From Mike Leone
Sprint Cars have had a long and rich history at Mercer Raceway Park. The class evolved from the Coupes in the early 1960s, to the Supermodifieds in the mid 60s, and finally into the cars fans have grown to love in the ensuing years. Throughout those years, many classes have come and gone, but the Sprint Cars remain and will continue to be a big part of the upcoming 2010 season.
The 59th anniversary season at Mercer Raceway Park will again feature the mudslinging, 900 horsepower 410 winged warriors on a weekly basis beginning on April 3 (pending the completion of the season opening “Chiller Thriller” on March 27) and continue through the final Sprint Car event on September 11.
This year, as is the case with the World of Outlaw and All Star Series and many of the winged 410 Sprint Car tracks in the country, Goodyear Tires will be required on the left and right rear tires at Mercer Raceway Park. Drivers will have two weeks before Goodyears will be required.
Mercer will be part of the Goodyear tire certificate program that will provide the track with two free tires per night to be given away to drivers that utilize Goodyears on all four wheel positions. The disbursement of the certificates will be at the track’s discretion; however, it is the track’s goal to first award these certificates to drivers that competed in at least 60% of the shows in 2009. This way the recipients will be competitors that showed the most support to Mercer.
The 16 drivers eligible in the first eight completed events will be Johnny Beaber, Tony Beaber, Chris Best, Carl Bowser, Jeremy Cook, Rod George, Jack Helget, Arnie Kent, Dan Kuriger, John McCracken, Jr., Gale Ruth, Jr., Gale Ruth, Sr., Chris Shuttleworth, Nate Stein, Jeff Taylor, and Eric Williams.
After the first eight completed shows, certificates will then be eligible to additional loyal competitors in 2010.
Also, the top three point drivers from 2009 (Rod George, Arnie Kent, and Carl Bowser) will receive a free front tire every five events regardless of what tire brand he utilized on the fronts.
“Tire debates have and will go on forever as everyone has their own opinion,” explained 12th year owner Vicki Emig. “Every program has its pros and cons and we know change is never easy. We didn’t want to have to make drivers buy different tires to race at Mercer so we felt it was important stay consistent with the majority of the rest of the country.”
The Sprint Cars are tentatively scheduled to compete in 20 events for the 2010 season with 35% of these nights featuring increased purses.
Mercer will be part of the DIRTcar Challenge Series, which will be a series of approximately 10 increased purse events at the four local speedways with a season-ending point fund. Those $2,000 to-win events are scheduled for Saturday, July 31 and Saturday, September 11 at Mercer. The July 31 event will also include the return of the ARDC Midget Cars with their first appearance in five years.
The “Auto Racers for Kids Charities” Sprint Car Series will take place on Saturday, August 28 with $3,000 going to the winner. There are also four additional events that will be $1,500 to-win.
The 2009 season was a strong one for the Sprint Car division with an average of 22 cars per night and 80 different ones competing. While Rod George captured his third straight championship and fourth in five seasons, drivers like Dan Kuriger and Carl Bowser had breakout years with two victories each. Kuriger’s were his first two career wins, while Bowser ended the year winning two of the last three races including the richest of his career in the Western PA Sprint Championship. Luxaire Heating & Cooling has been the Sprint Car divisional sponsor for eight of the past nine years.
Mercer Raceway Park is a 3/8-mile dirt track 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 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.mercerracewaypark.com for the latest. Go to www.twitter.com/mercerraceway or Mercer Raceway Park at www.facebook.com/mercerracewaypark to stay up to date. Text the word “MERCER” to 29222 for race event and special family and discounted promotions.