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GUIDACE'S DREAM SEASON CONTINUES WITH $2K T3 MOD WIN AT MERCER;
DELLINGER REPEATS $2,000 LITTLE GUY NAT'S STOCK WIN; JONES AGAIN IN
MOD LITES; BISH, SR. RETURNS TO WIN STRICTLIES
By Mike Leone
September 27, 2008 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Mercer, PA)
Mercer Raceway Park concluded the ninth annual "Little
Guy Nationals" presented by American Racer/Lias Tire on Saturday
night as 134 cars filled the pit area. Celebrating in the Hoosier
Tire victory lane were Frank Guidace-T3 All-Star Tire Express
Modifieds, Alan Dellinger-Stock Cars, Rod Jones-STAR's Championship
Tour Big Daddy's Speed Center Mod Lites, and Curt Bish, Sr.-Strictly
Stocks. Despite rain in the forecast all weekend, which has been the
story of 2008, rain stayed just to the east and south and didn't fall
until just minutes after the final checkered flag waved.
It's been a dream season for Frank Guidace. The 2006 Modified
Champion won his second title this season with two wins as well a
successful Late Model debut, which included that FASTRAK championship
too along with four wins. Saturday night, Guidace won his biggest
race of the season capturing the 30-lap, $2,000 to-win T3 All-Star
Modified Tire Express feature for his third Modified victory of 2008.
"This thing was on a rail from the beginning of the evening,"
acknowledged the Mercer, Pa. racer. "I really appreciate what
everyone did for me down in the pit area and Carlin Hine, Troyer
Chassis, and Shadow Racing Products. Troyer sponsors this series so
this is a big win for them. Troyer is a great car. I've done well
with this car. I have to take my hat off to my crew. We were in
line getting ready to go out and they started watering the track. I
backed out of the way and had them change the gear- definitely the
move of the race. I wouldn't be standing here if it wasn't for the
last practice. I had a vibration so I came down to shake it out for
this race. I found a broken yoke in the drive train and we would
have definitely broke that tonight."
2001 "Little Guy Nationals" winner, Mike Stine, drew the pole
position and raced to the early lead with Ray Bliss, Jr. and fourth
starting Guidace in tow. Following a restart with two laps
completed, Lonny Riggs passed both Gary Smoker and Guidace for
third. Stine continued to lead as the laps ticked off. By lap 10,
Stine entered lapped traffic with a half-straightaway lead. Guidace
got back into contention passing Riggs in traffic for third on lap 13
then one lap later went to the outside of Bliss in turn four in heavy
traffic to take second.
Three cautions slowed action between laps 14-19. Under the second
caution with 19 laps completed, Stine's left rear tire began losing
air. On the ensuing restart, Guidace took over. Stine would exit
the track on lap 21 as Bliss regained second. A nasty accident
occurred on lap 22 when Garrett Krummert got into the rear of Bliss.
The contact sent Krummert back across the track and ensued a 13-car
pile-up with Ron Cartwright, Jr. taking a nasty series of flips. All
of the drivers were okay, but the same couldn't be said for many of
the cars.
After the lengthy clean-up, the last nine laps went non-stop with
Guidace backing up his 2006 victory in the event. Guidace's seventh
overall win of the season, ninth in his career in the division, and
19th overall at the track came in his G&G Auto #1G. Bliss, a T3
regular, was second for his best ever Mercer finish. Eric Gabany was
third over 21st starting Jimmy Holden and last year's winner, Billy
VanPelt. Sixth through tenth were 18th starting Brad Rapp, 22nd
starting Bryan Terwilliger, Stine, Dale Welty, and Mike Turner. Heat
winners over the season-high 33-car field were Gabany, Guidace,
Bliss, and Stine. The two B mains went to Holden and
Terwilliger.
Alan Dellinger joined Rusty Wheeler as the only repeat winners of
the "Little Guy Nationals" after one of the most dominating
performances seen at the track in recent memory in the 40-lap, $2,000
to-win Stock Car feature. The win was Dellinger's landmark 40th of
his career at Mercer and also tied Brian Booher as the division's all-
time winner with 32 victories.
"I was trying to keep it as straight as possible," stated the
Hermitage, Pa. winner. "I was afraid I went a little soft on tires,
but when I caught Bobby Whitling I realized I was real good. I knew
what he had on and I knew I was real good then. I don't know where
second was at. I was just going as fast as I could every lap. If
you slow up then they start to push. You set them up all year to go
as fast as they can so if you slow up they don't work quite as good."
Carl Marcy led the first lap, while Dellinger started in sixth and
was up to third after the first circuit. Tim Thompson spun running
second on lap two and brought out the caution. When racing resumed,
Marcy was got sideways in turn two allowing Dellinger and 2004 winner
Shaun Hooks by for the top two spots. Marcy then got high on lap
three, which allowed Chris Haines to take third.
Martz's shot at a sweep of the weekend ended on lap four when he got
tangled up with Marcy, Jamie Barber, and Matt Keith. When racing
resumed, Haines took over second from Hooks. Four more cautions
slowed action between laps 8-17. After spinning in second, Thompson
had worked his way back to third only to suffer a flat tire, which
moved Rob Bates to third for the restart.
