On a special Friday night under the lights, Michaels’ Mercer Raceway Park, presented by Sunbelt Rentals and Erme’s Distributing, was blessed with a beautiful late-summer evening. Seven divisions were on tap for the night, with 125 cars in the pits. Brandon Spithaler won his 14th career 410 Sprint feature; Jeremy Kornbau recorded his 13th career Mercer Mercantile IMCA RaceSaver 305 Sprint feature; Logan Lewis captured the $2,000-to-win Mark Marcucci Tribute for the Mod Lites; John Mollick continued his winning ways, picking up his third career RUSH Sprint Car feature; Karston King picked up his second career Mercer Top Shelf Trucking DIRT 602 Crate Sportsman Modified feature; Skylar Cline won the 270cc Micro Sprint feature; and Dave Hanshaw Jr. won the Crown Vic event.
Brandon Spithaler would lead flag-to-flag in the non-stop, 8:56, 25-lap 410 Sprint feature, winning his seventh of the year and his 14th career Mercer checkered flag. Jeremy Kornbau, driving the Barris #32, would try to keep up, getting within .507 seconds on lap 12, but at the end he would be 6.5 seconds behind. Brandon Matus would finish third, Dan Kuriger fourth after starting 11th, and Tri-City champion Bob Felmlee fifth. Spithaler would say, “I felt good early, and I was really good in the middle. Once the track cleaned up, I got really good up top. We set it up pretty tight at the beginning, but it came to us after the halfway point. This is our seventh win of the year, and we have given at least five away, but we are hitting our stride now!”
Mercer Raceway Fri night -Kole Esterly photo
The Mercer Mercantile IMCA RaceSaver 305 Sprints came down to a two-lap shootout, as young Aaron Marano would drive the race of his life, taking off from the pole position and leading the first 19 laps over Jeremy Kornbau and Jarrett Rosencrance. A spin on lap 18 would bunch up the field, and on the restart, Kornbau would move side-by-side with Marano, eventually getting around him and winning by .673 seconds. In the post-race inspection, Marano was disqualified for a parts violation, resulting in Rosencrance finishing second. Vivian Jones would move up five spots to finish third, while Mile Mathieson and Brett Brunkenhoefer would round out the top five. Kornbau would say, “Aaron and Jarrett were running good, and we were 1-2-3. I knew I could hit it hard with the water down there, and then I got around Jarrett after he hit some water down there. Then the yellow came out, and both were good in clean air. But Marano left the bottom open, and I chose the top. He left the lane open a little bit, so I took it!”
Twenty-two Mod Lite drivers would start in the $2,000-to-win “Mark Marcucci Tribute” race, honoring the driver following his untimely death a few years ago. Marcucci won 41 features at Mercer and four track championships. Last week’s second-place finisher, Carson Hubbard from Fredericktown, Ohio, would be the early leader in the race, with Salem, Ohio’s Logan Lewis behind him the entire time. On lap 10, Lewis would get around Hubbard and drive away, winning by .981 seconds in the non-stop, 8:17, 20-lap feature event. Lewis would say, “That was a lot of fun! This track was unbelievable and racy top to bottom! I wanted to win this race for Mark, and if you told me I would win the race as my last race, I would be happy! I could care less about the $2,000. Thank you to Vivian and the Marcucci family and Mercer for putting this on!” Shayne Meadows would fall from his pole position to finish third. Canada’s Sean Iftody would move up four spots to finish fourth, and Jake Bowman would finish fifth.
crate modified feature at Mercer Raceway Fri night -Kole Esterly photo
An exciting finish came in the Top Shelf DIRT 602 Crate Sportsman Modified feature, as early leader Pat Lane took the lead from the pole and did a great job holding off the rest of the field. Lane was looking to pick up his fourth career win, but on lap four he hit the inside dirt barrier in turn three and got upside down. He was OK but done for the night. This put three-time track champion Brian Schaffer on the pole, looking to pick up his first win in the division since 2023. But young Karston King would get around the veteran on lap 13 and pull away to a 3.162-second lead at the finish, garnering his second win at Mercer. Schaffer would finish second, while defending track champion Caden Petry would move up two spots at the finish to take third. Logan Lockhart would move up two spots to finish fourth, and Anthony Antus would finish fifth.
