Mercer Raceway Park Press Releases

KNIGHT CHARGES FROM 15TH TO WIN UFO LATE MODEL DEBUT AT MERCER; 21ST TO 1ST FOR WATSON IN E-MODS; LEWIS INHERITS STOCK WIN AFTER

Sat, Mar 27, 2010 -- "Chiller Thriller"
Written by: Mike Leone

Mercer Raceway Park opened the 59th anniversary season with a bang on Saturday night. The grandstands and pits were full of eager racers and fans as the 2010 western Pennsylvania racing season kicked off with the “Chiller Thriller”. Capturing wins were Mike Knight-UFo Super Late Models, Joel Watson-United E-Mod Series, Dan Lewis-open Stock Cars, and Kevin Kilgore-M&D Paving Mini Stocks.



Despite one of the snowiest winters on record and snow two nights prior, Saturday matched the earliest opener back to the inaugural “Chiller Thriller” on March 27, 2004. The track was in excellent condition allowing three and four-wide racing and drivers coming from the rear all night long.



Mike Knight won a race many fans won’t forget. Knight captured his first career Mercer victory charging from the 15th starting spot to win over talent-laden field in the “Mach 41” UFo Super Late Model feature worth $2.500. The race marked the 40th anniversary since Late Models first appeared at Mercer in 1970.



“That’s a heck of a way to get the year started,” exclaimed the Ripley, NY racer. “We’re pretty happy with that! I came from a long way back. It was tough and I had to work for it. I had a good car in the heat race, but the track was kind of one lane and hard to get by so we didn’t even change anything for the feature. I’m really happy for my guys- they worked their butts off to get ready. They all have full time jobs and they dedicate their time to me.”



Interesting enough the front row was made up of the last two Mercer Late Model winners with John Flinner, Jr. and John Mollick leading the field to green. Flinner raced out front to lead the opening lap with the duo running side-by-side on laps two and three with Mollick getting under the leader off turn two to lead the lap.



Dave Hess, Jr. quickly moved into contention. Despite starting 10th, Hess was up to third on lap five when he dropped Denton Boyer, who was making his first ever Mercer start, back to fourth. After 13 consecutive green flag laps, Doug Eck slowed to bring out the caution. When racing resumed, it was four-wide for second with Flinner the odd man out as Hess moved into second with eighth starting Gregg Satterlee third, and Knight now up to fourth.



Following the restart for a spin by Tim Burns, Knight grabbed second from Hess on lap 17. Knight ran down Mollick and the two ran side-by-side for the lead on lap 21 and 22. Knight pressured Mollick on the bottom, but Mollick had just enough to hold on to the lead. With Mollick and Knight battling, Hess and Satterlee joined in making it a four-car race for the lead on lap 23. Knight and Mollick again ran side-by-side on laps 25 and 26 before a caution for Clate Copeman with 26 laps completed.



When racing resumed, it was three-wide for the lead as Knight took over the top spot on lap 27. Satterlee then grabbed third from Hess, while 12th starting Chad Valone quietly snuck into contention moving into the top five on lap 28. One lap later, Valone took fourth from Hess. Valone then made a great move with a three-wide pass on lap 31 to jump into second past Satterlee and Mollick.



Valone had one restart with a shot at Knight, but Knight was too much in his Jay’s Auto Wrecking/Key Pointe Realty/Keystone Alliance Insurance-sponsored #9K. Valone’s runner-up finish was his best ever at Mercer. Hess held on to third. Kevin Barbara, who started 18th, got around Mollick on lap 38 to finish fourth. Mollick dropped to fifth. Sixth through tenth were Satterlee, Flinner, John Garvin, Jr., Chad McClellan, and Jim Kutas. Heat winners over the 28-car field were Dave Murdick, Greg Oakes, and Flinner. Kutas won the B main in his first ever Mercer appearance.



If 15th to 1st wasn’t good enough for the fans, Joel Watson was able to top that coming all the way from the 21st starting spot to win the 25-lap United E-Mod Series opener worth $1,000. “When I moved into fifth or sixth I was thinking this is a miracle,” described the Conneaut, Ohio driver. “As good as my car was, I knew they were in trouble. It didn’t matter where they let me run I was going to pass them. It ain’t all that often you get a car that good when there is money on the line- I’ll take it when I get it.”



