Dave Murdick Wins Modified Feature At Michael’s Mercer Raceway

MERCER, PA – On a beautiful early summer evening Michaels Mercer raceway completed the third event of the 71st anniversary season. Adam Kekich won his 11th mercer checkered in the 410 sprints , Jeremy Kornbau his 2nd in the 305 sprints, Dave Murdick his 10th big block mod win since 1994, Brian Schaffer his 10th career FASTRAK mod win and Andy Thompson his 8th career mini stock win. The entire program was completed by 11 pm.

3rd generation Adam Kekich dominated the non stop 25 lap 9 minute event winning by 5.631 over Dan Kuriger and Cody Bova. This was the first win for Kekich since the patriarch of the family and sprint car hall of famer Paul “putsy” Kekich passed away in February. “ this one’s dedicated to my grandpa he never missed a race since my go kart days .. I had a rough off season and tonight I felt back and I feel like me. This track is racey once it gets raced on more. We turned so many laps around this place it feels like home.. I didn’t know I had a 5 second lead I thought I was getting slower but it paid off!”
Dan Kuriger got around Bova for 2nd with AJ Flick 4th and Bob Felmlee 5th.

In the Racesaver 305 sprints there would be 5 separate yellows to slow the race at the start in the first 8 laps. A tangle in turn 2 almost ended things for Jeremy Kornbau as he tangled with 2 other cars in turn 2 but kept going and retained his position up front. Once things settled down Kornbau was never seriously challenged and went on to win by 3.275 over Vivian Jones. “I can finally believe that the 2nd win is easier..I see my tail rank has a dent and my arm got hit by the tire. Vivian (Jones) is hard to beat in clean air but it’s a great win for me.” Jimmy Morris was 3rd, Greg Dobrosky 4th and Tommy Jasen 5th.

The Big block modified feature started out with former emod standout Mike Kinney leading the first 2 laps over veteran Dave Murdick. Murdick took over on lap 3 as Kinney went high and lost ground. 4 time winner Brad Rapp would join them on lap 8 as Eric Martin slammed the wall in the front stretch bringing out the yellow. Murdick would take off again until a flat rear tire by Brad Rapp in turn 3 on lap 13 bunched up the field again. Rex King jr would battle Kinney until getting around him on lap 14 and would make his way up to the front and would start behind Murdick on a later restart. King then would dive low under Murdick sending him spinning around in turn 4 but never stopped but collected Mike Kinney sending Kinney to the pits. King jr then went pitside after the skirmish and Murdick would go in to pick up his 10th career win since 1994 subbing for Rick Regalski winning by .420 over Steve Barr. Kyle Fink finished 3rd Brian Deeter and John Venuto rounded out the top 5. Murdick stated “Rick (Regalski)had his surgery and couldn’t drive and he asked me to drive it. I got into King Jr. in the heat and I’m sorry about that…it is what it is. This is my favorite race track I’m glad to see it come around and it will get more grooves with alot of potential.”

In the FASTRAK modifieds Point leader Brian Schaffer continued his dominance capturing his 10th career FASTRAK mod feature from the outside pole position. Pat Lane would drive a great race holding off last weeks winner Jeff Schaffer Jr for 2nd. and Brandon Ritchey 4th. “Good way to start a season…winning 2 out of 3 not too bad!”




In the mini stock nightcapper point leader Andy Thompson would once again have to start from the middle of the pack and have 15 laps to get up front. 9 time winner Carl Ealy would be the early leader and would be the favorite to win again. A nasty crash occurred in turn 4 when Jared hull flipped violently rolling over at least 5 time destroying the car. Jared would be able to get out of the car on his own. On the restart Thompson who was making his way through the pack would over take Ealy and go on for his 3rd win in 3 events in 2022. “The ealy’s will give me all they have this year but we don’t give each other any slack. If you’re going to leave the high side open I’ll take it! There is so much bite out there it’s unbelievable you can race anywhere in the track.” Carl Ealy would finish .922 behind, Randy Ealy was 3rd, Trevn Schaffer 4th and Will Aley 5th.