feature at Mercer Raceway Fri night -Kole Esterly photo
John Mollick continues to be one of the two people dominating the RUSH Sprint Car Series this year, picking up his second win of the year at Mercer in a flag-to-flag victory in the 6:22 feature. Logan Lockhart would finish second, with the closest he was able to come being .968 seconds on lap 13. Gale Ruth Jr. would finish third, Grayson Bale fourth, and Ashton Riggle, who started 10th, would end up fifth. “It’s a lot of fun here,” said Mollick. “It’s crazy how this track changes, but it’s super smooth. You can run anywhere. They have done a heck of a job. To buy a complete motor is about $10,000, and a car is about $5,000-$7,000, and everybody’s in the same stuff.”
Millersburg, Ohio’s Skylar Cline drove past his home speedway and came three hours Northeast to pick up his first 270 Micro Sprint win at Mercer over a giant field of 28 cars. Cline passed leader Matt Haefke on lap four to take the 1.5-second win. Parker Lucas, Dustin Young, and Mason McAndrew would put on an exciting battle behind them to finish third, fourth, and fifth, respectively. Skylar would say, “Everyone’s been dying to race here, and we can’t thank Mercer enough for allowing us to run! I have to thank all the guys who came here tonight. This is an affordable class and is easy to work with, and I came from motocross, so this is a great class!”
Dave Hanshaw Jr. would take the lead on a restart from two-time Raceway 7 winner Branden Porter on lap eight to win his first career Crown Vic feature event. Porter had an eight-second lead on the field before a yellow flag would bunch up the field. Brad Shaffer, Bryan Kreps, and Mark Lawrence would round out the top five. Dave would say, “This is all Tim Deutsch! He put me in this car! Branden is fast, and we follow him all over the place! We came out here to do this for Dave Bass, who passed away. You can get into a car for about $5,000, and these are awesome.” Mercer will be hosting a car cruise August 29th and back to racing action on September 5, marking the first time in years that the track will be off on a Labor Day weekend. The regular three divisions, along with the Mod Lites, 270 Micro Sprints, and Crown Vics, will return.
