griffin. Gerry Bruce passed Schaffer for third on lap 11 and slowly reeled in the top two. In the meantime, Blaney got a great run off turn four on lap 12 to edge Griffin at the line, but the 1997 track champion was able to fend off Blaney to retake the lead on lap 13. Griffin’s demise came on lap 15 when running down the back-markers.
Josh Skarzenski spun just ahead of the leaders and Griffin had nowhere to go spinning his #11. This gave the lead to Blaney and he was able to lead the rest of the way for his 17th win on the circuit. Bruce had great run to finish second for his career-best Mercer finish. Schaffer was third. Jeff Hoffman passed Dean Pearson for fourth on lap 24 dropping Pearson to fifth at the finish. Sixth through tenth were Jerry Bickel, Griffin, Dorman, Swartzlander, and George Hobaugh. Heats went to Griffin, Bickel, and Riggs over the 34-car field. The two B mains went to Hoffman and Brian Fink.
Lou Gentile of Youngstown, Ohio returned to victory lane for the sixth time in the 20-lap Miller Lite/Amsoil Six-Cylinder Modified Feature. Gentile started sixth and was already up to second on lap one taking the spot from Mark McEwen. Jerry Schaffer led the first three laps before Gentile got by in turn two on lap four. Schaffer got into Gentile just after the pass and lost his front wheel. Under green flag racing, Jim Bickel lost two spots when Randy Ferguson and Carl Weatherby got by for second and third on lap seven. Weatherby, who started 16th, then got around Ferguson for second on lap 11 and got the caution he needed to bunch up the field with 18 laps completed. But on the restart, Gentile kept Weatherby, the current point leader, at bay for the win. Ferguson was third over Bickel. McEwen was a career-best fifth in just his ninth-ever start. Bickel and Weatherby won the heats.
Second-year driver Rob Kristyak won his third 20-lap Quaker Steak & Lube West-Penn Limited Modified Feature. Shon Derr led the first five laps before slipping off the backstretch on lap six and then made contact with Don McKnight sending Derr into a wild end-over-end flip. He was shaken, but okay. This gave the lead to Tom Mattocks with Marty Kristyak and Rob Kristyak trailing. Marty Kristyak broke with 11 laps completed moving Rob Kristyak into second. Rob Kristyak made the winning move on lap 16 nipping Mattocks at the line. The Bristolville, Ohio driver went on for the win in his Klaben Crown Ford #00. Mattocks held on to second over Rick Hall, Gary Smoker, and McKnight. Jeremiah Shingledecker, Ron Eperthener, Jr., and Rob Kristyak were heat victors over the 28-car field. Rick Ryder won the B main.
Brian Booher of Sandy Lake, Pa. closed out the night winning his second 15-lap Butterfield’s Pub Pure Stock Feature. Booher was handicapped to the pole and led all the way for his third career win in his Stake Specialty/R&R Auto Sale #2B. Bill Hanna came from seventh to pass Leigh Wheeler for second on lap 12. Hanna was on Booher in the last two laps, but fell short by about two car lengths. Wheeler, Booher’s teammate, was third over Brian Miller and Tim Mailliard. Taking heat wins were Willie Aley, John Reiser, Andy Buckley, and Booher over the 43-car field. Jeff Kravec and Gary Robinson won the two B mains.
Notes from the night...the 46-car Sprint Car field was the largest non-sanctioned car count since Mercer reopened in 1994...The $2,000 to-win, $200 to-start show was a late addition to the schedule after realizing Attica, K-C, Challenger, and Port Royal speedways were either shut down or not running 410 Sprints. With the success of the show, look for possible a few more in 2000...$12,565 was paid out to the 46 Sprints...Central Pa. drivers Jeff Weaver, Will Cramer, Mike Wagner, and Daryl Stimeling made their first appearances...Central Ohio drivers Marty Ling, Mark Keegan, Bob Thomas, Jim Nier, and Byron Reed made their first appearances...New York was represented by Phil Mott and Bob Cain, who also made their first starts...Wayne McPeek of Mineral Wells, West Virginia made his first-ever appearance...Local drivers making their first appearances included James Wray driving the Brent Covell #81, Scott Priester, Charlie Holben, Kevin Schaeffer, Roger Bennett, Rob Eyler, Gary and Sheila Rankin, Kevin Andrusky, Brad Ellenberger, Eric Smith, Bruce Powell, and Jim Bailey, who made his season-debut...Jason Jacoby was the only Sprint flip victim of the night as he flipped while leading the second B main...One hundred sixty-nine cars from five states were on hand making it the highest five-division car-count since Mercer reopened in 1994...Twenty-nine events were run over the course of the evening making the $10 adult general admission a real bargain...Many surrounding areas experienced heavy rain showers throughout the day and evening, while the speedway received only two showers and some drizzle as a cold front pushed through dropping the temperature to the low 60s at race time.
