Story By: JIM BALENTINE / MICHAELS MERCER RACEWAY – MERCER, PA – On a beautiful mid July Saturday night, Michaels Mercer Raceway held the Michaels memorial which featured twin $3000 to win events for the 410 sprint cars and the BRP modified tour.
Brandon Spithaler would take a popular win in the 410 Sprint cars and Erick Rudolph would capture another BRP modified tour win. Veteran Andy priest would dominate the racesaver 305 sprint car feature for his 14th career 305 win, Aiden Cipriano would capture his third career 602 crate modified Mercer feature, and Andy Thompson would return to victory Lane in the mini stocks, capturing his 19th career mini stock feature. 100 cars in 5 divisions would grace the pit area.
22 410 cars would compete for the 3000 to win special with Mark Smith who won last weekend in Western Pennsylvania and Dan Kuriger on the front row. Kuriger would take the lead from the start and would hold Smith at bay for the first half of the race leading by 1.5 seconds at one point. Brandon Spithaler who was driving a borrowed Brent Matus sprint car who was on his way to win a lernerville the previous night until he lost control over turn number three began closing in from his fourth starting position on the 2 leaders. On lap 14 in the nonstop affair Spithaler would make a daring move in turns one and two to get around both leaders and would come out with the lead in turn number three. Kuriger would then fall back to 3rd as Smith would get around at the same time. Smith would then set his sights on the leader getting within half a second, but then on the white flag lap, caution would come out to punch up the field for a one lap shootout. Spithaler would hit his marks perfectly and would take the popular win defeating Smith by .304 to pick up his 12th career winged sprint Mercer checker and $3000.
A joyous Spithaler would say, “it’s just pretty cool to put the 33 on the frontchute and maybe they’ll (Brent and Jackie Matus) let me do it again sometime!! we went out to Indiana for the FAST sprint show and we hurt an engine out there in the 22 and so because of that we’re down and we have to concentrate on the points races since we’re leading the points with fast so the 22 will be out some of the year, but it only will be out for FAST points races and a couple outlaw shows so maybe I can get a couple more nights in this thing. I knew Mark Smith was faster than Dan Kuriger and I wanted to make sure that when I finally got by Mark, I knew I was better than him at the time and I know he kind of was pretty decent at the end too, but I wanted to strike as quick as I could to get Kuriger surprised in traffic and then hopefully try to run away with it!” Smith would settle for second Kuriger third, AJ flick would move up from 6th to 4th and Brandon Matus would move up one spot to 5th.
In the BRP modified tour Ransomville New York’s Erick Rudolph has been dominating the tour for the past couple years and last night was no exception as he came from his eighth starting spot to pick up the $3000 Michaels memorial in the 35 lap affair. Shannon Whaley would lead the first 2 laps from the outside pole until former BRP mod Mercer winner Garrett Krummert would take over in lap 3. While Krummert was looking for another BRP mod tour win eighth starting spot Erick Rudolph with methodically work his way up through traffic in his usual style. He would be up to fourth by lap number four and then overtook veteran Dave Murdick for second on lap number 11. It would then turn into the Rudolph Krummert show as Rudolph would chip away at Krummert’s lead going from 2.2 seconds back to just .044 on lap 20 and then it would be go time as he would get around Krummert on lap 21 and would then dominate leading the rest of the 35 lap affair winning by 2.7 seconds over Krummert. Canadian Tyler Willard would get around Murdick for 3rd on lap 28, Murdick would finish 4th and Rex King Jr., who would come from the rear of the field after suffering a flat tire would make his way all the way back to fifth at the finish
Rudolph would say, “We actually had a flat tire at the end. That’s what took me so long to come back out so we didn’t ruin the wheel, but my guys gave me an awesome car tonight you know we had to put her together and figure out a way to get through those rollers out there and able to put something together I thought we might had something and we were pretty good out there in the feature.”