Mercer Mercantile Racesaver 305 Sprints 11 Entries A Feature 1 20 Laps | 00:11:25.435 1. 27K-Jeremy Kornbau[4]; 2. 25-Jarrett Rosencrance[2]; 3. 20M-Vivian Jones[8]; 4. 72-Mike Mathieson[3]; 5. 47-Brett Brunkenhoefer[6]; 6. 30-Jazlyn Boyles[7]; 7. 13-Rocco Capelli[11]; 8. 21N-Samantha Priest[9]; 9. 17S-Mike Schellhaas[10]; 10. 12G-Tommy Jasen[5]; 11. (DQ) 34M-Aaron Marano[1] Heat 1 8 Laps | 00:02:04.648 1. 47-Brett Brunkenhoefer[1]; 2. 12G-Tommy Jasen[4]; 3. 25-Jarrett Rosencrance[6]; 4. 30-Jazlyn Boyles[2]; 5. 21N-Samantha Priest[3]; 6. 13-Rocco Capelli[5] Heat 2 8 Laps | 00:02:01.813 1. 72-Mike Mathieson[1]; 2. 34M-Aaron Marano[2]; 3. 27K-Jeremy Kornbau[5]; 4. 20M-Vivian Jones[3]; 5. 17S-Mike Schellhaas[4]
DIRT 602 Crate Sportsman Top Shelf Trucking 20 Entries A Feature 1 20 Laps | 00:15:32.387 1. 165K-Karston King[3]; 2. 41-Brian Schaffer[2]; 3. 7P-Caden Petry[5]; 4. 58-Logen Lockhart[6]; 5. 29A-Anthony Antus[4]; 6. 3E-Eric Gabany[9]; 7. 717-Bill Adams[7]; 8. 23-Darin Gallagher[12]; 9. JD57-Jordan Ehrenberg[10]; 10. 71-Gage Priester[8]; 11. 29-Cole Edwards[13]; 12. 28J-Jacob Jordan[14]; 13. 10S-Trevn Schaffer[15]; 14. 1R-Brandon Ritchey[16]; 15. 51R-Thomas Rodgers[19]; 16. 12*-Troy Pinch[20]; 17. 22-Kyle Hanshaw[17]; 18. 93-Phil Kapcewich[18]; 19. 12L-Patrick Lane[1]; 20. 21X-Ryan Riffe[11] Heat 1 | 00:02:20.828 1. 717-Bill Adams[1]; 2. 7P-Caden Petry[3]; 3. 41-Brian Schaffer[5]; 4. JD57-Jordan Ehrenberg[4]; 5. 29-Cole Edwards[7]; 6. 1R-Brandon Ritchey[6]; 7. 51R-Thomas Rodgers[2] Heat 2 | 00:02:17.783 1. 3E-Eric Gabany[1]; 2. 29A-Anthony Antus[6]; 3. 71-Gage Priester[2]; 4. 21X-Ryan Riffe[3]; 5. 28J-Jacob Jordan[4]; 6. 22-Kyle Hanshaw[5]; 7. 12*-Troy Pinch[7] Heat 3 | 00:02:19.333 1. 12L-Patrick Lane[2]; 2. 58-Logen Lockhart[4]; 3. 165K-Karston King[3]; 4. 23-Darin Gallagher[5]; 5. 10S-Trevn Schaffer[1]; 6. 93-Phil Kapcewich[6]
410 Sprints – Winged 21 Entries A Feature 1 25 Laps | 00:08:44.261 1. 22-Brandon Spithaler[2]; 2. 32B-Jeremy Kornbau[3]; 3. 13-Brandon Matus[1]; 4. 08-Danny Kuriger[13]; 5. 6-Bob Felmlee[6]; 6. 5K-Adam Kekich[5]; 7. 3J-Jacob Begenwald[8]; 8. 23JR-Jack Sodeman Jr[14]; 9. 46-Michael Bauer[7]; 10. 5-Jeremy Weaver[11]; 11. 3-John Jerich[16]; 12. 86-Michael Lutz Jr[4]; 13. 16-Jim Morris[9]; 14. 47-Dusty Larson[17]; 15. 33-Brent Matus[12]; 16. M4-Louie Mattes[15]; 17. 14K-Victoria (Tori) Knutson[20]; 18. 11H-Hayden Miller[10]; 19. 27-Zach Morrow[19]; 20. 3JM-Joel Mellon[18]; 21. 19M-Bodey McClintock[21] Heat 1 8 Laps 1. 13-Brandon Matus[2]; 2. 22-Brandon Spithaler[3]; 3. 3J-Jacob Begenwald[1]; 4. 11H-Hayden Miller[5]; 5. 08-Danny Kuriger[7]; 6. 3-John Jerich[4]; 7. 27-Zach Morrow[6] Heat 2 8 Laps | 00:01:55.640 1. 5K-Adam Kekich[3]; 2. 16-Jim Morris[4]; 3. 6-Bob Felmlee[2]; 4. 5-Jeremy Weaver[7]; 5. 23JR-Jack Sodeman Jr[5]; 6. 47-Dusty Larson[1]; 7. 