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Mercer raceway Park held it annual "Chiller Thriller" Saturday April 5th under skies that vturned out surprisingly clear and not as cold as usual for an opening night!  Chris Zuver's brand new series for E-Mods, the United E-Mod Series, UEMS, was on hand for its first-ever event.  Along with the E-Mods, a feature for the Steel Block Late Models was held as well as a high-paying Street Stock show and a 4-cylinder class.  Below are photos from the historic event.  Photos by Jay Pees

Randy Hall continued to show his mastery of the E-Mod ranks by taking the first ever win in the new series.  Hall, of Olean, NY, will concentrate on the E-Mod this season and will be a regular at UEMS events as well as McKean County Raceway and Little Valley Speedway, where he has track championships at both venues.

Stateline-Eriez-Raceway 7 standout Justin Carlson was in attendance, racing to a ninth in the lid-lifter.

Franklin, PA's Shawn Shingledecker had a good night, finishing third in the feature.

Little Valley, NY's Kyle Bedell fought an ill-handling racecar all evening, but soldiered on to an 18th place finish.

From Mars, PA, local competitor Butch Lambert ran well, collecting a sixth place in the final rundown.

Super Late Model standout Dave Hess Jr made the trip to Mercer after having a great February in the south, collecting a fan-voted $12,000 bonus.  The youngster from Waterford, PA finished third.

Olean, NY's Vic Vena collected eleventh place honors in the final rundown.

McKean star Rich Michael, Jr ran well in his heat, winning with a last lap pass, but had a hard run in the feature, being credited with a 19th at the end.

Saegertown, PA's Gary Sullivan raced to an 18th place finish.

Late Model veteran Al Brewer tried out his expertise with this E-Mod, finishing eighth in his first run with the mods.

Joe Weber ran 5th in his heat and 16th in the feature.  Weber has several victories over the past couple years and has lots of room for sponsorship.  This competitor is a top runner and would be a great place for any local business.

Gary Eicher runs well on any surface, wins on the clay speedways of the area, winning Stateline and Eriez Championships and is a champion on asphalt as well, one of the truly versatile drivers in the tri-state area.  Eicher had a tough opening night to his '08 campaign, finishing 14th.

Craig Bedell brought one of the best looking mods to the track, but struggled terribly and was unable to make the feature.  This young man will get better and will be a threat to win on every outing before the year is out.

Hall takes the flag for the historic win.

Eventual winner Dennis Lunger takes over the front spot from Brent Johnson enroute to the win, the first in a Late Model for Lunger, a former E-Mod front runner.  Johnson wound up second at the checkers.

Hummingbird star Bob McMillen, 17th at the finish.

Charles Supplee made the trip to finish 10th.

Raceway 7 Steel Block Late Model Champion Dave Tackett races Lunger out of turn four.  After an early spin, Tackett came back to finish in the final rundown.

Former McKean and Stateline E-Mod front-runner Greg Johnson moves up to Late Models this season.  Johnson started out his Late Model career with a 9th place run.

Dennis Lunger displays the checkered flag after his triumph at Mercer.  Lunger won the event with a 640 GM "Crate" engine.

Rusty Wheeler, three time champion at Raceway 7 and front-runner anywhere he races, won the Street Stock portion of the racing.