Mercer, PA (January 5, 2014): After dominating most of the Jack Frost 150 at Mercer Raceway Park, Fredonia’s Ron Boyd, Jr. needed a little luck to overtake his teammate, Ryan Boyd, and capture the big win. Tyler Fulton turned in the performance of his life, lapping the entire field in the Snowflake 25 for the Mini Stock division.
The Boyds started deep in the 54 car field. Winner Ron was 38th on the grid, and Ryan was in 40th. At the drop of the green, Ron went to the outside of the track, and he methodically worked his way past the heavy traffic.
While the Boyds were working their way forward, there was a tight battle for the lead. The early laps of the event were led by Aaron Hill, who grabbed the point from his second starting spot. Skip Lindemuth came from twelfth and challenged Hill. Brian Sprague was also in the mix. Indeed, he took the lead away from Hill after a dozen laps were completed. Lindemuth snuck past him on lap fifteen, but he could not open any distance on his rivals. Sprague rallied back to regain the lead. He brought Hill to the fore, and Hill passed Sprague after two more circuits.
By now, the high-flying Boyd, Ron that is, was ready to make his move. He seized control of the event on lap 20, with Hill and Milbert running close behind. Sprague fell to fourth, and enduro meister Tim Gillette ran in fifth. Gillette advanced as far front as third, before dropping out of the race.
By the 40 lap mark, Ron Boyd led Ryan, Milbert, Sprague, and Ray Soos. One-third of the way home, Eric Boozel replaced Soos in the top five, but Soos fought back to regain the spot by lap 60.
As the race neared the halfway mark, the Boyds ran ahead of Jason Shaw, Milbert, and Bill Myers, whop came from 48th starting spot. William Hurelbrink continud to rce amongst the leaders, clawing his way to fourth by lap 80.
While the Boyds continued to lead the pay, positions changed behind them with some regularity. With 100 laps in the books, it was the Boyds, ahead of Milbert, Shaw, Myers, Hurelbrink, Sprague, Hill, Patrick Parlock, and Nick Groves.
Ron put a lap on Ryan Boyd during their lengthy run out front, but Ron’s pace began to slow during the final fifty laps. Ryan made up his lap and chased down Ron to grab the lead 131. It looked as though he would cruise to victory until he encountered very heavy traffic entering turn one with just seven laps to go.
Ryan got out of shape and clipped the outside wall, allowing Ron to slip by. The duo ran nip and tuck for rest of the way, but Ryan could not wrestle the lead away.
At the checkers, it was Ron Boyd, Ryan Boyd, Myers, Boozel, and Sprague in the money spots. Milbert, Hill, Hurelbrink, Parlock, and Groves completed the top ten.
Fulton started last in the small but feisty field of Mini Stocks. However, he blasted into the lead on the first lap of the race and never lifted. Fulton threw rooster tails of snow high into the air as he circled the speedway.
Trooper Tim Callahan also turned in a remarkable run, but he was no match for the speedy Fulton. Callahan was a lap ahead of the third place finisher, Steve Longwell, Sr., a former winner of this race.
Alan Perry, the former weighmaster at the track, was fourth, and Rudy Troples placed fifth. The sixth and final finisher was Matt Cwynar.
Next up on the docket will be the annual banquet and awards ceremony, held at the Normandy Hall. In Hermitage, PA. The fete will take place on Saturday evening, February 1. Tickets are still available by contacting track manager Frank Benic, at 724-699-1260.
The next racing program will be the Chiller Thriller on Saturday evening, March 29. Topping the card will be the Super Late Models and Crate Late Models. Other classes have yet to be determined. Please check the track website, www. mercerracewaypark.com for additional details.
Remember, too, that ticket packages are available for the exciting and diverse schedule, which will be announced officially at the banquet
About Mercer Raceway Park: 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 from late March through late September. For more information, check out www. mercerracewaypark.com, www.twitter.com/mercerraceway, or www.facebook.com/mercerracewaypark.
Jack Frost 150 (Corrected Finish): Ron Boyd, Jr., Ryan Boyd, Bill Myers, Eric Boozel, Brian Sprague, Milbert, Aaron Hill, William Hurelbrink, Patrick Parlock, Nick Groves, Edward Shaffer, Ray Soos, George Settlemire, Leigh Wheeler, Ray Seigert, Donald Zarembinski, Tyler Palmer, Dan Zimmerman, Matt Hill, Jason Easler, Jason Shaw, Randy Wyant, Greg Rockwell, Steven Riener, Mark Peck, Joseph Wilamowski, Elyn Wickham, Andrew Croper, Wade Potts, Tim Gillette, Skip Lindemuth, Andy Baron, Nick Birkner, Jeff Bucklew, Mike Palmer, Ryan Hall, Rusty Cade, Travis Mathias, Alex Swaney, Garrett Shover, Kyler Jolley, Josh Bendishaw, Robert Siegel, William Aley, Patrick Hanlon, Thomas Emery, Mike Emery, Dean Schreffler, Jim Frank, Steven Hill, Shawn Lindemuth.
Snowflake 25 Mini Stocks: Tyler Fulton, Tim Callahan, Steve Longwell, Sr., Alan Perry, Rudy Troples, Matt Cwynar, Mark Peck.