From Mercer Raceway Park
Mercer, PA — (May 10, 2014) — Just 24 hours earlier, Jac Haudenschild chased Lee Jacobs to the finish of the All Stars Circuit of Champions, but, at Mercer Raceway Park, it was the Wild Child who was humming the refrain from “Catch me if you can” from the drop of the green. While Jacobs turned in another impressive performance, he was unable to close the gap on the streaking white machine wrenched by Scott Benic, son of Mercer’s Track Manager, Frank Benic.
Michael Bauer captured his second straight win in the Bonnell’s Rod Shop Outlaw Sprint Warriors. It was his third in four tries this season. Tim Bish outdistanced Trusty Rusty Moore to capture the Precise Racing Products Open Stocks. Jeff Teeters took the nightcap for the Rock Concrete Modified Lites.
“I think we’re going to have a good year, you know, we’ve been up and down a little bit,” Haudenschild said. While it may have looked ewasy to some, Haudenschild denied it in victory lane. “It wasn’t easy, the Jacobs boys ran really good here and Lee’s coming really fast,” the happy winner added. Haudenschild was relieved to see that final caution because he was in heavy traffic at the time. “The lapped traffic is really tough here, you’re in it really quick and there are a lot of cars.”
Haudenchild put himself in position for the win by taking second in his heat and, then, winning the dash. That put him on the pole for the thirty lapper presented by Bonnell’s Rod Shop. To his outside was Trey Gustin. Lee jacobs and Cole Duncan occupied row two, with Rod George and Dean Jacobs in row three.
Haudenschild powered off turn four with the lead, but Lee Jacobs slipped past Gustin to take second. Haudenschild began to open up a comfortable lead when track favorite Rod George spun in turn two with just four laps in the books. George was racing in the top ten at the time.
On the restart, Haudenschild jumped out to a five car length lead, and he stretched his advantage in the 21 lap green flag run. During this stretch, Dean Jacobs started to press his nephew, Lee, for second. Danny Holtgraver advanced to fourth, and he was trying to close in on the Jacobs duo, while Gustin held his own in fifth.
Unfortunately, Holtgraver’s bid for a podium finish ended in turn one on lap 25, when he popped the right rear tire. At the same time as Holtgraver came to a stop, so did Scott Priester at the opposite end of the speedway. Priester, however, lost the left rear wheel entirely. Holtgraver was able to duck into the pits for a new shoe, but Priester was finished for the night.
That set up a five lap dash to the finish. Haudenschild had a lapped car separating him from second place runner Lee Jacobs. Dean Jacobs was still on his tail, but several more lapped cars were placed before Dale Blaney and others still on the lead lap.
Haudenschild sped away at the drop of the green and completed the final five rounds without incident. Lee Jacobs led his uncle Dean to the wire for second. Dale Blaney was fourth at the finish, with Ed Lynch, Jr. logging his first top five run of the season. It was only his second outing of the season.
Tim Shaffer hustled to the sixth spot, just ahead of the fading Gustin. Chad Kemenah, Cole Duncan, and Caleb Helms rounded out the top ten.
The evening’s fastest qualifier was Dale Blaney, who was relegated to eleventh on the grid because he did not start his heat race.
Heat winners were Dean Jacobs, Lee Jacobs, and Rod George. The dash winner was Jac Haudenschild. There was no B Main.
Michael Bauer showed the poise of a veteran in his Bonnell’s Rod Shops Outlaw Sprint Warrior, patiently working his way to the lead with 14 laps in the books. He chased down Greg Dobrosky, who was carrying new colors on his machine. The current livery is a tribute to the late Smokey Snellbaker back in the days when he drove for Roy Morrall in the 880. Dobrosky “was gone, and I found some grip up on the top and started working up there,” Bauer said.
Dobrosky rode home second. C.J. Jones brought his brand new machine to third, after destroying his other car two weeks ago in hot laps. George Hobaugh continued his impressive rookie season in the bigger cars, earning fourth. Cody Bova, another neophyte, crossed in fifth.
Andy Feil raced in sixth, with Jimmy Morris, Eric L. WIlliams, Mike Marano, II, and rookie Clay Riney completing top ten.
The Outlaw Sprint Warriors heat winners were Jimmy Morris and Andy Feil.
Tim Bish scored in the Precise Racing Products Stocks, operating under the Open Stock rules. Rusty Moore, three-time and defending track champion hounded him most of the way, but the crafty veteran had nothing for Bish. Curtis J. Bish was third, with Rob Shook and Bill Hurrelbrink next across the line.
Bobby Heim made his first run of the season a good one, taking sixth. Points leader Pat Fielding was seventh, with Brett McDonald, Bob Schwartzmiller, and Ryan Moyer in positions eight through ten.
The preliminaries of the Open Stocks belonged to Tim Burns and Fielding. Burns was eliminated early in the feature due to crash damage sustained in a multi-car tangle in between turns three and four.
Jeff Teeters made it to the front of the field in just five laps, aided by several cautions in the Rock Concrete Modified Lite feature. He led the remaining ten laps to the checkers. Mark Marcucci made the pass for second on the restart, but he could not reel in the speedy Teeters. Big George Englert took third, with Jason Darocha and Jacob Bova fourth and fifth.
Defending champion Shane Pfeuffer rebounded for sixth after two spins. Chris Frank, Mike Flockerzi, Shane Webb, and Josh Deems were the remaining finishers in the top ten.
The Modified Lite heat winners were Jeff Teeters and George Englert.
Saturday Night Live! racing will return on May 17. That will be Twin State Auto Racing Club Night, so all members in good standing will be admitted to the grandstands free of charge. On May 24, the Buckeye Machine Buckeye Outlaw Sprint Series will be in for a special night of Sprint Car racing without the wings! The next day, Mercer Raceway Park will host the All American Spring Nationals truck and tractor pulling event, presented by R & F Sales. There will be a rain date for the pull on May 26.