Andy Priest who began his racing career in 1982 at his home track at Mercer nabbed his 14th career racesaver 305 sprint car feature last night dominating after he took the lead on lap number four. 2019 champ Jake Gomola would lead the first 4 until Priest took over. Wow priest was starting to pull away. The real battle would be for second as 8 time winner Gomola, nine time winner Jeremy Kornbau and 7 time winner Greg Dobrosky would slice and dice for position lap after lap utilizing the entire wide racing surface. A red would come out for a violent flip on lap 14 by Hunter Hite in turn 2 would slow the field. Hite was OK after the incident. On the restart, Priest would takeoff and win by 2.7 seconds over Gomola. Kornbau would finish 3rd Dobrosky 4th and Jim Pattock
Andy would say “My goodness I’m old. I don’t have any hair. I can’t see so the bright white wall helped!! these cars are pretty fast so it makes it fun. There’s not a lot of adjustments to make. You can use a lot of the used stuff from the 410 other than the right rear tire, which makes it a lot easier. I have always been a high side guy, so I get bored on the bottom.. things are turning around here so please continue to support this track!”
18 year old Ayden Cipriano withstood several challenges by longtime Mercer veterans to pick up his 3rd career 602 crate modified feature. Even though he led the entire way, it would not be easy at 16 time winner and multi time track champion Eric Gabany would follow in his trail the entire 20 lap distance but could not get around as Cipriano won by 2.0 over the veteran. Jeff Schaffer Sr., who had to put for a flat tire on the first lap would come from the tail to finish 3rd. Ryan Guthrie crossed the line in 4th but unfortunately did not to go tech after so he was put to last place moving Caden Petry to 4th and previous winner Pat Lane from 8th to 5th.
Cipriano would state,”I was focusing on hitting my marks and staying on the bottom against them. I’m always scared that he’s (Gabany) gonna be right behind me. He has proved many times to me and everybody else that he is one of the fastest people in Pennsylvania!! I’m just glad I was able to hold them off tonight!! they are always tough to race against especially because I’m so young but I’m glad that I’ve been able to build a good bond with all the guys that I race with and I’m just glad that we were able to take it home tonight. We race so much that at the end of the day you’re not going to get anything if you don’t practice and we probably practice the most out of everyone around here.”
Randy Ealy would lead the 15 lap mini stock nightcapper until lap 4 when 18 time winner Andy Thompson would overtake him. Devin Haley would get around Ealy on lap 7. The top 6 would be under a blanket as Mike Kelly would come out of nowhere riding the high side around the pack. Kelly would take 2nd on lap 11 over Ealy but then Ealy would regain 2nd on lap 13 and try to catch Thompson but Thompson was too far ahead and won his 19th career mini stock feature by 1.39. Kelly finished 3rd, Corey Bice 4th and 2 time winner Carl Ealy 5th.