14K-Victoria (Tori) Knutson[6] Heat 3 8 Laps | 00:04:36.004 1. 32B-Jeremy Kornbau[4]; 2. 86-Michael Lutz Jr[1]; 3. 46-Michael Bauer[3]; 4. 33-Brent Matus[2]; 5. M4-Louie Mattes[5]; 6. 3JM-Joel Mellon[7]; 7. 19M-Bodey McClintock[6] Qualifying 1 | 00:00:28.335 1. 22-Brandon Spithaler, 13.611[4]; 2. 3-John Jerich, 13.756[1]; 3. 13-Brandon Matus, 13.924[2]; 4. 27-Zach Morrow, 13.936[6]; 5. 08-Danny Kuriger, 14.088[7]; 6. 3J-Jacob Begenwald, 14.223[3]; 7. 11H-Hayden Miller, 14.413[5] Qualifying 2 | 00:01:57.570 1. 5-Jeremy Weaver, 13.719[6]; 2. 5K-Adam Kekich, 13.749[2]; 3. 6-Bob Felmlee, 14.036[1]; 4. 16-Jim Morris, 14.151; 5. 23JR-Jack Sodeman Jr, 14.170[5]; 6. 47-Dusty Larson, 14.590[3]; 7. 14K-Victoria (Tori) Knutson, 14.644[4] Qualifying 3 | 00:00:28.473 1. 32B-Jeremy Kornbau, 14.233[2]; 2. 46-Michael Bauer, 14.339[6]; 3. 33-Brent Matus, 14.653[4]; 4. 86-Michael Lutz Jr, 14.672[3]; 5. M4-Louie Mattes, 14.855[1]; 6. 19M-Bodey McClintock, 16.125[5]
Mod Lites 22 Entries A Feature 1 20 Laps | 00:07:56.376 1. 22-Logan Lewis[4]; 2. 11C-Carson Hubbard[3]; 3. 1C-Shayne Meadows[1]; 4. 27-Sean Iftody[8]; 5. 17-Jake Bowman[7]; 6. 18-David Innes[2]; 7. 44-Ryan Anderson[6]; 8. 1KC-Doug Stanley[5]; 9. 18S-Blake Robbins[14]; 10. 98-Lucca Ledford[9]; 11. 57-Drew Duncan[13]; 12. 267-Shane Webb[12]; 13. 26-RJ Pietz[10]; 14. 15-Ashton Anderson[17]; 15. 74-Timothy Volzer[16]; 16. USA 1-Joey Zambotti III[18]; 17. 12-Cory Stivason[15]; 18. 808-Drew Hannay[11]; 19. 66-Mark Suchan[19]; 20. 8H-Jacob Isenhart[22]; 21. 14-Jacob Eakin[20]; 22. (DNS) 002-Landon Goss Heat 1 8 Laps | 00:04:58.426 1. 98-Lucca Ledford[2]; 2. 22-Logan Lewis[3]; 3. 1C-Shayne Meadows[6]; 4. 26-RJ Pietz[5]; 5. 57-Drew Duncan[1]; 6. 74-Timothy Volzer[4]; 7. 66-Mark Suchan[8]; 8. (DNS) 8H-Jacob Isenhart Heat 2 8 Laps | 00:03:26.752 1. 11C-Carson Hubbard[1]; 2. 17-Jake Bowman[3]; 3. 18-David Innes[2]; 4. 808-Drew Hannay[7]; 5. 18S-Blake Robbins[6]; 6. 15-Ashton Anderson[4]; 7. 14-Jacob Eakin[5] Heat 3 8 Laps | 00:02:24.028 1. 44-Ryan Anderson[1]; 2. 1KC-Doug Stanley[6]; 3. 27-Sean Iftody[5]; 4. 267-Shane Webb[2]; 5. 12-Cory Stivason[7]; 6. USA 1-Joey Zambotti III[3]; 7. 002-Landon Goss[4]