The final 23 laps would go non-stop as Dellinger showed just how
dominate the Steve Burns-owned, Penn-Ohio Contracting- sponsored #70B
is as he would lap all but the top three finishers as he took the
checkered flag by exactly 10 seconds before runner-up Haines crossed
the finish line.
Haines capped off a great weekend with a $1,000 payday for second
after finishing third on Friday night. Young Tim Bish passed Bates
on lap 26 to finish third and was the final car on the lead lap.
Dave Ferringer was able to get by Bates to finish fourth with Bates
dropping to fifth at the finish. Bobby Whitling was sixth and has
now made all of the "Little Guy Nationals" A mains except in 2006
when he won the B consolation feature. Hooks was seventh with Marcy,
Russ Stanke, and Willie Aley rounding out the top 10.
Along with Whitling, Hooks, Tony Bruno, and Willie and Mike Aley are
the only racers to compete in all nine "Little Guy Nationals".
Dellinger, Haines, Ferringer, Thompson, Bish, and Martz won the heats
over the 63-car field, while Mike Aley, Whitling, and Pat Crawford
won the B mains. A total of 78 different Stock Car competed between
the two days.
Despite being shutout of victory lane on the 2008 circuit, Gary
Little captured the 15-lap Stock Car B consolation feature. After
qualifying for the A feature in his first two appearances in
the "Little Guy Nationals," the Clearfield, Pa. racer overtook Sid
Haas at the start and held off Dale Yeaney to win $300 in his Littles
Drive-In Auto Sales/Jessica' s Sense of Style-sponsored #2*. Yeaney
started seventh and passed Dan Smeal on lap 14 to finish second.
Smeal was third over Russ Coyne and Joe Rohrer.
Making his first "Little Guy Nationals" appearance since 2003 when he
finished 19th in the C consolation feature, Stan Woomer picked up his
first ever Mercer checkered flag after capturing the 12-cap Stock Car
C consolation feature. The Warren, Ohio driver led all 12 laps in
his #2 and was only slowed by two cautions, which occurred on laps
two and three. Jamie Duncan, Tim Folmer, Josh Seippel, and Gary
Fisher completed the first five.
Rod Jones completed his second straight sweep of both days of
the "Little Guy Nationals" after out-dueling Mikey Hay for the second
straight night in the 25-lap Big Daddy's Speed Center Mod Lite
feature. Jones' ninth win of the season was worth a season-high
$1,000 in the event sponsored by Wedge Motorsports and gave him
$1,800 for the weekend.
"That was the most awesome race I've ever been in in one of these
cars," expressed the West Middlesex, Pa. racer. "I have to thank my
crew and all the guys at Jones Performance, my wife for being so
patient, and Mikey Hay for that awesome race. It's just so
exhilarating to race that close and know that the guy is not going to
touch you."
The caution-filled event was slowed nine times, but Jones and Hay put
on a show with five lead changes. Hay led the first two laps with
Jones leading laps three through nine. Hay got the lead back on lap
10 and held the spot until lap 14 when Jones regained the lead. Hay
wasn't done as he led laps 21 and 22 before Jones retook the lead for
good in turn one on lap 23. Jones' 19th career Mod Lite win came in
the Jones Performance #820 and was the 21st of his career overall at
Mercer.
The Strictly Stocks were back at Mercer for the first time since the
2006 "Little Guy Nationals". Curt Bish, Sr., who was the 2004 track
champion, became the fourth different winner of the event capturing
the 15-lap feature, which paid $150. "This is the first time this
year (winning), but this is my track Mercer; come catch me and beat
me here," stated the Oil City, Pa. driver.
Curt Bish, Jr. passed Greg Myers for the lead on lap five. Under
caution with eight laps completed, Bish, Jr. and Myers got together
twice with Myers receiving a flat tire and Bish, Jr. sent to the
tail. This gave the lead to Bish, Sr., who would go on to lead the
final seven laps for his 18th career Mercer win. Jeff Manners edged
his son Cody for second. Dave Bass was fourth over Joe Sloss.
T3 All-Star Tire Express (358) Modifieds (30 laps, $2,000): 1. FRANK
GUIDACE (1G) 2. Ray Bliss, Jr. (27z) 3. Eric Gabany (3E) 4. Jimmy
Holden (28H) 5. Billy VanPelt (White 2) 6. Brad Rapp (11R) 7.
Bryan Terwilliger (Wright 88m) 8. Mike Stine (7s) 9. Dale Welty
(Kennison 9x) 10. Mike Turner (96) 11. Mark Frankhouser (03) 12.
Ray Dann (6B) 13. Kevin Green (74) 14. Garrett Krummert (29) 15.
