Mercer, PA…Mercer Raceway Park kicked off American Thunder Weekend on Saturday night completing the eighth show out of 10 scheduled for the 2006 season. The first warm and dry Saturday of the season saw a packed house turn out as the following drivers celebrating with wins in the Hoosier Tire Mid-Atlantic victory lane were Rob Eyler-RoadRunner & Lake Road Auto Sales Sprint Cars, Brad Rapp-American Racer/Lias Tire Modifieds, Brian Booher-Tire Express Stock Cars, and Carl Ealy-Maurer’s Trading Post Strictly Stocks. Randy Brazel of Stoneboro, Pa. won his first RE/MAX Real Estate Consultants “Gladiator Series” Demo Derby.

Rob Eyler always seems to break out of a slump with a victory and he did just that Saturday night with an impressive triumph for his first of the season in the 20-lap RoadRunner & LakeRoad Auto Sales Sprint Car feature. “It’s nice to be here again,” expressed the Franklin, Pa. winner. “I had to keep slowing down on the top to get around those guys- it kept getting tight. I pretty much bonsaied it in there above the cushion wide open. It was either make or break- it worked out good.”

Sixteen-year-old Sprint Car rookie Danny Holtrgaver out-dragged Gary Edwards into the lead at the start of the event with Eyler in third. Jason Dolick had the bottom working as he drove past Eyler for third on lap two. Following a restart for Dennis Wagner’s spin, Dolick’s car got unsettled as Eyler reclaimed the third spot. Defending champion Rod George raced his way from eighth into the top five past Tom Quarterson on lap five before a spin by Leonard Ripper, Jr. When racing resumed, Kevin Andrusky and Skip Dougherty tangled with both cars getting upside down on the backstretch. Both drivers were okay, but done for the night.

On the ensuing restart, Eyler blasted around Edwards racing off turn two for runner-up. Eyler then ran down Holtgraver and was all over the youngster. Eyler drove it in hard through turns three and four sweeping around Holtgraver to nip him at the start-finish line for the lead on lap seven. George continued to pick off cars taking fourth away from Dolick on lap 10. Two laps later George caught Edwards and made the pass for third down the backstretch on lap 14.

There was no denying Eyler as he cleared lapped traffic and took the checkered flag by a straightaway over Holtrgaver for the eighth victory of his career in his White Heating/World of Wheels/Bahama Breeze/Designer Graphics-sponsored #5a. “Danny doesn’t bite off more than he can chew,” explained Eyler when speaking of Holtgraver. “He runs a real good line- I’ll race with him anytime. He didn’t get in the way at the beginning of the year- now he’s fast and up front.”

Holtgraver, who was a Micro Sprint winner last season, held off the charging George for runner-up. Edwards dropped to fourth over Dolick. Completing the top 10 were point leader and three-time winner Bob Felmlee, three-time winner Arnie Kent, Quarterson, Brian Ellenberger, and Mark Murphy in his season debut. Heat winners over the 21-car field were Felmlee and Eyler.

Brad Rapp may have missed the first five nights of the season, but the high school senior is quickly making up for lost time with his second straight win in just his third start of the season in the 20-lap American Racer/Lias Tire Modified feature.

“I’m getting to like this,” exclaimed the Shippenville, Pa. victor. “Over the winter we rebuilt our program. We got a better motor and updated our chassis. We knew we were going to have a late start, but figured once we got out we’d be in good shape and it’s turning out that way so far.”

Third starter Gary Smoker led the opening lap after pole-sitter Garrett Krummert pushed in turn four. Jimmy Holden, who started fifth, moved into third on lap two past Matt Reeher and began challenging Krummert for second. It was a three-car race for the lead on lap six as Holden edged past Krummert at the line for third. Rapp, who started eighth, wasn’t a factor until lap eight when he made a nice move to pass veterans Mike Stine and Rick Hall for third just before a caution.

When racing resumed, Rapp ascended to second disposing of Holden and set his sights on Smoker. The two raced side-by-side on lap 10 with Smoker holding on. Smoker got a scare on lap 12 when rookie Ryan Haney spun in turns one and two. Smoker had nowhere to go and slammed the side of Haney, but continued with only cosmetic damage and maintained the lead for the restart.

When green replaced yellow, Rapp made his winning move taking the top spot away from Smoker coming out of turn four on the outside. Point leader Steve Young methodically made his way to the front from the 12th stealing the third spot away from Holden on the 12th circuit.

Young then challenged Smoker for second. While Smoker and Young battled for the remainder of the race, Rapp pulled away for another impressive victory- the third of his career in the Butch Rapp-owned Auto & Truck Specialties/Riverhill Battery House/JW Steel-sponsored #11R. Smoker held off Young for runner-up. Holden was fourth over 11th starter Frank Guidace. Sixth through tenth were Stine, Kevin Hoffman, Ron Eperthener, Jr., Matt Reeher, and Matt Baker. Taking heat race wins over the season-high 32-car field were Guidace, Rapp, and Stine. Kevin Green won the B main.

It didn’t appear that Brian Booher would be in victory lane after a flat tire early in the race, but came out of nowhere in the final laps to score a thrilling third victory of the season in the 15-lap Tire Express Stock Car feature. “My crew is really good,” stated the humble Sandy Lake, Pa. winner. “They have everything laying there for ever corner of the car, tire, and the air pressure is set. All we had to do was change it. I have to give this win to them- without them I wouldn’t have been here tonight.”

Bill Vance, Jr. took the lead from the start over Mark Sanders and Andy Thompson. Sanders and Vance battled for the top spot on lap two with contact being made that sent Sanders spinning in front of the field on the frontstretch and Vance to the tail for rough driving. This handed the lead to Thompson with Rick Norco up to second.

When racing resumed, sixth starter Terry Wheeler passed Rick Lanigan for third. The last 13 laps went non-stop. Norco closed on Thompson with five laps to go. On lap 12, Thompson got high in turn four allowing Norco to come off the bottom into the lead. On the ensuing lap in turn two, Thompson drifted high once again this time allowing Wheeler to grab second and Booher to third.

It appeared Norco was on his way to his first win of the year, but with the white flag in sight had a tire go down. Wheeler got stuck behind the slowing Norco, while Booher took advantage of the situation and shot around both Wheeler and Norco for the lead. Booher came around and crossed the checkered flag first for his 17th career win in the Terry Hoover-owned, Ed & Jerry’s Auto Service/Harry & Tim’s Roofing-sponsored #00H. Wheeler was a season best second. Lanigan was third for the third time this season. Thompson dropped to fourth over Kevin Thompson. Wheeler and Andy Buckley won the heat races over the 18-car field.

Carl Ealy won for the sixth time of the season in the 12-lap Maurer’s Trading Post Strictly Stock feature. The Volant, Pa. driver passed Bill Kluck, Jr. on lap two and sped off with smoke trailing from the car for the duration of the event for the non-stop victory. The win was the ninth of Ealy’s career in his #0. Bryan Wagner passed Kluck on lap nine to finish second. Kluck dropped to third over Curt Bish, Sr. and William Morrison III. Randy Ealy and newcomer Jeff Manners won the heat races.