The Diehl Auto Group DIRTcar Modifieds had top billing tonight in honor of the Joe Pitkavish Memorial 30-lap feature. For 28 laps it appeared as though Tom Winkle would make up for last Friday Night’s last lap snafu in turns three & four when he jumped the cushion while running second. Winkle had checked out and was not going to be caught until the caution flag waved on lap 29 for Rex King Jr. On the Green-White-Checker restart, Kevin Bolland slid under Winkle entering turn one and Winkle got into the left rear of the #777. Bolland’s spin collected front runners Brian Swartzlander and Rex King Sr. and resulted in Winkle being sent to the tail for rough driving. Defending Track Champion Jeremiah Shingledecker inherited the lead and cruised to an unexpected victory, his second win of the season.

See his car up close and personal!

Get an autograph from the legendary Jeremiah Shingledecker!

There will be PRIZES! PRIZES! and More PRIZES!

Don’t miss this fun-filled chance to interact with the region’s winningest Modified driver, the legendary Jeremiah Shingledecker!

Village Auto
52 Rocky Grove Ave.
Franklin, PA 16323

Right now he’s “gearing up” for the big race.

Jeremiah will race 50 laps Friday & (2) 25 lap features Saturday + 50 lap feature Saturday (if all goes well). He also won a spot in the exemption dash on Friday (if he gets 1st or 2nd, he is automatically in top 12 Saturday). He won this spot by winning the BRP race at PPMS.

“This race should have been Cooter’s,” said Shingledecker after the win in his Village Auto/Hard’s Welding/Steve’s Teez Bicknell No. 37MD. “I would never have caught him until he made that mistake in turn two. Three nights is a lot of racing, but we made it through, and it’s been a great weekend with two wins and a second.”

King started on the pole position of the non-stop feature event. He immediately vaulted into the lead at the start and Shingledecker moved into second on the third circuit. While Shingledecker gave chase to King, the battle for the rest of the top five was heated, but all eyes were up front. On the 11th circuit, Eric Martin spun off turn four in front of the leaders, and he kept going. However, the spin caused the two leaders to hesitate, and that bobble allowed King to open back up his lead over Shingledecker. After that incident, King appeared to throw caution to the wind as he continued to race fast around the track. At one point, he slid a little wide in turn one, and Shingledecker closed the gap. Finally, with two laps to go, he raced too hard into the first turn, and he slid over the top edge of the track surface nearly hitting the wall into turn two. The mistake allowed Shingledecker past for the win. King finished a disappointing second over Kevin Hoffman, Rex King and Brad Rapp. Brian Swartzlander and Kevin Bolland won the DIRTcar Big Block Modified heats.

“This is a big one,” acknowledged the Polk, Pa. driver, who cut his teeth in the Sportsman Modified division at Mercer nearly 15 years ago at The Park. “I’ll tell ya what. I thought that was over early for me. I almost hit the wall coming off turn two. I got in the loose stuff and went backwards fast at the beginning. This car worked awesome. I thought he (King) might give me the top (on the last restart). The caution before the last worked well for me allowing me to restart on the inside. He was running the bottom the last couple laps so I thought the outside was worth a try.”

With lightning in the distance, the ground-pounding Modifieds created their own thunder as Rob Kristyak and Del Rougeux, Jr. led the 26-car field to green. Rougeux grabbed the early lead with Dave Murdick getting past Kristyak for third. Murdick caught Rougeux on lap three and drove to the inside of the leader on lap four. The duo raced side-by-side on laps five and six with Rougeux holding on until the first caution was displayed for a spin by Gary Smoker with seven laps completed.

On the ensuing restart, Rougeux came up lame when he broke a flywheel as Tommy Kristyak blasted by into the lead with Murdick, Rob Kristyak, and ninth starting Rex King up to fourth. King drove under Rob Kristyak for third on lap nine and did the same to Murdick two laps later for second. King then caught Tommy Kristyak and made the pass for the lead driving under the veteran in turn four on lap 12.

King caught the back of the pack on lap 17 and fought traffic until the red was displayed when Carl Murdick’s car caught fire bringing a halt to action after 13 straight green flag laps. King’s half-straightaway lead was erased. When racing resumed, 20th starting Brad Rapp was on the move. Rapp used the outside to his liking going around Rob Kristyak then Jeremy Paup for fourth on lap 22.

