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ALLSTAR Sprints: Mercer Race Results

28 September 1998

All Star Sprint Race Results - Mercer Raceway Park (PA) - Sat. 9/26/98 - By Scott Hall

MERCER, PA - Jeff Shepard swept the weekend, winning the All Star sprint Chuck Marsh Memorial 30-lap feature Saturday night at Mercer Raceway Park. The win, in the second annual Mercer Fall Nationals, was worth $7,000, plus $300 in lap money and came by three seconds over early leader Dean Jacobs and Kenny Jacobs. "I wasnt going to catch him (Dean Jacobs)," Shepard related, explaining his thankfulness for a mid-race restart. "I got him on a slide-job deal, it was a close call, I just sat up in the seat under the yellow and said Its now or never. I would have been hard to race him against other people too." Shepard drove the Les and Lynda Stewart Maxim, with Kriner-Chevrolet power and Goodyear tires.

"You get in the lead and dont know how fast you are," D. Jacobs said afterward. "Evidently I wasnt fast enough. I actually started running harder after he got past me. Jeff was just a little better than me." Jacobs drove the Junior Holbrook Eagle Chassis, also on Goodyear tires.

Six cars were inverted for the start, putting Kerrs Stan Shoff Maxim on the ButlerBuilt Hot Seat pole position with Dean Jacobs outside and Sarah Fisher and Kenny Jacobs in row two. Dean took the lead at the start, moving to a nice advantage over sixth starter Shepard, who took second from Kerr on lap three. The order was Dean, Shepard, Kerr, Kenny, Joey Saldana and Fisher when the first caution flew on lap nine for Keith Kauffman stopping on the backstretch. He was pushed to the pits, ending his tenth place run.

Dean pulled away on an open track following the restart, while Kerr and Kenny battled furiously for third, keeping the sell-out crowd entertained. Fisher then moved under Saldana, making the order Dean, Shepard, Kerr, Kenny and Fisher on lap 15 when the next yellow flew for a stalled Jimmy Hawley.

Shepard tried a low turn one slide job following the restart, but Dean pulled ahead on the backstretch. Then Shepard drove around the leader high coming off turn four to lead lap 16 and hold it for good. With Dean now second, Kerr was third with Kenny fourth. Saldana took fifth after getting past Fisher on the front stretch on lap 19, with local driver Bob Felmlee seventh.

Kenny and Kerr were still at it for third, with Kenny going high coming off turn four to snare the spot on lap 24. A Rod Jones flat on lap 26 set up a four lap dash to the end, but Shepard pulled away from Dean to win, with Kenny third in the Hughes Wheel and Axle entry.

"This little tracks racy, its really fun to come here and run," K. Jacobs recalled. "Jeff just drove a heck of a race. We missed on the left rear tire, were sure thats what the problem was," the 1998 All Star points champion said.

Saldana held fourth at the end of the 10-mile run, with Fisher an impressive sixth. Felmlee started seventh and finished there, with twelfth starter Greg Hodnett eighth in the Apple Chevy Maxim, Jamie Smith ninth and 16th starter Byron Reed charging to tenth in the Reebar Die Casting Schnee.

The United Expressline heat fell to Shepard, the Southwest Expressline heat to Brad Ellenberger, the Southwest Glass heat was won by Kenny Jacobs and Hodnett won the United Specialties heat. Saldana won the Commercial Truck & Trailer Dash with Ed Lynch, Jr. the United Expressline B Main winner. Bob Lime and Mark Murphy flipped hard down the backstretch in the heats, but were not injured. The evenings action was sponsored by North Street Auto Supply.

