For Immediate Release Media Contact: Lou Long (412-760-9755) Leiby B.O.S.S. at Michaels Mercer Raceway; Jerry Schaffer, Reusser, Porterfield, Teddy Williams, and Samuel Darby also Victorious (Mercer, PA June 29, 2019): Chandler Leiby, a regular on the USAC Eastern (360) Sprint Tour made the long tow to Western Pennsylvania pay off, taking his first career victory in the Buckeye Outlaw Sprint Series at Michaels Mercer Raceway. The driver from Carlisle, PA dominated the 25 lapper, as he took the lead at the drop of the green and never faced a serious challenge. Leiby, who graduated from Micros to 358 Winged Sprints before taking the wings off to race with the USAC East Coast Series when it was created two years ago, was pleased with his performance. His only concern was dealing with the lapped traffic. “That was my big fear, getting into traffic. I won down at Lincoln, back home, a couple of years back, but I didn’t have any problems in lapped traffic. But, I have never led a wingless race and had to run into so much lapped traffic while in the lead. So, that was my concern. But, I did pretty well with that and I didn’t have to mess around behind the guys.” Not one to rest on his laurels, Leiby explained that he and his team were going to dash off to New York and run with USAC on Sunday night. “It’s going to be a long night, but we’re looking forward to it,” he said enthusiastically. Leiby was paired with Cody Gardner for the start of the event. Mercer favorite Arnie Kent was in row two with another eastern invader, Carmen Perigo. Justin Owen and Matt Westfall were in row three, and Wampum’s Bob McMillin rolled off in the fourth row, with John Stenham beside him. Leiby entered turn one on the inside, and Gardner tried to make an outside move, to no avail. Perigo and Kent were battling for third on the opening lap, with Owen and Westfall within striking distance. A little farther back, Cory Crabtree, Andy Feil, and Brandon Spithaler were dicing in the top ten. Leiby had his car on cruise control as he reached the rear of the field and started putting competitors a lap down. Garner still had second, but he already lost contact with the point man. Westfall started to advance as the leaders were working their way through the traffic. Soon after Westfall overtook Gardner for the distant second spot, the first caution of the feature was displayed. Dustin Webber was the victim of a minor spin on lap 19. Perhaps the pressure was mounting for several drivers in the top ten after the racing resumed. There was a significant incident in between turns three and four on lap 20, with six cars involved, including those of top ten runners Kent, Spithaler, Owen, Perigo, and Feil. Spithaler got the worst of the wreck, turning over his machine. Fortunately, none of the racers were injured. The third and final caution came out on lap 21 for yet another minor spin. Leiby had a cushion of five or six lapped cars separating himself from second place Westfall after the final caution. Gardner still held the third position. Parker Frederickson gained several positions due to these incidents and he was now a member of the top five, as was Steve Little. Leiby ran off the final four laps without further ado. Westfall was 5.751 seconds behind at the finish. Frederickson crossed in third, followed by Gardner and Little. Dustin Ingle, Kent, Perigo, and Feil completed the entire 25 laps. Korbyn Hayslett was tenth, but a lap down at the checkers. Perigo, Gardner, and Leiby were the heat winners this night. There was no B Main, as the series and track officials agreed to start all 24 cars on hand. Jerry Schaffer, a big proponent of Crate Modified racing, scored the win in the Turn 4 Toilets Fastrak Limited Modifieds. He held off his son, Brian, who was relentless in his pursuit of the leader. The happy winner said, “I knew that Brian was going to be the one, and I told him before we even went out there, I said, ‘buddy, you gotta do it on the outside because I’m not coming off that guardrail; I’m not going off the guardrail; you gotta do it on the outside.” Jerry Schaffer added, “I was back pedaling so much into the turns, I have never been so slow in the turns in my life, but it was working.” Schaffer explained that so long as he did not see Brian’s car, he had a shot to win. He did see his son’s nose once, but he held his line, and Brian tied the outside but could not make up the ground he needed to upset his father. Schaffer dedicated the win to his older brother Jeff, who was an accomplished racer in his own right at the track. “My brother, Jeff, showed up tonight and every time he wrenches on my car, it’s unbeatable. The weeks that he’s not here, I go backwards.” The Schaffers started on the front row, with Jordan Ehrenberg and teenager Blaze Myers in row two. Recent winners Brian Sadler and Erik Martin held the third row. At the start of the race, Ehrenberg tried to barge into the family affair up front, but Brian Schaffer would have none of that. Ehrenberg ran along in third the whole way. While those three separated themselves from the rest of the field, there was a good race going on for fourth involving Sadler, Martin, Shayne Izzo, and Steve Slater. Unfortunatley, Sadler began to fade in the closing laps, and it boiled down to a three car battle for the fourth and fifth spots. There was a minor stoppage on lap nine for Gage Priester. Priester was involved in a second incident a few laps later, this time on the backstretch. Jim Bryce and Chad Gumpp were also involved. None of them were injured