It was now a three-car race for second with Tommy Kristyak trying to hold off Murdick and Rapp. Shingledecker meanwhile finally cracked the top five with just five laps to go getting by Paup. King began to pull away, while the battle for second now included four cars with Shingledecker joining the mix on lap 27.

Shingledecker’s key move came on lap 28 when he made a thrilling pass of both Rapp and Murdick racing off turn two down the backstretch before the caution was displayed for a spin by Mike Turner. Restarting on the inside of row two, Shingledecker got past Tommy Kristyak for second before the event’s final stoppage came when Turner and Kyle Fink got collected with 29 laps completed.

The caution set up a one-lap shootout to the finish. King chose the bottom and when green replaced yellow, Shingledecker rode the rim and right around King to power by to the popular win in his Village Auto/Hard’s Welding/Steve’s Teez Bicknell #37MD. Last year’s BRP Tour win by Shingledecker was his first ever big-block win at Mercer and he now has two straight and four career wins overall at Mercer.

“I want to dedicate this win to the Hoffman family,” said Shingledecker. “They helped us out when we first started, and it’s an honor to tie Jeff’s win record and be mentioned in the same breath with him. That was a great race, and the track was amazing. Rex ran a great race. I tried to make the low line work and he blocked me off. I took the high side and it worked.”

Dave Murdick and King led the field to the green flag, and ran side-by-side for the first circuit with King leading at the line. Gradually, King pulled ahead while Shingledecker worked past Kevin Hoffman for third on the fourth circuit. Two laps later, Shingledecker passed Murdick for second. Two cautions in the middle of the race slowed the race. On each restart, Shingledecker could not pass King. With King high and Shingledecker low, the duo fought for the win. On the 16th circuit, Shingledecker almost made a pass stick on the low side of turn three. The following lap, King blocked the same move, but Shingledecker swung to the outside lane and used his momentum to pass King off turn four at the line. Another caution occurred, but King was not able to muster the power to pass Shingledecker, who raced to the popular win. King finished second followed by Hoffman. Driving the Shingledecker team car, Chris Haines passed Murdick for fourth on the last lap.

What a great race, smiled Shingledecker in victory lane next to his Hard’s Welding/Village Auto/Steve’s Teez Bicknell No. 37MD.
It looked like Dave got a little comfortable on the high side of the track, and I got under him off turn two.

This is amazing! Eight years ago, I almost quit because racing wasn’t going so well. The last few years have been simply amazing!

Murdick paced the race from the pole position with Brad Rapp and Chris Haines in tow. Haines, a Pro Stock driver and DIRTcar Big Block Modified rookie, was impressive as a teammate to Shingledecker driving the 2009 championship car in only Haines? second week out. A couple of cautions on the fourth circuit allowed Shingledecker to finally pass Haines for third after the second restart. He then passed Rapp for second on the seventh circuit. While Murdick fended off Shingledecker, Andy Priest dueled with Haines for fourth. Priest took the spot on the sixth circuit, then chased down Rapp after he slipped to third. After a couple of slide job passes off turn four that failed to get him the spot, Priest finally succumbed to mechanical troubles with four laps to go. That allowed Rex King to move into fourth while Haines battled Kevin Hoffman for fifth.

Up front, however, the fans were on their feet as Shingledecker was searching the inside lane on Murdick. Finally, with less than two laps to go, Shingledecker found the bite on the inside of turn two and stole the lead. Murdick desperately tried to recover on the outside cushion, but it was to no avail. At the finish, Shingledecker was the winner over Murdick, Rapp, Rex King and Haines, who had his first-ever top five finish in only his second race. Shingledecker and Haines also won the DIRTcar Big Block Modified heat races.

“I want to wish a Happy Mother’s Day to my mother and mother-in-law, and all the moms out there,” said Shingledecker. “I want to thank all the fans for coming out on such a cold night. This is a new car and our first win this year. It’s a little more loose than the last car, and I think we are finally getting the hang of it.”

Shingledecker led every lap of the race and was hardly challenged the distance. Dean Pearson ran second at the start and held off Mike Turner over the first half. After the lone caution waved on the ninth circuit, Shingledecker continued to pace the field while Rex King dove under Turner for third. King continued to hound Pearson before taking over second with five laps remaining, but Shingledecker was gone in the distance. At the finish, Shingledecker was the winner over King, Pearson, Brad Rapp and Turner.