Next week will be a regular show for our four divisions plus the 410 sprints are back for their third 3000 a win feature event along with autograph night.

Media Results for 6/11/2022 at Michaels Mercer Raceway – Mercer, PA

305 Sprints – Winged 15 Entries
A Feature 20 Laps
1. 27K-Jeremy Kornbau[2]; 2. 20M-Vivian Jones[4]; 3. 16-Jim Morris[8]; 4. 88-Greg Dobrosky[5]; 5. X7-Andy Cavanagh[6]; 6. 12G-Tommy Jasen[1]; 7. 82M-Roman Jones[9]; 8. 25-Jarrett Rosencrance[7]; 9. 17S-Shane Shook[15]; 10. 42-James Pattock[11]; 11. 3-John Jerich[10]; 12. H20-Michael Miller[13]; 13. 3X-Ryan Beatty[12]; 14. 4J-Jacob Gamola[3]; 15. 175Q-Glen Thomas[14]
Heat 1 8 Laps
1. 20M-Vivian Jones[6]; 2. 27K-Jeremy Kornbau[7]; 3. 88-Greg Dobrosky[5]; 4. 25-Jarrett Rosencrance[3]; 5. 82M-Roman Jones[2]; 6. 42-James Pattock[8]; 7. H20-Michael Miller[4]; 8. 17S-Shane Shook[1]
Heat 2 8 Laps
1. 4J-Jacob Gamola[1]; 2. 12G-Tommy Jasen[5]; 3. X7-Andy Cavanagh[7]; 4. 16-Jim Morris[6]; 5. 3-John Jerich[2]; 6. 3X-Ryan Beatty[3]; 7. 175Q-Glen Thomas[4]
Dirt Big Block Modifieds 11 Entries
A Feature 1 25 Laps
1. 96-Dave Murdick[1]; 2. 25B-Steve Barr[4]; 3. 6F-Kyle Fink[7]; 4. 17-Brad Deeter[8]; 5. 817-John Zvenuto[5]; 6. 9D-Josh Deems[11]; 7. 165-Rex King Jr[9]; 8. 20P-Mike Kinney[2]; 9. 11R-Brad Rapp[6]; 10. 29E-Eric Martin[3]; 11. 60-Tom Holden[10]
Heat 1 8 Laps
1. 11R-Brad Rapp[2]; 2. 20P-Mike Kinney[3]; 3. 25B-Steve Barr[5]; 4. 6F-Kyle Fink[4]; 5. 17-Brad Deeter[6]; 6. 60-Tom Holden[1]
Heat 2 8 Laps
1. 96-Dave Murdick[2]; 2. 29E-Eric Martin[4]; 3. 817-John Zvenuto[3]; 4. 9D-Josh Deems[5]; 5. 165-Rex King Jr[1]
MyRacePassPowered by MyRacePass6/12/2022 12:13AM CST
Media Results for 6/11/2022 at Michaels Mercer Raceway – Mercer, PA
Sport Compact 24 Entries
A Feature 1 15 Laps
1. 5-Andy Thompson[10]; 2. 7-Carl Ealy[2]; 3. 38-Randy Ealy[5]; 4. 10S-trevn schaffer[4]; 5. 9-William Aley[1]; 6. 64-Summer Pitts[9]; 7. 029-Ben Aley[7]; 8. 79-John McCraken[15]; 9. C4-Alex Claypoole[14]; 10. 02-Devin Haley[12]; 11. 33-Brianna Parker[18]; 12. 66M-Matt Miller[6]; 13. 16R-Jordan Reges[11]; 14. 27B-Nancy Boughner[19]; 15. 77S-Jason Swartz[17]; 16. 77-Braden Bice[3]; 17. 16-Jared Hall[23]; 18. 22D-Chuck Davis[8]; 19. 999-Adam Aley[20]; 20. 44B-Cody Blose[16]; 21. 00-Cole Miller[21]; 22. 17J-Mike Salsgiver[22]; 23. 325Z-Zack Swartz[13]; 24. 325K-Kristin Swartz[24]