“I knew the competition was stiff tonight.” Thompson said, “Everybody stepping their game up. I gotta give hats off to the track crew the track was great. There’s a lot of bite. I’ve been traveling around because Mercer has been taking a few weeks off and this is probably the best place we’ve been this year. These cars are all homemade they’re not bought they’re built..We don’t buy motors, We don’t buy cars, We build them all!
Racesaver305 Sprints – Winged 17 Entries
A Feature 1 20 Laps
1. 21N-Andy Priest[4]; 2. 4J-Jacob Gomola[1]; 3. 27K-Jeremy Kornbau[3]; 4. 88-Greg Dobrosky[2]; 5. 42-Jim Pattock[8]; 6. 82M-Roman Jones[5]; 7. 25-Jarrett Rosencrance[7]; 8. 20M-Vivian Jones[15]; 9. 25G-Nolan Groves[9]; 10. 17S-Shane Heath[6]; 11. 71-Joe Coggin[12]; 12. 72-Mike Mathieson[11]; 13. 34M-Aaron Marano[17]; 14. 4B-Walt TutaK Jr[13]; 15. 15-Lacey Shuttlesworth[16]; 16. 30-Jazlyn Boyles[14]; 17. 21-Hunter Hite[10]
Heat 1 8 Laps
1. 21N-Andy Priest[1]; 2. 88-Greg Dobrosky[4]; 3. 82M-Roman Jones[3]; 4. 25-Jarrett Rosencrance[2]; 5. 25G-Nolan Groves[5]; 6. 72-Mike Mathieson[8]; 7. 34M-Aaron Marano[9]; 8. 30-Jazlyn Boyles[7]; 9. 15-Lacey Shuttlesworth[6]
Heat 2 8 Laps
1. 27K-Jeremy Kornbau[3]; 2. 4J-Jacob Gomola[4]; 3. 17S-Shane Heath[2]; 4. 42-Jim Pattock[8]; 5. 21-Hunter Hite[5]; 6. 71-Joe Coggin[6]; 7. 4B-Walt TutaK Jr[7]; 8. 20M-Vivian Jones[1]
BRP MODIFIED TOUR
1. 25-Erick Rudolph[7]; 2. 29-Garrett Krummert[3]; 3. 777-Tyler Willard[6]; 4. 61-Dave Murdick[4]; 5. 165-Rex King Jr[12]; 6. 9-Will Thomas[8]; 7. 5C-Ayden Cipriano[11]; 8. 11R-Brad Rapp[15]; 9. 20P-Mike Kinney[10]; 10. 44-Shannon Whaley[2]; 11. 13-Rick Regalski Jr[16]; 12. 18-Colton Walters[9]; 13. 3K-Shawn Kozar[21]; 14. 64-Rodney Beltz[20]; 15. 25B-Steve Barr[17]; 16. 60-Tom Holden[1]; 17. 74-Kevin Green[19]; 18. 8M-Macey Adamik[22]; 19. 6F-Kyle Fink[5]; 20. 35-Steve Slater[13]; 21. 18JR-Jeff Walters[18]; 22. 9R-Chad Reitz[14]; 23. (DNS) JD57-Jordan Ehrenberg
Heat 1 | 00:03:40.270
1. 25-Erick Rudolph[2]; 2. 44-Shannon Whaley[4]; 3. 60-Tom Holden[1]; 4. 35-Steve Slater[3]; 5. 25B-Steve Barr[6]; 6. 3K-Shawn Kozar[5]
Heat 2 | 00:05:47.611
1. 165-Rex King Jr[5]; 2. 6F-Kyle Fink[1]; 3. 18-Colton Walters[6]; 4. 9R-Chad Reitz[2]; 5. 18JR-Jeff Walters[4]; 6. 8M-Macey Adamik[3]
Heat 3 | 00:02:36.341
1. 29-Garrett Krummert[4]; 2. 61-Dave Murdick[3]; 3. 20P-Mike Kinney[2]; 4. 11R-Brad Rapp[5]; 5. 74-Kevin Green[6]; 6. (DNS) JD57-Jordan Ehrenberg
Heat 4 | 00:02:39.062
1. 777-Tyler Willard[2]; 2. 9-Will Thomas[3]; 3. 13-Rick Regalski Jr[1]; 4. 64-Rodney Beltz[5]; 5. (DNS) 5C-Ayden Cipriano
mini stocks 19 Entries
A Feature 1 15 Laps