All Stars Circuit of Champions/Luxaire Heating & Cooling/McCrudden Heating & Supply Sprint Car Qualifying – Kistler Engines: 1. 14K-Dale Blaney, 13.558; 2. 10H-Danny Holtgraver, 13.585; 3. 9W-Jac Haudenschild, 13.666; 4. 15-Scott Priester, 13.738; 5. 2L-Ed Lynch Jr., 13.832; 6. 40-Caleb Helms, 13.888; 7. 97-Dean Jacobs, 13.958; 8. 81-Lee Jacobs, 13.959; 9. 23JR-Jack Sodeman Jr., 14.015; 10. 80-Trey Gustin, 14.021; 11. 49-Cole Duncan, 14.026; 12. 8-Rod George, 14.036; 13. 63-Chad Kemenah, 14.051; 14. 5K-Adam Kekich, 14.057; 15. 57X-Andrew Palker, 14.117; 16. 45-Tim Shaffer, 14.146; 17. 10-Carl Bowser, 14.185; 18. 56-Ralph Spithaler, 14.280; 19. O8-Dan Kuriger, 14.283; 20. 13-Brandon Matus, 14.303; 21. 38-Dennis Wagner, 14.378; 22. 49H-Brad Howard, 14.603; 23. 33-Brent Matus, 14.928; 24. 2S-Francis Sesco, 14.931; 25. 7-Eric Williams, 99.999
Heat 1 – Kears Speed Shop (8 Laps – Top 9 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 97-Dean Jacobs[2] ; 2. 80-Trey Gustin[1] ; 3. 45-Tim Shaffer[6] ; 4. 15-Scott Priester[3] ; 5. 63-Chad Kemenah[5] ; 6. O8-Dan Kuriger[7] ; 7. 49H-Brad Howard[8] ; 8. 7-Eric Williams[9] ; 9. 14K-Dale Blaney[4]
Heat 2 – All Pro Aluminum Heads (8 Laps – Top 9 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 81-Lee Jacobs[2] ; 2. 49-Cole Duncan[1] ; 3. 10H-Danny Holtgraver[4] ; 4. 2L-Ed Lynch Jr.[3] ; 5. 10-Carl Bowser[6] ; 6. 13-Brandon Matus[7] ; 7. 5K-Adam Kekich[5] ; 8. 33-Brent Matus[8]
Heat 3 – Dragon Race Fuel (8 Laps – Top 9 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 8-Rod George[1] ; 2. 9W-Jac Haudenschild[4] ; 3. 23JR-Jack Sodeman Jr.[2] ; 4. 40-Caleb Helms[3] ; 5. 57X-Andrew Palker[5] ; 6. 56-Ralph Spithaler[6] ; 7. 2S-Francis Sesco[8] ; 8. 38-Dennis Wagner[7]
Dash – UNOH (6 Laps, finishing order determined first 6 starting positions of A-feature
1. 9W-Jac Haudenschild[1] ; 2. 80-Trey Gustin[2] ; 3. 81-Lee Jacobs[4] ; 4. 49-Cole Duncan[3] ; 5. 8-Rod George[5] ; 6. 97-Dean Jacobs[6]
A-Main – University of Northwestern Ohio (30 Laps): 1. 9W-Jac Haudenschild[1]; 2. 81-Lee Jacobs[3]; 3. 97-Dean Jacobs[6]; 4. 14K-Dale Blaney[11]; 5. 2L-Ed Lynch Jr.[9]; 6. 45-Tim Shaffer[16]; 7. 80-Trey Gustin[2]; 8. 63-Chad Kemenah[13]; 9. 49-Cole Duncan[4]; 10. 40-Caleb Helms[10]; 11. 23JR-Jack Sodeman Jr.[12]; 12. O8-Dan Kuriger[19]; 13. 5K-Adam Kekich[14]; 14. 13-Brandon Matus[20]; 15. 10H-Danny Holtgraver[7]; 16. 57X-Andrew Palker[15]; 17. 8-Rod George[5]; 18. 56-Ralph Spithaler[18]; 19. 7-Eric Williams[25]; 20. 49H-Brad Howard[22]; 21. 2S-Francis Sesco[24]; 22. 38-Dennis Wagner[21]; 23. 33-Brent Matus[23]; 24. 15-Scott Priester[8]; 25. 10-Carl Bowser[17]
Hard Charger: 45-Tim Shaffer[+10]
Bonnell’s Rod Shop Outlaw Sprint Warriors: Michael Bauer, Greg Dobrosky, C.J. Jones, George Hobaugh, Cody Bova, Andy Feil, Jimmy Morris, Eric L. WIlliams, Mike Marano, II, Clay Riney, Devin Litwiler, Alex Paden, Chad matthews, Kotie Kirkbride, Sye Lynch, Evan Kornbau, Darren Pifer, Cody Braden (DNS).
Precise Racing Products Open Stocks: Tim Bish, Rusty Moore, Curtis J. Bish, Rob Shook, Bill Hurrelbrink, Bobby Heim, Pat Fielding, Brett McDonald, Bob Schwartzmiller, Ryan Moyer, Jesse Brock, Leigh Wheeler, Gary Miller, Jr., Tim Burns, Troy DeZarn, Mike Harmon.
Rock Concrete Modified Lites: Jeff Teeters, Mark Marcucci, George Englert, Jason Darocha, Jacob Bova, Shane Pfeuffer, Chris Frank, Mike Flockerzi, Shane Webb, Josh Deems, Tim Prelog, Don Cain, Preston Roach, Cory Webb, Darrin Gallagher.