RUSH non wing Sprints 15 Entries A Feature 1 20 Laps | 00:06:04.092 1. 4J-John Mollick[1]; 2. 58-Logen Lockhart[3]; 3. 24-Gale Ruth Jr[5]; 4. 21-Grayson Bayle[4]; 5. 82-Ashton Riggle[10]; 6. 10-Brayden Blackshear[2]; 7. 213-Lucas Roessner[6]; 8. 54-Devon Deeter[9]; 9. 9-Arnie Kent[11]; 10. 7-Cooper Macormac[8]; 11. 13K-Kevin Kaserman[12]; 12. 58H-Mike Hover[15]; 13. 20A-Jesse Armstrong[14]; 14. 5B-Joe Buccola[7]; 15. 48T-TJ Rosario[13] Heat 1 8 Laps | 00:02:20.528 1. 24-Gale Ruth Jr[3]; 2. 21-Grayson Bayle[1]; 3. 10-Brayden Blackshear[4]; 4. 5B-Joe Buccola[5]; 5. 54-Devon Deeter[8]; 6. 9-Arnie Kent[6]; 7. 48T-TJ Rosario[2]; 8. 58H-Mike Hover[7] Heat 2 8 Laps | 00:02:21.133 1. 4J-John Mollick[4]; 2. 213-Lucas Roessner[2]; 3. 58-Logen Lockhart[5]; 4. 7-Cooper Macormac[1]; 5. 82-Ashton Riggle[3]; 6. 13K-Kevin Kaserman[7]; 7. 20A-Jesse Armstrong[6]
Crown Vic 7 Entries A Feature 1 15 Laps | 00:06:20.410 1. 83-Dave Hanshaw Jr[3]; 2. 16-Branden Porter[2]; 3. 26-Bradley Shaffer[1]; 4. 4-Brian Krepps[4]; 5. 99L-Mark Lawrence[5]; 6. 54-Tim Callahan[6]; 7. 77-Dalton Mehtch[7] Heat 1 6 Laps | 00:02:10.678 1. 26-Bradley Shaffer[1]; 2. 83-Dave Hanshaw Jr[2]; 3. 16-Branden Porter[3]; 4. 4-Brian Krepps[5]; 5. 99L-Mark Lawrence[6]; 6. 54-Tim Callahan[4]; 7. 77-Dalton Mehtch[7]
270 Winged Micros 29 Entries A Feature 1 15 Laps | 00:16:27.010 1. 98-Skylar Cline[2]; 2. 12-Matt Haefke[5]; 3. 99-Parker Lucas[12]; 4. 21-Dustin Young[4]; 5. 14-Mason McAndrew[8]; 6. 15L-Kenny Hardy Jr[10]; 7. 133-Brian Borawiec Jr[11]; 8. 27-Deryk Jones[7]; 9. 10L-Wes Libert[17]; 10. 31S-Sean Price[18]; 11. 71-Hunter Zimmerman[6]; 12. 33-Tanner Price[15]; 13. 13H-Carter Himes[16]; 14. 25D-CJ Davis[24]; 15. 28J-Jada Gottschling[9]; 16. 13-Bella Betts[22]; 17. 16-Paul Young[19]; 18. 8M-Maddie Rafferty[23]; 19. 133X-Noah Wirginis[21]; 20. 75-John Adams[13]; 21. 23-Jennifer Blum[20]; 22. 47-Michael Beasdl[26]; 23. 31-Corey Methaney[25]; 24. 1-Mike Borawiec Jr[14]; 25. 27M-Lonnie Mcconahy[1]; 26. (DQ) 11-Nathen McDowell[3] Heat 1 8 Laps | 00:05:15.000 1. 28J-Jada Gottschling[4]; 2. 11-Nathen McDowell[3]; 3. 98-Skylar Cline[7]; 4. 75-John Adams[5]; 5. 10L-Wes Libert[6]; 6. 133X-Noah Wirginis[8]; 7. 31C-Chase Metheney[2]; 8. 12H-Keaton Himes[1] Heat 2 8 Laps | 00:06:47.000 1. 14-Mason McAndrew[1]; 2. 12-Matt Haefke[4]; 3. 27M-Lonnie Mcconahy[5]; 4. 1-Mike Borawiec Jr[6]; 5. 31S-Sean Price[7]; 6. 13-Bella Betts[3]; 7. 69-Mickey Banas[2] Heat 3 8 Laps | 00:02:16.000 1. 99-Parker Lucas[3]; 2. 21-Dustin Young[2]; 3. 133-Brian Borawiec Jr[4]; 4. 33-Tanner Price[1]; 5. 16-Paul Young[7]; 6. 8M-Maddie Rafferty[5]; 7. 31-Corey Methaney[6] Heat 4 8 Laps | 00:07:19.079 1. 27-Deryk Jones[1]; 2. 15L-Kenny Hardy Jr[3]; 3. 71-Hunter Zimmerman[2]; 4. 13H-Carter Himes[5]; 5. 23-Jennifer Blum[4]; 6. 25D-CJ Davis[6]; 7. 47-Michael Beasdl[7]
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