Heat 1 6 Laps
1. 5-Andy Thompson[2]; 2. 9-William Aley[3]; 3. 66M-Matt Miller[1]; 4. 64-Summer Pitts[7]; 5. 325Z-Zack Swartz[5]; 6. 44B-Cody Blose[6]; 7. 27B-Nancy Boughner[4]; 8. 16-Jared Hall[8]
Heat 2 6 Laps
1. 77-Braden Bice[4]; 2. 10S-trevn schaffer[8]; 3. 029-Ben Aley[6]; 4. 16R-Jordan Reges[3]; 5. C4-Alex Claypoole[7]; 6. 77S-Jason Swartz[1]; 7. 999-Adam Aley[2]; 8. 17J-Mike Salsgiver[5]
Heat 3 6 Laps
1. 7-Carl Ealy[1]; 2. 38-Randy Ealy[3]; 3. 22D-Chuck Davis[2]; 4. 02-Devin Haley[6]; 5. 79-John McCraken[5]; 6. 33-Brianna Parker[4]; 7. 00-Cole Miller[7]; 8. 325K-Kristin Swartz[8]
MyRacePassPowered by MyRacePass6/12/2022 12:13AM CST
Media Results for 6/11/2022 at Michaels Mercer Raceway – Mercer, PA
Limited Modified 11 Entries
A Feature 1 20 Laps
1. 41-Brian Schaffer[2]; 2. 12L-Patrick Lane[3]; 3. 14-Jeff Schaffer Jr[6]; 4. 1R-Brandon Ritchey[8]; 5. 717-Bill Adams[5]; 6. 71-Gage Priester[4]; 7. 404-MIchael Kristyak[7]; 8. 93-Phill Kapcewich[9]; 9. 7-Scott Kay[10]; 10. 7P-Caden Petry[1]; 11. (DNS) 1M-Makayla Guidace
Heat 1 8 Laps
1. 7P-Caden Petry[1]; 2. 12L-Patrick Lane[6]; 3. 71-Gage Priester[5]; 4. 404-MIchael Kristyak[2]; 5. 93-Phill Kapcewich[4]; 6. 1M-Makayla Guidace[3]
Heat 2 8 Laps
1. 41-Brian Schaffer[4]; 2. 14-Jeff Schaffer Jr[2]; 3. 717-Bill Adams[1]; 4. 1R-Brandon Ritchey[3]; 5. 7-Scott Kay[5]
MyRacePassPowered by MyRacePass6/12/2022 12:13AM CST
Media Results for 6/11/2022 at Michaels Mercer Raceway – Mercer, PA
410 Sprints – Winged 13 Entries
A Feature 1 25 Laps
1. 5K-Adam Kekich[2]; 2. 08-Danny Kuriger[3]; 3. 20B-Cody Bova[1]; 4. 2-AJ Flick[4]; 5. 6-Bob Felmlee[5]; 6. 12-Corbin Gurley[8]; 7. 23JR-Jack Sodeman Jr[7]; 8. 29-Logan McCandless[9]; 9. 13-Brandon Matus[11]; 10. 38-Leyton Wagner[10]; 11. 33-Brent Matus[13]; 12. 86-Michael Lutz Jr[12]; 13. 18-Arnie Kent[6]
Heat 1 8 Laps
1. 2-AJ Flick[2]; 2. 5K-Adam Kekich[7]; 3. 6-Bob Felmlee[4]; 4. 23JR-Jack Sodeman Jr[3]; 5. 29-Logan McCandless[5]; 6. 13-Brandon Matus[1]; 7. 33-Brent Matus[6]
Heat 2 8 Laps
1. 08-Danny Kuriger[2]; 2. 20B-Cody Bova[3]; 3. 18-Arnie Kent[6]; 4. 12-Corbin Gurley[1]; 5. 38-Leyton Wagner[5]; 6. 86-Michael Lutz Jr[4]

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