PORT HOPE, ON (October 4, 2022- His classes at Port Hope High School will take a backseat to a different kind of education as Jacob Mercer prepares to make his first start at Peterborough Speedway’s Autumn Colours Classic.
Throughout his stellar inaugural schedule in the Central Ontario oval’s Late Model division, the 15-year-old racer has become accustomed with 25-lap feature events. A recent start in the 70th Anniversary Shootout at Delaware Speedway saw the 3rd generation speedster run a 70-lap headliner. At the three-day Thanksgiving Weekend spectacular, the youngster will be chasing a strong finish in the Electric City 167, a combined Late Model/Pro Late Model ‘A’ main marathon.
“Even though it is about five times longer than our regular Saturday night features, our team is looking at it as another race on the schedule,” said the fast freshman runner. “From the drop of the first green flag, much of the racing we’ve been doing this year has been a learning experience and the Autumn Colours Classic is next on the list. Moving to a stock car after racing karts has been a lot of fun, but it is also a steep learning curve.”
As a Peterborough Speedway regular, Mercer – who finished second in the overall 2022 regular season point standings – takes a home track advantage into the extra-distance tryst. With timed lap qualifying instead of the traditional Saturday night heat races, drivers and teams will be looking at running some extensive practice laps to arrive on what they hope will be a race winning set-up.
Heading into his initial start in one of the most legendary short track events in the province, Jacob Mercer appreciates the contributions of sponsorship partners Sine’s Flooring, Durmach Precision Tooling, Facility Services, Courtice Septic, Kawartha Metals, Office Line, Cressman Tree Maintenance, Beyond Signs & Design, Mediavandals, Lynch, Rutherford, Tozer Certified Accountants, Richter Law, Press Any Key Computer Solutions, Quantrill Chev Buick GMC Cadillac, Ross Funeral Home, M&M Food Market – Port Hope, Doner Custom Carpentry, Dairy Farmers of Ontario, Cliffshore Excavating, Epic Racewear and Clarke Motorsports Communications in the team’s success.
Fans can keep up with the Port Hope, Ontario racer’s performance in the season-ending special events at 81 Mercer Motorsports on Facebook or through 81mercermotorsports.com.
Prepared by: Jim Clarke, Clarke Motorsports Communications/First Draft Media