Tim Peterson led the opening lap until Randy Hall made the move for the lead on lap two with Rich Michael, Jr. following. Fifth starting Dave Hess, Jr. grabbed third from Peterson on lap three. Hess inherited second when Michael spun with seven laps completed. When racing resumed, Hess was able to lead the ensuing lap as he snuck past Hall on the outside of turn four brushing the frontstretch wall.



Watson worked his way to the front as he took third from Peterson on lap 14 then ducked under Hall for second on lap 20 before a caution for Kari Gasser. Watson made the winning move driving under and by Hess in turn four on lap 21 and survived three restarts in the final three laps for his second career win in the Derrick Cooper-owned #92. The win may have been bittersweet as Watson had to be pushed to victory lane with a possible blown motor.



On lap 24, Hess slipped off the track allowing Brent Rhebergen and Carl McKinney by for second and third. Rhebergen edged McKinney for the runner-up spot after restarting from the tail on lap six. Hess and Hall dropped to fourth and fifth respectively. Justin Carlson, Mike Knight, Tim Engles, Michael, and Greg Johnson rounded out the top 10. Heat winners over the 25-car field were Michael, Peterson, and Hall.



Dan Lewis was awarded the 25-lap Stock Car win after Greg Fenno failed a post-race tech inspection. Fenno and Lewis put on an excellent side-by-side clean race over the event’s last 18 laps. Lewis’ victory was the fifth of his career at Mercer with ironically three of them being $1,000 to-win races.



Mike Duritsky charged into the lead at the start. Fenno, who started fourth, passed Matt Lozowski for third on lap one then advanced to second past Chris Schneider on lap three. A three-wide battle for the lead on lap four allowed Chris Schneider to take over the top spot with Fenno and Lewis to second and third.



Following a caution with four laps completed, Fenno took the lead away from Schneider. Lewis then moved to second on lap seven dropping Schneider to third. One lap later, Schneider exited the event, which moved Duritsky back to third.



Lewis and Fenno battled hard for the lead. The two ran side-by-side on laps 14 and 15 with Lewis nudging ahead to lead the 15th circuit, but Fenno inched back ahead at the line to lead lap 16. Lewis was all over Fenno once again on lap 21 and the two ran side-by-side on lap 22. Fenno finally broke away by a couple car lengths in the following laps, but Lewis was right there and made one last ditch effort entering turn three and through turn four, but Fenno had just enough for the apparent win by a car-length.



Fenno’s win was stripped in post race tech due to the fact he had a non-approved carburetor for the spec “358” weight class he had claimed, which meant he was light for the open weight class. Lewis’ win came in his #64 and was his first at Mercer since his preliminary night “Little Guy Nationals” win on September 28, 2007.



After starting eighth, Chris Haines was credited with second. Russ Coyne had a great running coming from 12th to place third. Duritsky dropped to fourth with Shaun Hooks coming from the tail to finish fifth. Sixth through tenth were Levi Ardery, Rod Laskey, Ken Zimmer, John Kinsey, and Jamie Price. Topping the heat races over the 32-car field were Price, Lewis, Martz, and Duritsky. Ardery and Zimmer won the two B mains.



Kevin Kilgore ended the 2009 season as the “Warlock 30” winner after subbing for his son Cory and opened the year winning the “Chiller Thriller” for Mini Stocks once again subbing for his son. Kilgore’s 15-lap win was worth $100. “Usually it’s my boy running it, but he had to work tonight so I got lucky tonight,” explained the Kittanning, PA driver. “We’re going to run here all year. This car really seems to run good here.”



Kilgore drew the pole position and went out and led the entire way. His only real challenge was from 2008 track champion Dillon Kineston. Kineston started seventh and was up to second past Shawn Hadden on lap two. Kineston was all over Kilgore in the closing laps and nearly got by in lapped traffic at the finish. Kilgore had just enough to hold on in the Smith’s Auto Sales #0.



Kineston was disqualified in post-race tech for illegal heads, which moved Hadden to second. John Shannon was third. Defending champion Jamey Lee raced from 12th to finish fourth in a race that had just two cautions- both coming in the first lap. Jerry Batcher was fifth. Lucas Miller of Andolsheim, France drove Carlos Aponte’s #1 to an eighth place finish in his first ever Mercer start. Heat victors over the 21-car field were Batcher and Kilgore.






