August 10, 2014

Content Provided by Paul Oyler

When Rex King, Sr. took part in round one of the Smackdown! at Mercer Raceway Park back on July 12, his night did not go as he had hoped, as his was the first car to exit the race due to a lap one, turn one incident. Sunday night, he gained redemption for that, winning the twice-delayed Smackdown! night 2 event in the BRP Modified Tour feature.

Chris Schneider continued to enjoy his visits to Mercer Raceway Park, scoring the win in the inaugural visit of the Penn Ohio Pro Stock Championship Series. Andy Feil took the checkers in the Bonnell’s Rod Shop Outlaw Sprint Warriors, while George Englert closed out the night with yet another roof-flapping win in the Rock Concrete Mod Lites.

Rex King, Sr. was grateful for the win, and acknowledged that the car was “just hooked up tonight. I could go high or low, it didn’t matter.” And King did use every line on the track to out-duel Dave Murdick for the win, as the two cagey veterans waged battle for the entire race, first for positions as they moved towards the front, and then for the lead over the closing laps of the race.

The full field of cars was led to the green flag by Rex “Cooter” King, Jr. and Kevin Hoffman, with the younger King grabbing the initial lead after two quick cautions on the opening lap. After those cautions were out of the way, the race wouldn’t slow again until lap 33, and for the first 20 laps it looked like King Jr. was going to leave the entire field in his dust. But as the laps clicked off and lap traffic became three-wide and even four-wide at times, King Sr. and Murdick began to reel in “Cooter.” As it turned out, not only was King Jr. having to deal with the traffic but he was also dealing with an ill race car, as his machine developed a fuel line problem.

By lap 20 King Sr. and Dave Murdick began swapping second and third place between them, all the while continuing to narrow the gap to the front-running King Jr. Finally, on lap 30, King Sr. slipped past his son to grab the lead, and Murdick quickly advanced to the second spot, while Jeremiah Shingledecker entered the fray, taking third.

The final caution flew on lap 33, setting up a two-lap shootout for the win. Murdick took a quick lead on the ensuing restart, but by the time they had circled back for the white flag, King had regained the advantage and held off Murdick for the win. Shingledecker was third, while Kevin Hoffman secured fourth place. Eric Gabany, who won Saturday night’s feature for the Approved Toilet Rentals 358 Modifieds, was the standard bearer for the Mercer small blocks this night, finishing with a strong fifth place run.

Lonny Riggs, winner of Smackdown! night 1, finished sixth, while, Rex King, Jr. managed to hold on for seventh place. Dr. Brad Rapp slotted into eighth after going pit-side on lap one and restarting from the tail of the field. Tommy Kristyak, who started 22nd, finished in ninth place, while Shawn Fleeger scored an impressive tenth place finish, giving the Mercer small blocks four of the top 10 finishers.

There were 29 Modifieds on hand for this second night of Smackdown! The heat winners were Rick Richner, Dave Murdick, and Dr. Brad Rapp. Tommy Kristyak prevailed in the B Main.

BRP Modified Tour/Approved Toilet Rentals 358 Modified Smackdown!: Rex King, Sr., Dave Murdick, Jeremiah Shingledecker, Kevin Hoffman, Eric Gabany, Lonny Riggs, Rex King, Jr., Brad Rapp, Tommy Kristyak, Shawn Fleeger, Randy Chrysler, Steve Barr, Tom Glenn, Rick Regalski, Tommy Mattocks, Eric Martin, Mark Frankhouser, Brett Clarke, Shayne Pierce, Rick Richner, Kyle Fink, Justin Wright, Jimmy Holden, Carl Murdick, Bob Warren, Chris Haines, Kevin Green (DNQ), Matt Reeher (DNQ), Frank Guidace (DNS).