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By Rick Feicht
September 15, 2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Mercer, PA.On Saturday evening at Mercer Raceway Park five USA-EAST Regional Finals were contested to determine the point champions in each of five divisions that pull with the USA-EAST Regional Series in 2007. Over sixty vehicles hooked to Jerry Poffenberger' s "Blue Stinger" weight machine on a very cool night in northwestern Pennsylvania. The event was sponsored in part by Wagner's Massey-Ferguson and the series was sponsored by Cen.Pe.Co. Lubricants. Both Eric Wagner and Wayne Sampson, representing the two sponsors were on hand for the pull that was produced by Full Pull Productions of nearby Jamestown, Pennsylvania. The Allegany Highland Pulling Association of Cochranton, Pennsylvania performed most of the on-track duties for the event and provided the back-up weight transfer. Only one of the five season champions actually was a winner at the USA-EAST Finals a testament to just how strong the series has been in 2007.
STREET LICENSED GASOLINE 4x4 TRUCKS
Mark Petros of Herminie, Pennsylvania captured the 2007 point championship in this division with his 1975 Dodge with 440 cubic inch Mopar power and also the win in his class in the Finals. The freshly painted yellow machine has been ultra-consistent in 2007 in winning the lion's share of the pulls for the street licensed trucks on gasoline. At Mercer the margin of victory was a bit smaller, but Petros did snag the top spot over Normalville' s Glenn Savage with "SuperRam". Savage has suffered through clutch problems throughout the season and opted to install an automatic transmission in his Dodge for the 'finals'. Aaron Rupert's "Black Sheep" Ford from Rural Valley was third at Mercer Raceway Park.
STREET LICENSED DIESEL 4x4 TRUCKS
Matt Cooper of Portersville, Pennsylvania ended the season as the point champion in this division with his "Goin' The Distance" Chevrolet, but could only muster a second place finish in the Finals. The "Old Blue" Dodge of Bill Bowser from Mayport took the Finals championship with the only full pull of the class. USA-EAST champion Cooper was 2nd in what might be his final hook in this class. "Right now I am looking to move to Pro Street Diesel for 2008", said an obviously elated Cooper after winning his first-ever championship. Cooper's first win ever came at Mercer Raceway Park in 2006 so he certainly has fond memories as he told the fans - "Mercer is one of my favorite places to pull!" The always-improving 2006 Chevrolet/Duramax of Bruce Leveto from Edinboro, Pennsylvania was third while Bruce Balish from Moscow, Pennsylvania grabbed fourth with his Ford Super Duty Power Stroke named "Black Hearted".
LIMITED PRO/SUPER FARM TRACTORS
Brady Mermon, Jr. from Avella, Pennsylvania made the only full pull of this huge class to take the top spot at Mercer. Mermon's beautiful "Barnburner" IH 1066 has been running extremely strong this season. The Mike Lozier Team's "Indian Outlaw" Super Farm from Mechanicstown, Ohio will be the 2007 USA-EAST point champion after a fourth place finish. Mike Norris was the pilot on this night in place of Mike Lozier and did a very good job of getting the wounded International the championship. "Indian Outlaw" has had two major engine failures in the last two weeks of the season after amassing a sizeable point advantage that just barely held up. This marks the first time that a Super Farm tractor has taken the top spot in the seasonal point race. Tyler Woolever, fresh from two stirring wins in his last three events was up for second place at Mercer Raceway with his "Just In Case" Limited Pro tractor. And Dan Park from Brookville, Pennsylvania ended third with "Haybine's Nightmare", a small cubic inch JD 8100 that has seemingly found new life in the last three weeks after being mired in the middle of the pack for most of the season.
MODIFIED 4x4 - RUN WHAT YA BRUNG
Only four points separated the top two trucks going into the USA-EAST Finals on Saturday night. And as if by design those two trucks both made full pulls to get into the ultimate shoot-out. Jack Keihl and Ryan Ritzert's "Size Matters" Chevrolet from Cabot, Pennsylvania won the battle at Mercer Raceway, but lost the war as the team could only make up two points and had to settle for second place in the point chase. The 2007 Champion in the RWYB Modified Four-Wheel Drive division is Jeremy Davis from Jefferson, Pennsylvania with the "Producer's Supply Chevrolet". Davis' first crown comes after a very hard-fought season against the top running modified trucks in the region. Eddie Zedreck from Chicora, Pennsylvania was third at Mercer Raceway with "Little Irish II" while the 1939 Chevrolet of George Nichelson from Mount Pleasant ended fourth.
STREET LICENSED SEMI TRUCKS
In the final class of the evening two relative newcomers to the "Pennsylvania Posse" series surprised the field. The track had become extremely hard by the time the semis pulled and double full pulls were credited to seven trucks before the "Blue Stinger" transfer was loaded for the final go 'round. Jon Auer from Ashtabula, Ohio took the win with "Fly By Night", a Kenworth with 400 Cummins for power. Second went to the vastly improved Ken Johnson from Grampion, Pennsylvania with an E-9 Mack while Jerry Hairhoger from New Galillee was third with his KT-600 Cummins machine. Ashtabula's Willie Sheanon pushed his Cummins-powered "Rooster Tails" Volvo to fourth place at Mercer. The USA-EAST 2007 point champion, Cory Fox from Cabot, Pennsylvania, had to settle for fifth place at Mercer Raceway. However despite that placing, Fox's Peterbilt with CAT power will be noted as the 'first-ever' "Pennsylvania Posse" point champion.
The USA-EAST Finals made it perfectly clear that the level of competition in this series is top notch. With only one of the seasonal champs able to gain a victory in the Finals, the door is wide open to a change at the top in 2008.
And now USA-EAST moves on to the famed Bloomsburg Fair in eastern Pennsylvania on Saturday, September 29th for the last event of 2007. The Big Rigs Finals and the "Smoker Series" Finals and the Pro Street Diesel Finals are all scheduled on that night at the largest fair in the state of Pennsylvania. Fans are urged to buy their tickets in advance for this 'Super Bowl" of Pennsylvania events with USA-EAST as the pull has been sold out in each of the past three years. Fans may still order tickets online at www.bloomsburgfair. com.
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 late mornings and after 1:30 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.mercerracewaypa rk.com for the latest.
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