FRIDAY NIGHT RACING AT MERCER THIS WEEKEND

FRIDAY NIGHT RACING AT MERCER THIS WEEKEND; FREE GENERAL ADMISSION FOR VENANGO COUNTY RESIDENTS; FULL SHOW PLUS PA MOD LITE SERIES ON TAP

By Mike Leone

July 31, 2006 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


Mercer, PA…Mercer Raceway Park will switch to Friday night racing this weekend, August 4, as there will be no racing Saturday night. A full night of racing will be on tap Friday under the lights featuring the RoadRunner & Lake Road Auto Sales Sprint Cars, American Racer/Lias Tire Modifieds, Tire Express Stock Cars, Maurer’s Trading Post Strictly Stocks, plus a special appearance by the PA Mod Lite Series with racing beginning one half hour later at 7:30 p.m. It’s the rescheduled Yellow Book USA Night and Froggy Friday plus it’s Emerson Process Management Corp. Night.

“We wanted to experiment with some Friday night shows,” explained owner Vicki Emig on the switch. “We had four scheduled, but lost the first one in May to Mother Nature. Mercer has been a Saturday night track for 55 years, but some things came open with other area speedways so we thought we’d give it a shot. Lernerville Speedway doesn’t have the Sprint Cars, Modifieds, or Stock Cars and Gambler’s Raceway Park isn’t racing plus no one is running the Mod Lites or Strictly Stocks.”

Residents of Venango County can take advantage of free admission night. Adults living in Venango County can simply show their driver’s license and will be admitted for free along with any accompanying children 15 and younger.

“Even though we already had a free Venango County Night we decided to do another one,” said Emig. “Our first one back on June 3 was well attended despite the fact that it rained most of the afternoon and evening in Venango County and surrounding areas. We talked to many people and heard from others that numerous people didn’t come because they thought we’d never race. We thought this would be a unique night to give fans from Venango County a second shot at coming.”

Making their second appearance will be the Mod Lites as part of the PA Mod Lite Series, which carries a hefty point fund for the mini series. The event will pay $500 to-win. “We really enjoy having the Mod Lites,” expressed Emig. “In the past we’ve always just had them for the Little Guy Nationals, but we snuck them in in April before Deerfield opened and got a good turnout. Bill Bauer has always done a good job with the regional events and he put this mini series together this summer and we told him we’d be willing to add the Mod Lites to this show.”

The Sprint Car point race continues to close as it has been all season long. Bob Felmlee of Franklin, Pa. fresh off a win Sunday at Tri-City Speedway has been shutout of victory lane at Mercer since May 6, but holds down a slim seven-point lead over defending champion Rod George, who still is looking for his first win. George used a borrowed engine from Arnie Kent and finished fourth after being passed by Felmlee with two laps to go.

The unbelievable Modified point chase continues to be neck and neck. Entering Saturday night, Steve Young led Kevin Hoffman by one point and Mike Stine by two points. After Saturday night, Young of Grove City, Pa. and Hoffman of Franklin, Pa. are currently tied, while Stine sits just seven points back and fourth place Frank Guidace trails now by just 10 markers despite missing one night. Young has not won a feature at Mercer in more than seasons, but has finished in the top 10 all 16 features this season.

Brian Booher appears headed to his second straight Stock Car Championship. The Sandy Lake, Pa. driver holds a commanding 54-point lead over Andy Buckley and is tied with Mike Pegher, Jr. with six feature wins.
Nineteen-year-old rookie driver Bryan Wagner continues to extend his point lead in the Strictly Stocks. The New Wilmington, Pa. driver has five victories and now has a 39-point lead over Carl Ealy, who dominated the division at the beginning of the season.

Grandstands open at 5 p.m. Hot laps are slated for 6:45 p.m. and the first green flag will wave at 7:30 p.m. Admission for all others will be the following: adults $11, students 6-15 $5, children five and under are free, and the family pass is $25. Pit passes are $22.

Mercer Raceway Park is located minutes from both Interstate 79 and 80 just off Route 19 on Fairground Road in Mercer, Pa. Dirt track racing and quality family entertainment are presented weekly late March through September. The office in New Bedford, Pa. is open year-round Monday through Friday after 1:00 p.m. For more information call the office at 724-964-9300 or the track on race day at 724-662-1310. Check out our website at www.mercerracewaypark.com for the latest.