UFO Super Late Models (41 laps, $2,500 to-win): 1. MIKE KNIGHT (9K) 2. Chad Valone (2V) 3. Dave Hess, Jr. (44) 4. Keith Barbara (17) 5. John Mollick (4J) 6. Gregg Satterlee (22) 7. John Flinner, Jr. (48) 8. John Garvin, Jr. (J4) 9. Chad McClellan (119) 10. Jim Kutas (Settie S1) 11. Denton Boyer (56) 12. Greg Oakes (22) 13. Tom Decker, Jr. (43) 14. Dwayne Pond (Bidwell B1D) 15. Jared Miley (H1) 16. Ron Davies (Schwartz 17D) 17. Tim Burns (*2B) 18. Tony Musolino (21) 19. Clate Copeman (28c) 20. Tommy Beck (91) 21. Dereck Frank (16*) 22. Jim Stephens (38) 23. Dave Murdick (Peterman 1) 24. Doug Eck (03) DNQ: Justin Kreider (29), Ben Porter (16B), Dennis Lunger, Jr. (Schwartz 17L), Ray Kroll, Sr. (15).



United E-Mod Series (25 laps, $1,000 to-win): 1. JOEL WATSON (Cooper 92) 2. Brent Rhebergen (Suppa 4s) 3. Carl McKinney (Hendrickson 6M) 4. Dave Hess, Jr. (44H) 5. Randy Hall (10) 6. Justin Carlson (16) 7. Mike Knight (Clinger *222) 8. Tim Engles (68) 9. Rich Michael, Jr. (17x) 10. Greg Johnson (05) 11. Dave Atkinson (30) 12. Kari Gasser (0K) 13. Craig Bedell (44) 14. Tim Peterson (07P) 15. Jordan Eck (20) 16. Nick Cramer (18c) 17. Mike Eschrich (9E) 18. Vic Vena (01) 19. Rich Gardner (Clinger 222) 20. Howard Fraley (17) 21. Dan Davies (71D) 22. T.J. Downs (03) 23. Clayton Kennedy (9) 24. Shane Crotty (4) 25. Darren Tarabori (6)-DNS.



Big Daddy's Speed Center Stock Cars (25 laps, $1,000 to-win): 1. DAN LEWIS (64) 2. Chris Haines (35H) 3. Russ Coyne (8c) 4. Mike Duritsky (90) 5. Shaun Hooks (Janovick 65) 6. Levi Ardery (27) 7. Rod Laskey (Sloss 44s) 8. Ken Zimmer (62) 9. John Kinsey (27J) 10. Jamie Price (137) 11. Chris Withers (21W) 12. Dwight Boice (528) 13. Bill Lanigan (142) 14. Dan McEwen (44M) 15. Matt Lozowski (7) 16. Jason Johns (31) 17. Josh Seippel (84) 18. Tim Deutsch (11D) 19. Steve D’Apolito (84) 20. Chris Schneider (55) 21. Rusty Wheeler (Howell 5RT) 22. Rusty Martz (16M) 23. Dave Ferringer (02) 24. Greg Fenno (71)-DSQ 25. Tim Bish (1B)-DNS DNQ: Jason Fosnaught (Seitz J19), Dale Yeaney (21Y), Shaun Fawcett (224), Russ Byler (06R), Matt Wagner (12), Brandon Johnston (14J), Kevin Hill (98.



M&D Paving Mini Stocks (15 laps, $100 to-win): 1. KEVIN KILGORE (0) 2. Shawn Hadden (3H) 3. John Shannon (14) 4. Jamey Lee (44J) 5. Jerry Batcher (Blazczak 7) 6. Dan Bish (4x) 7. Ed Haylett (8-ball) 8. Lucas Miller (Aponte 1) 9. Brad Shaffer (17) 10. Cory Eckels (5) 11. Doug Ehrenberg (D57) 12. Pete Blazczak (77) 13. Troy Lehnortt (46) 14. Wally Stearns, Jr. (33) 15. Matt McNany (141) 16. Adam Pletcher (13) 17. Randy Sprouse (23s) 18. Zach Hawk (47) 19. Lucas Sprouse (24s) 20. Dillon Kineston (19)-DSQ 21. Tim Callahan (54)-DNS.