Time Trials: 1. Jeff Shepard, Double L 4J, 13.852; 2. Joey Saldana, Mox 17, 13.975; 3. Kenny Jacobs, Hughes 94, 14.125; 4. Sarah Fisher, Fisher 9, 14.160; 5. Dean Jacobs, Holbrook 8, 14.161; 6. Frankie Kerr, Shoff 23s, 14.215; 7. Bob Felmlee, Felmlee 6, 14.261; 8. Brian Ellenberger, Ellenberger 20, 14.319; 9. Keith Kauffman, Johnson U2, 14.388; 10. Jamie Smith, Smith 5, 14.394; 11. Ed Lynch, Jr., Lynch 2L, 14.405; 12. Greg Hodnett, Stewart 12, 14.420; 13. Tom Burns, Burns 7c, 14.423; 14. Jimmy Hawley, Crawford C3, 14.445; 15. Arnie Kent, Kent 18, 14.499; 16. Byron Reed, B&S 5, 14.504; 17. Rod Jones, Jones 36, 14.599; 18. Jarod Larson, Clemson 64, 14.669; 19. Rodney Duncan, Harrison 22, 14.675; 20. Scott Priester, Priester 11x, 14.701; 21. Mike Lutz, Bauer 45, 14.702; 22. Brad Ellenberger, Ellenberger 87, 14.721; 23. Scott Jones, Jones 8J, 14.763; 24. Eric Hysong, Hysong 72, 14.778; 25. Alvin Roepke, R&F 99, 14.779; 26. Gary Edwards, Schuller 61, 14.895; 27. Scott Bonnell, Bonnell 3, 14.896; 28. Bill Kiley, Kiley 4K, 14.992; 29. Jamie McKinney, McKinney 95, 15.042; 30. Bob Lime, Lime 91, 15.191; 31. Mark Murphy, Murphy 98, 15.198; 32. Brian Smith, Smith 2+, 15.222; 33. Terry Young, Young 98, 15.345; 34. Dave Penezich, Penezich 34, 15.466; 35. Kevin Schaeffer, Schaeffer 9, 15.669; 36. Mike Latsch, Latsch 7, 15.706; 37. Skip Dougherty, Dougherty 27, 15.860.

United Expressline Heat (8 laps): 1. Shepard 2. Burns 3. D. Jacobs 4. Kauffman 5. Young 6. Lutz 7. McKinney 8. R. Jones 9. Dougherty 10. Roepke.

Southwest Expressline Heat (8 laps): 1. Brad Ellenberger 2. J. Smith 3. Kerr 4. Saldana 5. Hawley 6. Larson 7. Edwards 8. Lime 9. Penezich.

Southwest Glass Heat (8 laps): 1. K. Jacobs 2. Kent 3. Duncan 4. Felmlee 5. S. Jones 6. Schaeffer 7. Lynch 8. Murphy 9. Bonnell.

United Specialties Heat (8 laps): 1. Hodnett 2. Reed 3. Brian Ellenberger 4. Hysong 5. Fisher 6. Priester 7. B. Smith 8. Latsch 9. Kiley.

Commercial Truck & Trailer Dash: (4 laps): 1. Saldana 2. K. Jacobs 3. Shepard 4. D. Jacobs 5. Kerr 6. Fisher.

United Expressline B Main (12 laps): 1. Lynch 2. R. Jones 3. Lutz 4. B. Smith 5. Schaeffer 6. Bonnell 7. McKinney 8. Latsch 9. Kiley 10. Penezich.

A Main (30 laps): 1. Shepard 2. D. Jacobs 3. K. Jacobs 4. Saldana 5. Kerr 6. Fisher 7. Felmlee 8. Hodnett 9. J. Smith 10. Reed 11. Hawley 12. Brian Ellenberger 13. Lynch 14. Kent 15. Brad Ellenberger 16. Young 17. R. Jones 18. B. Smith 19. Hysong 20. Burns 21. Duncan 22. Kauffman 23. Lutz 24. S. Jones.

All Star Points: 1. Kenny Jacobs 5268; 2. Joey Saldana 5119; 3. Frankie Kerr 5042; 4. Dean Jacobs 4854; 5. Keith Kauffman 4781; 6. Brian Smith 3625; 7. Scott Jones 3608; 8. Judi Bates 2076; 9. Sarah Fisher 1796 10. Jeff Shepard 1747.