Gary Smoker (516) 16. Lonny Riggs (Black 58) 17. Ron Cartwright,
Jr. (2B) 18. Ron White (Gillett 5w) 19. Curt VanPelt (White 12)
20. John Buchanan (93) 21. Travis Shingledecker (73MD) 22. Tom
Holden (15H) 23. Rich Whitney (19w) 24. Tim Guild (06) 25. Jarred
Keeney (33) 26. Jeff Schaffer (4) DNQ: Dillon McElrath (7), Mark
Bailey (14B), Jim Turley (Hinkle 77), J.T. McKeenan (Keeney 832),
Rick Hall (B2), Joe Gibson (119), Marvin Williams (69w), Dave
Cogswell (8).
Stock Cars (40 laps, $2,000 to-win): 1. ALAN DELLINGER (Burns 70B)
2. Chris Haines (35H) 3. Tim Bish (1B) 4. Dave Ferringer (02) 5.
Rob Bates (99B) 6. Bobby Whitling (7w) 7. Shaun Hooks (65) 8. Carl
Marcy (1m) 9. Russ Stanke (44) 10. Willie Aley (9) 11. Jamie
Barber (13) 12. Rod Laskey (1R) 13. Tim Thompson (5T) 14. Randy
Wyant (11T) 15. Pat Crawford (7c) 16. Dale Yeaney (11Y) 17. Russ
Byler (06R) 18. Matt Keith (15K) 19. Bobby Heim (92) 20. Chad
Stevenson (21c) 21. Bob Rosman (48) 22. Mike Aley (99) 23. Rusty
Martz (16M) 24. Andy Buckley (965) 25. Rusty Wheeler (44)-DNS.
Stock Car B Consolation (15 laps, $300 to-win): 1. GARY LITTLE (2*)
2. Levi Ardery (18) 3. Dan Smeal (44) 4. Russ Coyne (8c) 5. Joe
Rohrer (RT 8) 6. Ken Zimmer (62) 7. Zachery Downes (33x) 8. Jim
Bendishaw, Jr. (69) 9. Leigh Wheeler (2w) 10. Tony Bruno (97) 11.
Jim McFadden (96) 12. Shaun Fawcett (224) 13. Dan Fedorchak (67)
14. Tim Burns (66) 15. Chris Edwards (037) 16. Cory McPherson
(J19) 17. Sid Haas (3) 18. Brent Johnston (14J) 19. Ray Reynolds
(23R) 20. Mike Gonzales (36) 21. Denny Crawford (75)-DNS 22. Adam
Fulton (4T)-DNS 23. Jason Reagle (Virgile 11V) 24. Tim Deutsch
(11D)-DNS.
Stock Car C Consolation (12 laps, $200 to-win): 1. STAN WOOMER (2)
2. Jamie Duncan (67J) 3. Tim Folmer (00) 4. Josh Seippel (84) 5.
Gary Fisher (99F) 6. Fred Casagni (8c) 7. Lee Hummel (41H) 8. Dick
Pascorell (87) 9. Bob Schwartzmiller (28s) 10. Nick Goss (80)-DNS
11. Dennis Wagner (12w)-DNS 12. Jim Wagner (8-ball)-DNS. DNQ: John
Watson (78), Denny Crawford (75)
Big Daddy's Speed Center Mod Lites (25 laps, $1,000 to-win): 1. ROD
JONES (820) 2. Mikey Hay (22) 3.Levi Spinneweber (10s) 4. Adam
Leslie (15) 5. Angie Grzelak (57) 6. Shawn Sliter (71) 7. Rick
Ament (27) 8. Richard Lawson (70x7) 9. J.J. Metheney (31c) 10.
Josh Sliter (17) 11. Bill Stivason (116) 12. Tim White (Carey 93)
13. Alan Knepper (1) 14. Kotie Kirkbride (97N) 15. Mark Marcucci
(8m) 16. Kenny Meadows (Salvino 31) 17. Todd Canter (Teague 9T)
18. Shane Pfeuffer (Lawson 40L) 19. Gene Buck (55) 20. George
Englert (11x) 21. Lynn Knepper (10) 22. Bud Watson (13) 23. John
Gerula, Jr. (54) 24. Tony Tatgenhorst (63) DNQ: Jamie Gilbert (53),
Lynn Bartlett (11), Josh Holtgraver (Flinner 75), Anthony Gillespie
(Smith 38).
Strictly Stocks (15 laps, $150 to-win): 1. CURT BISH, SR. (30) 2.
Jeff Manners (m16) 3. Cody Manners (16) 4. Dave Bass 5. Joe Sloss
(46s) 6. Jason Swartz (77s) 7. Jim Boring (45) 8. Curt Bish, Jr.
(00) 9. Eric Goldberg (714) 10. Greg Myers (43M).
Upcoming Events:
10/4 "Fall Brawl" presented by McElwain Motors Night 1 of the
$250,000 FASTRAK Grand Nationals ($2,000), Super Late Models
($2,000), E-Mods ($2,000), double Mini Stock features. Gates open at
3:30. Hot laps at 5 followed by FASTRAK time trials and heat racing
at 6 PM.
1/03 "Crashing Through the Snow" presented by Hovis Auto & Truck
Supply. "Jack Frost 150" Enduro ($150) & the Snowball Demo Derby
($500). Racing at 1 PM.
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 late morning and after 1:30 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.mercerracewaypa rk.com
for the latest.
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