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RAIN WINS FOR 8TH TIME AT MERCER; OPEN WHEEL SHOOTOUT/BILL EMIG MEMORIAL RESCHEDULED FOR FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 5
By Mike Leone
July 26, 2008 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Mercer, PA.And the beat goes on; for the 18th straight week Mother Nature threw all it could at Mercer Raceway Park and in the end she was too much as Saturday's "Open Wheel Shootout"/Bill Emig Memorial presented by FireDEX of Butler was forced to be cancelled. It was the 8th cancellation of the year and the other 10 nights have all been affected by weather.
The event has been rescheduled to Friday, September 5. A complete new show will be run with points awarded and rain checks will be valid for this show only! Pending the completion of the September 6 truck and tractor pull, a rain date of Sunday, September 7 would be used. The next rain date would be Friday, September 19.
"With the season winding down, we're quickly running out of options," explained 10th year owner Vicki Emig. "We thought about Labor Day Weekend, but there's just too much going on in the region. The September 5 weekend is pretty open as there aren't any races for the Sprints or Modifieds in the region and the Mod Lites don't race anywhere on Friday so this will give fans and racers the opportunity for racing."
The weak cold front that was expected to move through late afternoon got hung up on the lakes and after a sunny day storm began firing all around Mercer Raceway Park late afternoon and continuing through early evening. The storms somehow missed the track allowing racing to go on, but eventually they closed in and the deluge began. After waiting over a half hour turn three was under water and more storms were building to the west. At that point the races were cancelled. The rain never did subside until midnight.
"There just isn't much you can say or do this year," stated Emig. "We've had some bad weather years and you never want to say it can't get any worse, but it sure has this year. Every single night has either rained out, delayed, or threatened by rain and every week you just keep thinking we'll get a nice Saturday but it just hasn't happened. Here we are heading to August without one night where there hasn't been a chance of rain all the way back to March 29. I want to thank all the fans, drivers, and our officials for their support during this very trying year. These nights are a no-win situation for anyone."
Before racing was rained out, heat winners in the Tire Express Modifieds over the season-high 20-car field were John Buchanan and Lonny Riggs. Jack Sodeman, Jr., Scott Bonnell, and Arnie Kent won the Luxaire Heating & Cooling Sprint Car heats over the season-high 24-car field. Rod Ort and Erin Statler won heat races over the 12-car field of PA 305 Sprints. Greenville, Pa. racers Andy Paden and Guy Griffin won the Limited Sprint Car heats over the 10-car field. Last week's winners in the Big Daddy's Speed Center Mod Lites, Alan Knepper and Rod Jones, won the heats races over the 18-car field. With rain falling, Bill Fuchs won the first M&D Paving Mini Stock heat with 16 cars on hand.
Coming up this Saturday, August 2 will be a full show of Luxaire Heating & Cooling Sprint Cars, Tire Express Modifieds, McElwain Motors FASTRAK Late Models, Big Daddy's Speed Center Mod Lites, and the Big Daddy's Speed Center Mod Lites plus the July 12 Sprint Car make-up feature. It's Free Shenango Valley Night (Sharon, Hermitage, West Middlesex, Sharpsville, Farrell, Wheatland) presented by Three Rivers Aggregates. It's the rescheduled "Racing for a Cure" - An American Cancer Society Benefit Night with free admission for cancer survivors. It's Trinity Living of Grove City Corp Night. They will be giving out autograph books for the "Meet Your Heroes" Autograph Night presented by Duke Whiting for PA State Representative 17th district.
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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