Bryan Mercer Emerges From the Mania with a Solid Top 10 Finish
By Jim Clarke, Clarke Motorsports Communications
On a night when his friends in Kawartha Speedway’s NAPA Auto Parts Late Model field seemed determined to push each other around, Bryan Mercer was happy to be the exception instead of the rule. The Port Hope, Ontario racer has already seen his fair share of hard knocks during the current campaign and anytime he’s able to drive his #81 Sine’s Flooring/Ganaraska Financial Monte Carlo into the pits and then roll it into the hauler, its a good night.
Starting 9th in the night’s second heat race, Mercer needed to finish in one of the top 6 spots to advance to the night’s semi feature. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen, but the father of 3 – who earns a regular paycheque as a service advisor at Quantrill Chevrolet-Cadillac – was lined-up on the outside front-row for the consolation race and picked-up the checkered flag.
“Anytime you can win, it’s a good thing,” said Mercer. “The car was good in the heat race, but there were some heavy hitters ahead of me. Even the consi had some tough competition, so I’m pleased with what we were able to do all night.”
The 25 lap late model feature saw Mercer take the green flag from 14th spot. That was about halfway through the pack of 27 starters. Right off the bat, there was a 2 car wreck in the second turn. It was quickly followed by a 4 car crash in the same location only a lap later, resulting in Nick Sinopoli’s #7 machine being cradled off the track. Just 4 laps of green flag racing later, the #47 of Tom Walters made heavy contact with the front stretch retaining wall. The hit knocked the wall back about 4 feet and created cracks in 2 sections. Walters’ racer needed to be taken from the track between a pair of wreckers, while maintenance crews worked to put the wall back into position.
“I had a front row seat for some of the mayhem,” said Mercer while enjoying a cold drink with his crew. “They were a couple of the hardest hits I’ve seen in quite a while. I’m just happy we weren’t involved for a change. It’ll be great to not have to replace any body parts for once.”
Briefly as high as 5th place, Mercer couldn’t hold-off a late race charge from Chris Morrow and Dave Morgan. The #81 Chevy eventually surrendered 6th spot as well, but survived to finish 7th. With the night off Friday, August 14th the team will spend some extra time in the garage before heading to a special event at Northumberland YMCA. The 5th Annual Mega Machines and Family Fun Fair Thursday, August 20th will also feature the car of fellow Port Hope racer Willie Reyns. For more details, see www.ymcanorthumberland.com.
Photo attachment: (Jim Clarke – Clarke Motorsports Communications)
Bryan Mercer steers his #81 Sine’s Flooring/Ganaraska Financial Chevrolet through Kawartha Speedway’s 3rd and 4th turns.
Prepared by: Jim Clarke – Clarke Motorsports Communications
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