By Jim Clarke, Clarke Motorsports Communications
Although he’s only 35 years old, Bryan Mercer has spent much of his adult life chasing racing. What started as a casual hobby for the Port Hope, Ontario resident has turned into a passion he feeds every Friday night between May and September.
In 2007, Mercer earned Kawartha Speedway’s most improved driver honours and finished 4th in the late model division. He’d hoped to parlay that momentum into some early season success and possibly do a little more travelling this year, but other than a trip to Delaware Speedway near London, Ontario in April and a rainout at Capital City Speedway, his road trips have been few and far between. The father of 3 has stayed pretty close to home.
“The Delaware show helped us get a jump on the season but may have also hurt us,” says Mercer. “We finished 8th, but an on-track incident might’ve damaged the car more than we first thought. It was kind of a rough race and some of the other competitors were a tad over anxious to get their season rolling. I was looking forward to the Ottawa race. Larry, Dan and Brandon (Kawartha Speedway drivers Larry Jackson, Dan McHattie and Brandon Watson) were there too, but rain caused the promoter to pull the plug.”
Mercer has been a little frustrated by the way his crew has had to ‘chase’ the car Friday nights at Kawartha this year. He says the track has become very temperature sensitive and things his McColl chassis Chevrolet does during the practise sessions don’t always translate well to how it performs under race conditions later on. There have also been mechanical issues to deal with that have caused some long hours in the shop.
Friday, September 5th looked like it could be a good night for the #81 Sine’s Flooring/Royal LePage Pro Alliance Real Estate-Derek Friedrich team. A 3rd place run in their qualifying heat gave them a spot in the semi-feature. Unfortunately, rain moved into the area and cancelled the remainder of the night just after the limited late model semi feature.
“The weather has hurt everyone this year,” says Mercer. Drivers, sponsors, race tracks – they’re all feeling the pressure. Kawartha has lost 5 shows this year. That’s a huge fact, especially when you consider they ran 2 complete seasons without a rainout.”
Saturday, August 30th Bryan Mercer did some travelling to get his racing fix. A last minute run to Delaware Speedway for the Great Canadian Race APC 300 produced some unexpected results. In time trials, he was 25th out of 33 cars. In the main event, Mercer turned-in an 11th place finish.
Look to www.kawarthaspeedway.com to track Bryan Mercer’s 2008 performance.
Photo tag line: Bryan Mercer holds the bottom line through turn 3 at Kawartha Speedway. (Jim Clarke photo)
Media contact: Jim Clarke – Clarke Motorsports Communications
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