August 14, 1999 Results
Waste Management Sprint Car Feature Finish:
1. JIMMY HAWLEY
2. Byron Reed 3. Troy Preston 4. Mark Keegan 5. Rob Eyler 6. Scott Priester 7. Arnie Kent 8. Mike Wagner 9. Jamie Smith 10. Brad Ellenberger 11. Mike Kekich 12. Daryl Stimeling 13. Gary Edwards 14. Terry Young 15. Kevin Schaeffer 16. Jack Sodeman, Jr. 17. Randy Johnson 18. Eric Smith 19. Joe McEwen 20. Jim Nier 21. Gary McCann 22. Tommy Burns, Jr. 23. Charlie Holben 24. Doug Kekich DNQ-Todd Bauer, Mike Marano II, Will Cramer, Roger Bennett, Sheila Rankin, Dave Wagner, Phil Mott, Jim Damon, Jeff Weaver, Ronnie Myers, Gary Rankin, James Wray, Bruce Powell, Bob Thomas, Jim Bailey, Jason Jacoby, Gary McCollum, Staple Nash, Wayne McPeek, Kevin Andrusky, Marty Ling, Bob Cain.
Bicknell Racing Products DIRT Modified Tour ‘99
Race #5 Feature Finish:
1. LOU BLANEY
2. Gerry Bruce 3. Jeff Schaffer 4. Jeff Hoffman 5. Dean Pearson 6. Jerry Bickel 7. Guy Griffin 8. Bill Dorman 9. Brian Swartzlander 10. George Hobaugh 11. Randy Myers 12. Troy Schaffer 13. Rick Hall 14. Josh Skarzenski 15. Andy Priest 16. Kevin Bolland 17. Steve Barr 18. Lonny Riggs 19. Dick Rankin 20. Brian Fink 21. Scott Gurdak 22. Tim Engles 23. Carl Murdick 24. Joe Crawford DNQ-Jason Engles, Chris Schiffer, Del Rougeux, Jr., Mark Sevin, Steve Young, Troy Schaffer, Skip Moore, Doug Duncan, Tommy Kristyak, Greg Davis, Tom Armstrong.
Miller Lite/AMSOIL Six-Cylinder Modified Feature Finish:
1. LOU GENTILE
2. Carl Weatherby 3. Randy Ferguson 4. Jim Bickel 5. Mark McEwen 6. Rick Kress 7. Mark Welsh 8. Dustin Kress 9. Dana Gearhart 10. Bill Adams 11. Harold Michaels 12. Jerry Schaffer 13. Joe Kane 14. Frank Guidace 15. Gregg McCandless 16. Jerry Bowser 17. Conny Allen-DNS 18. Kenny Hardy-DNS.
Quaker Steak & Lube West-Penn Limited Modified Feature Finish:
1. ROB KRISTYAK
2. Tom Mattocks 3. Rick Hall 4. Gary Smoker 5. Don McKnight 6. John Buchanan 7. Allen Ferry 8. Skinny Hall 9. Greg G. Unrue 10. Gary Bollinger 11. Buck Buchanan 12. Jeff Miller 13. Andy Paden 14. Doug Upton 15. Steve Walsh 16. Ron Sasse 17. Joe Walsh, Jr. 18. Rick Ryder 19. Ron Eperthener, Jr. 20. Mike Mathieson 21. Marty Kristyak 22. Scott Kay 23. Randy Rodemoyer 24. Shon Derr 25. Jeremiah Shingledecker-DNS DNQ-Zack Moran, Mike Kelley, Boyd Johnston, Jr.
Butterfield’s Pub Pure Stock Feature Finish:
1. BRIAN BOOHER
2. Bill Hanna 3. Leigh Wheeler 4. Brian Miller 5. Tim Mailliard 6. Albert Hays 7. Rick Anthony 8. Ed Hays 9. Todd Titus 10. Mike Aley 11. Shaun Hooks 12. George Davis 13. Gary Robinson 14. Willie Aley 15. Jeff Natale 16. Pat Hile 17. Lynn Hostetler 18. John Reiser 19. Andy Buckley 20. Lisa Whitehouse 21. Jeff Kravec 22. Tim Brown 23. Jeff Covelli 24. Bill Banick, Jr. DNQ-Terry Kroner, Jim Miller, Brian Counselman, Adam Aley, Frank Burdette, Dan Fedorchak, Ray Yuran, Jerry Ryder, Ray Bailey, Buck Sevin, Rick Norco, Leroy Johnson, Jr., Tim Zuschlag, Sammy Wheat, Steve Reed, Chuck Kerr, Bobby Whitling, Jim Brunson, Charlie Baptiste.