in the matter, which sent cars scattering. Jerry Schaffer led the rmaining laps and took the win by .379 seconds. Brian Schaffer led Ehrenberg, Martin, and Slater to the scoring loop. Izzo was sixth, then came Myers, Sadler, Michael Kristyak, and Gumpp. The pair of heats went to Izzo and Ehrenberg. The thirteen car field did not require a B Main. The 270 Micros were back for a return engagement and the win went to Todd Reusser. Reusser inherited the lead when Jeff Haefke brought his mount to a stop in turn two with ten laps in the books. Haefke had assumed the lead on lap three from Austin Pasquerella. Brian Borawiec raced up to second, followed by Wesley Libert. Garth Fochler and Noah Wriginis completed the top five. Positions six through ten went to Dustin Young, Luke Halls, Ivan Johnson, Haefke, and Pasquerella. C.J. Davis and Borawiec prevailed in the two heats. There was no B Main, as only 15 cars signed in for the contest. In the Ray’s Racing Collectibles and Eperthener’s Auto Wrecking sponsored Mini Stocks, Will Aley and Mike Porterfield were mixing things up with Tyler Fulton and Tim Callahan in the early going. Bill Fuchs, Johnny Bruce, Sr., and Joe Campbell were lurking close behind. Porterfield assumed command on lap three, but the positions were changing hands behind him with quite some frequency. Fuchs made a charge to take second with two laps remaining in the race. Aley, Callahan, and Campbell completed the top five. Fulton, Bruce, Sr., Steve Longwell, Sr., Johnny Bruce, Jr., and Kyle Donnelly rounded out the top ten. The 24 cars participated in three heats, which were won by Callahan, Dewayne Redinger, and Todd Hanlon. There was no B Main. The Barris Trucking Modified Lites wore the nightcap. Teddy Williams grabbed the lead on lap four from Tyler Purnell. In the middle stage of the race, he held off Vivian Jones, who was looking to score yet another victory. However, Cole Petrell snuck by her following a restart, and he was the one giving chase to Williams as the final laps clicked off. Following Williams, Petrelle, and Vivian Jones across the line were Jeff Davis and Mark Marcucci. Ayden Cipriano, Dusty Frantz, Shane Webb, Jason Darocha, and Bob Boano held down positions six through ten. Vivian Jones, Darocha, and Webb topped the preliminaries. There was no B Main for the 22 cars in the pits this night. Samuel Darby topped his brother, Evan, in the Junior Sprint go. Samuel led the entire ten laps. It took Evan several laps to reach second, but he was no match for Samuel. Tyler Allison came from deep in the field to get third. Luke Mulichak took fourth, and fifth went to Stone Lapcevich. Samuel Boor, Kalen Jackson, Jaxon Dye, Wesley Boor, and Randy White rounded out the top ten. The heat victories went to Jaxon Dye and Evan Darby. There was no B Main for the thirteen contestants. There will be no racing at Michaels Mercer Raceway on July 6, and the management and staff will take a short break to get ready for the big two-day Sprint Car extravaganza. The Buddy Barris Trucking Memorial Summer Nationals will be next on the agenda. The 305 Racesaver Sprint Cars will be the headline act on Friday, July 12, and they will be presented by Hards Welding and Fabrication and River Valley Butcher Block. The 410 Winged Sprints will make their only appearance on Saturday, July 13. Mod Lites and Dwarfs, Micro Sprints, and Mini Stocks will provide the support. Then, the Diehl Ram Big Block Modifieds will return on July 20, along with the BRP Modified Tour. That will be a tremendous $3,000 to win event! Mark your calendars for these exciting races coming soon to Michaels Mercer Raceway. B.O.S.S. Sprint Cars: Chandler Leiby, Matt Westfall, Parker Frederickson, Cody Gardner, Steve Little, Dustin Ingle, Arnie Kent, Carmen Perigo, Andy Feil, Korbyn Hayslett, John Stenham, Zach Morrow, Bob McMillin, Dustin Webber, Joe McEwen, Bobby Distel, Rick Holley, Jeremy Kornbau, Justin Owen, Brandon Spithaler, Kory Crabtree, Gale Ruth, Sr., Micheal Lutz, Buddy Lowther. Turn 4 Toilet Fastrak Limited Modifieds: Jerry Schaffer, Brian Schaffer, Jordan Ehrenberg, Erik Martin, Steve Slater, Shayne Izzo, Blaze Myers, brian Sadler, Michael Kristyak, Chad Gumpp, Gage Priester, Jim Bryce, Justin Halicki. 270 Micros: Todd Reusser, Brian Borawiec, Wesley Libert, Garth Fochler, Noah Wirginis, Luke Halls, Ivan Johnson, Jeff Haefke, Austin Pasquerella, Jim Barkes, Natalie Brannon, C.J. Davis, Paul Young (DNS), Jon Wise (DNS). Ray’s Racing Collectibles/Eperthener’s Auto Wrecking Mini Stocks: Mike Porterfield, Bill Fuchs, Will Aley, Tim Callahan, Joe Campbell, Tyler Fulton, Johnny Bruce, Sr., Steve Longwell, Sr., Johnny Bruce, jr., Kyle Donnelly, D.J. Macrae, JustinBailey, Larry Blake, Dewayne Redinger, Randy Ealy, Joe Romanko, Dustin Adams, Jamie Tasker, Bucky Buchanan, Shane Shook, Summer Pitts, Todd Hanlon (DNS), Karlee Longwell (DNS), Jason Stoner (DNS). Barris Trucking Modified Lites/Dwarfs: Teddy Williams, Cole Petrelle, Vivian Jones, Jeff davis, Mark Marcucci, Ayden Cipriano, Dusty Frantz, Shane Webb, Jason Darocha, Bob Boano, Jacob Isenhart, Jordan Simmons, Roman Jones, Charlie Armstrong, Charlie Biskup, Jason gracey, Tyler Purnell, Eric Marsh, Mark Biskup, Bobby Springer, Nathaniel Bale (DNS), Robbie Barris (DNS). Junior Sprints: Samuel Darby, Evan Darby, Tyler Allison, Luke Mulichak, Stone Lacevich, Samuel Boor, Kalen Jackson, Jaxon Dye, Wesley Boor, Randy White, Blaine Schlechty, Jaren Dye (DNS), Elijah Boor (DNS).
Race Status
Mercer
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