Bryan Mercer Returns to Weekly Racing with a 2nd Place Finish at Peterborough Speedway
Local racing is a passion. A hunger that is never truly satisfied.
Port Hope, Ontario’s Bryan Mercer may have stepped away from the weekly motorsport’s scene after the 2017 season, but when he returned to the sport – Saturday, July 17th at Peterborough Speedway – it looked like the 48-year-old second-generation speedster had never taken a break of several years from the driver’s seat.
“The laps we ran during the first practice session were on a set of older tires, but even then, our McColl Racing Enterprises ride gave us a good idea of what to expect for the rest of the night,” explained the driver. “This team works hard at the shop and the car is always ready to go when it rolls off the trailer at the track. We added some new information to our set-up notes and got ready for the rest of the night.”
With a fresh set of Hoosier rubber on the car, Mercer’s ride was ready to rock through Peterborough Speedway’s qualifying process. Things went well and the racer picked-up his qualifying heat win of the 2021 season. Come feature time, the piece was on rails as Bryan Mercer moved into the race lead with just a couple of laps on the scoreboard. He moved out to a 3-car length advantage and looked untouchable. The only issue all race was the right-front brake.
“It was starting to seize and caused the car to get really loose,” admitted the driver. “Dan (McHattie) got by me in the 4th turn on lap 14 and he was gone. I won’t say we settled for anything, but to come away from our first race of the year – especially after being away for a while – with a 2nd place finish was like a win. It is a testament to how hard we work as a team. Our friends and fans saw a great race and I’m sure they got their money’s worth.”
The 2021 Mercer Motorsports schedule for Bryan and Jacob Mercer is proudly supported by Sine’s Flooring, Durmach Precision Tooling, Courtice Septic, Facility Services, Beyond Signs & Design, Mediavandals, Kawartha Metals, Stoney Shores General Contracting, BJ Tackle, Clarke Motorsports Communications, Cobourg Auto Collision, Cressman Tree Maintenance, Eastwood Development, National Shunt Service, Richter Law, Doner Custom Carpentry, Lynch, Rutherford, Tozer Accountants, M & M Food Market – Port Hope, McDonalds Port Hope & Cobourg/AJ Wood, Press Any Key Computer Solutions, Quantrill Chevrolet Buick GMC Cadillac and Ross Funeral Home.
About the team: Bryan Mercer – a former winner of the Summer Sizzler at Kawartha Speedway – has been a fixture on the local racing scene since 1997. He followed in the footsteps of his father Ron, who raced at area tracks in the 1960’s and 70’s. 14-year-old Jacob Mercer – who will be entering grade 10 at Port Hope High School in the fall – is learning his racing chops with the Toronto Kart Club. The team’s stock car and karting racing equipment are prepared and maintained by Jake Mercer, Andrew Hargreaves, Mike Lagrois, Scott Robinson, Phil Winter, Glen Pearce, Sue Dennis and the driver’s Mom and Grandmother Gwen Mercer.
Next action for Bryan Mercer and the No. 81M Late Model will be Saturday, July 24th at Peterborough Speedway, while Jacob Mercer has a Sunday, August 15th show at Mosport on his calendar, for the team’s Partner Appreciation Event.
The best place to see the teams take on the competition is at the racetrack. Fans can find updates and information at www.81mercermotorsports.net or www.facebook.com/Mercer-Motorsports.
