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By Mike Leone
July 4, 2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Mercer, PA.Despite a 70% chance of storms throughout the day, only a few sprinkles and brief showers fell at Mercer Raceway Park on Wednesday for "Saluting the Red, White, & Blue". Skies began to clear just before hot laps, but a few isolated storms popped up. Light rain began falling in the closing laps of the FASTRAK Late Model feature before letting loose just as the cars were exiting the speedway. After waiting the rain out and getting the track run back in nearly one and half hours later, more heavy showers hit the speedway forcing the postponement of the T3 All-Star Modified and Star's Championship Mod Lite features. Those two features will be made up in the future after consulting with both series for amicable dates and will still be point events.
Dick Barton captured his third FASTRAK Northeast Late Model Touring Series victory with a last lap turn four pass of Rodney Phillips in lapped traffic with light rain falling for the $5,000 payday in the 40-lap feature. "Twenty-five years ago I was leading a race at Eriez Speedway before I started driving Late Models", recalled the Ashville, New York driver. "I was driving my heart out and it started raining and the track got slick. The track was actually dusty and with the added moisture the guy went around me on the top and won the race. I logged that away and tonight I pulled that out from the reserved memory. I felt the track going away when we took the white flag. I saw cars getting a little sideways. I made a run for it and the moisture tonight gave me that little extra traction off turn four. Rod Phillips is a genuine man and an awful good race car driver. I know he feels horrible. This was his race. I was even with him, but I couldn't catch him."
Phillips led the field to green and jumped out into the lead over Dan Stives and Tom Snyder, Jr. On lap two, Snyder made his way past Stives for second. Mike Pegher, Jr., who started 10th in his first ever Late Model feature start, was on the move taking third on lap three. Lap four saw Snyder perform a slide job for the lead before Stives hit the wall bringing out the caution.
When racing resumed, all eyes were on Pegher, who owns 10 career Stock Car wins at Mercer, as he used the outside to pass Phillips for second. Touring Series winners Alan Dellinger and John Lacki, who started 11th and 13th respectively, entered the picture on lap five when they moved into fourth and fifth passed Chris Knuth.
Pegher and Phillips ran side-by-side for second between laps 10-13; however, on the 14th lap Phillips got back by for good. The leaders encountered lapped traffic on lap 17 and it was a four-car race for third on lap 17. Dellinger nipped Pegher at the line for third on lap 18. Pegher's fine run ended with 20 laps completed when his car went up in smoke. This moved 10th starting Barton to fourth.
When green replaced yellow, it was three-wide for the lead on lap 21 with Phillips coming out on top. Snyder, Dellinger, and Barton battled hard for second. On lap 25, Dellinger and Snyder made contact with Dellinger getting sideways and Barton flying past both for second, Snyder dropping to third, Lacki up to fourth, and Dellinger back to fifth. The resulting contact left Snyder with a tire going down as Lacki grabbed third on lap 26. John Watson was able to get past Dellinger and then inherited fourth with Snyder's misfortune.
Phillips was cruising out in front with a straightaway lead. Barton began closing in on lap 36 as he cut Phillips' deficit to a half-straightaway. As the laps ticked off with light rain falling Barton continued to zero in on Phillips. On the last lap, Phillips encountered lapped traffic. Barton was right on the Phillip's rear as they went into turn three. Barton shot to the outside and snuck past Phillips for the lead coming off turn four and stole the victory away as the rain really began to fall. The victory was Barton's 216th of his career, but just his second at Mercer and came in the Ron Nielson-owned, The Bolt Place/Raceway 7/All Sound Group/Custom Vinyl Graphics-sponsored #28B. Barton's only other Mercer victory came on September 28, 2002.
"I've been a huge proponent of this Series," acknowledged Barton. "It's the future of our sport. You don't see a lot of new Super Late Model racers and I love the division. There's just nothing that's feeding it. This will allow guys to get the feel of Late Model racing and maybe both up if they have the talent and resources. This will help save the sport that I truly love. The beauty of this is we all have the same motors and tires and it levels the competition. We've got $16,000 in this whole operation. There are many guys in other classes that have more than that in their motors and are running for less than what we are."
Phillips was a very disappointing second, but earned $2,500 for his best finish of the year. Dellinger was able to get back by Watson and Lacki on the final lap to get third. Watson was fourth over Lacki. Completing the top 10 were Knuth, Dave Padula, Steve Hollabaugh, Jim Kurpakus, and Mark Osburn. Heat winners over the 22-car field were Jon Law, Phillips, and Osburn. The threatening weather kept the five confirmed southern racers and two Indiana drivers from attending as well as numerous other Northeast drivers.
In T3 All-Star Modified Series heat race action, Gary Smoker, Lonny Riggs, and Jeff Schaffer were victorious over the season-high 28-car field. The Star's Championship Mod Lite Tour made their second appearance of the season and a season-high 33 cars turned out. Winning the heat races were Alan Knepper, Brian Woodhall, and Sparky White. Ben Black won the B main.
FASTRAK Northeast Touring Series Late Models (40 laps): 1. DICK BARTON ($5,000) 2. Rodney Phillips 3. Alan Dellinger 4. John Watson 5. John Lacki 6. Chris Knuth 7. Dave Padula 8. Steve Hollabaugh 9. Jim Kurpakus 10. Mark Osburn 11. Bob Vogt, Jr. 12. Chad Myers 13. Tom Kemp 14. Jon Law 15. Tom Snyder, Jr. 16. Scott Myers 17. Mike Pegher, Jr. 18. Greg Oakes 19. Jack Nutter 20. Dan Stives 21. Carl McKinney 22. Steve Beatty.
Upcoming Events:
7/7 "Stand On It" presented by Truck Rodz by Jones Performance. Sprints, Mods, Stocks, Mod Lites, & Mini Stocks plus Drag Racing by Full Pull Productions for Street Semis, 4x4 Gas Trucks, 4x4 Diesel Trucks, and an open competition class. 4-H Night- $10 family admission for all card-carrying members. Gates at 4:30. Racing at 7.
7/14 Sprints, Mods, Mod Lites, Mini Stocks, and the Steve Guthrie, Jr. Memorial for Stocks plus Kids Bike Races. $10 Family Night presented by Armstrong. Dean Dairy Corp. Night.
7/21 Sprints, Mods, Mod Lites, Mini Stocks, and the Ken Carbone Memorial for Stocks ($650) plus Compact Car Demo Derby. Labor Union Night- $5 admission for card-carrying union members and their significant other. Yellow Book USA Night.
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 early October. The office in New Bedford, Pa. is open year-round after 1:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. 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.
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