1. 5-Andy Thompson[5]; 2. 38-Randy Ealy[1]; 3. 6-Mike Kelley[8]; 4. 10-Corey Bice[9]; 5. 0-Carl Ealy[12]; 6. 45-Andrew Thompson[11]; 7. 13S-Chaz Smith[4]; 8. 10J-Bill Fuchs[10]; 9. 02-Devin Haley[3]; 10. 60-Dillon Thorne[7]; 11. 02D-Chuck Davis[6]; 12. 54-Tim Callahan[2]; 13. 10S-Trevn Schaffer[13]; 14. 309-Jordan Reges[17]; 15. 9A-Ben Aley[14]; 16. 325Z-Zack Swartz[15]; 17. (DNS) 13-Joshua Funkhouser; 18. (DNS) 9M-Lucas Moro; 19. (DNS) 64-Summer Reges
Heat 1 6 Laps
1. 38-Randy Ealy[2]; 2. 13S-Chaz Smith[5]; 3. 0-Carl Ealy[6]; 4. 10-Corey Bice[1]; 5. 10S-Trevn Schaffer[4]; 6. 64-Summer Reges[7]; 7. 13-Joshua Funkhouser[3]
Heat 2 6 Laps
1. 54-Tim Callahan[1]; 2. 5-Andy Thompson[6]; 3. 60-Dillon Thorne[5]; 4. 10J-Bill Fuchs[4]; 5. 9A-Ben Aley[2]; 6. 309-Jordan Reges[3]
Heat 3 6 Laps
1. 02-Devin Haley[2]; 2. 02D-Chuck Davis[1]; 3. 6-Mike Kelley[5]; 4. 45-Andrew Thompson[3]; 5. 325Z-Zack Swartz[6]; 6. 9M-Lucas Moro[4]
602 crate modified 19 Entries
A Feature 1 20 Laps
1. 5C-Ayden Cipriano[1]; 2. 4S-Eric Gabany[4]; 3. 14-Jeff Schaffer Sr[11]; 4. 7P-Caden Petry[2]; 5. 1-Jim Bryce[17]; 6. 71-Gage Priester[7]; 7. 1R-Brandon Ritchey[5]; 8. 28J-Jacob Jordan[6]; 9. 12L-Patrick Lane[8]; 10. 7-Brenten Kay[12]; 11. 02-Jeremy Beichner[13]; 12. 07L-Mark Sevin[16]; 13. 9H-Jake McElravy[19]; 14. 51R-Thomas Rogers[18]; 15. 77-Shawn Fleeger[14]; 16. 41-Brian Schaffer[3]; 17. 404-Gary R Smoker[15]; 18. 717-Bill Adams[9]; 19. (DQ) 312-Ryan Gutherie[10]
Heat 1 8 Laps
1. 71-Gage Priester[3]; 2. 1R-Brandon Ritchey[4]; 3. 41-Brian Schaffer[7]; 4. 7P-Caden Petry[5]; 5. 717-Bill Adams[1]; 6. 14-Jeff Schaffer Sr[6]; 7. 02-Jeremy Beichner[2]; 8. 404-Gary R Smoker[8]; 9. 1-Jim Bryce[9]; 10. 9H-Jake McElravy[10]
Heat 2 8 Laps
1. 28J-Jacob Jordan[1]; 2. 4S-Eric Gabany[5]; 3. 12L-Patrick Lane[3]; 4. 5C-Ayden Cipriano[9]; 5. 312-Ryan Gutherie[7]; 6. 7-Brenten Kay[2]; 7. 77-Shawn Fleeger[6]; 8. 07L-Mark Sevin[8]; 9. 51R-Thomas Rogers[4]
410 Sprints – Winged 22 Entries
A Feature 1 25 Laps
1. 33-Brandon Spithaler[4]; 2. M1-Mark Smith[1]; 3. 08-Danny Kuriger[2]; 4. 2-AJ Flick[5]; 5. 13-Brandon Matus[3]; 6. 5K-Adam Kekich[6]; 7. 23JR-Jack Sodeman Jr[9]; 8. 46-Michael Bauer[8]; 9. 6-Bob Felmlee[11]; 10. 27K-Jeremy Kornbau[12]; 11. 21-Bryan Salisbury[7]; 12. 11-Carl Bowser[15]; 13. 3-Denny Peebles[10]; 14. 12J-Tyler Esh[14]; 15. 12G-Tommy Jasen[22]; 16. 47-Dusty Larson[13]; 17. 11M-Nathen McDowell[17]; 18. 19M-Bodey McClintoch[21]; 19. 4W-Eric L Williams[16]; 20. 8-Natalie Brannon[19]; 21. (DNS) 20B-Cody Bova; 22. (DNS) 24-Gale Ruth Jr
Heat 1 8 Laps
1. 5K-Adam Kekich[1]; 2. 13-Brandon Matus[3]; 3. 21-Bryan Salisbury[2]; 4. 3-Denny Peebles[5]; 5. 47-Dusty Larson[6]; 6. 4W-Eric L Williams[7]; 7. 8-Natalie Brannon[8]; 8. 12G-Tommy Jasen[4]
Heat 2 8 Laps
1. 2-AJ Flick[1]; 2. 08-Danny Kuriger[2]; 3. 46-Michael Bauer[3]; 4. 6-Bob Felmlee[4]; 5. 12J-Tyler Esh[5]; 6. 11M-Nathen McDowell[6]; 7. 20B-Cody Bova[7]
Heat 3 8 Laps
1. 33-Brandon Spithaler[1]; 2. M1-Mark Smith[3]; 3. 23JR-Jack Sodeman Jr[4]; 4. 27K-Jeremy Kornbau[2]; 5. 11-Carl Bowser[5]; 6. 24-Gale Ruth Jr[6]; 7. 19M-Bodey McClintoch[7]