streak of ten wins ended a week earlier. Mercer was again strong in practice, but when it came time to qualify the Reliable Fire & Safety, Steele Rubber Products car wasn't up to speed and posted only a second place qualifying effort.

Mercer knew that he didn't get the lap that he had expected, but he was ready to go racing and once the green flag dropped it looked as if he was going to pick up where he had left off two weeks before. Mercer grabbed the lead from his outside pole starting effort and wanted to take control of the race, but he would qucikly be challenged for the position and on lap 14 he slipped back to second.

Mercer wasn't going to go away though as he was able to stick to the leaders back bumper and even challenged again for the lead before slipping to third as another car entered the battle for the lead. As the two cars battled in front of Mercer, he was looking for a place to make his move and several times he mixed it up with the leaders.

However everytime Mercer would come away still running in third, but the race rolled to a quick a finish as the 50-lap affair went caution free. On the final couple of laps Mercer and the two leaders were again mixing it up for the lead and Mercer had the best seat as he was in a position to make a move if the two leaders got together.

The two leaders wouldn't get together, but as the field came down to get the checkered flag Mercer stuck his nose in there and made it three-wide. Mercer hit a new bump that was in track that was created by a trailer at last weeks touring series race and had been giving everyone trouble. As he pushed it hard toward the finish of the race, his desire to win overcame and he spun down to the finish line after being just a few feet away from victory.

"I was going for it there at the end," said Mercer. "I knew we didn't have as good of a car as we have all season or we would have been up front from the start. I made a move and that bump got me, I couldn't strattle it and it spun me around because I was already loose."

Mercer's spin put him in the fourth finishing position after the smoke cleared and although that wasn't the finish he was looking for, it wasn't really any worse than finishing second.

"Fourth's the same as second to me ... I'm there to win and I went for it there at the end for sure."

Mercer and his Mercer Racing team was very disappointed with the way their car had performed and once they reached the shop and unloaded the car after the race, they went to work to figure out what had went wrong. Their first thought that the ratchet springs in the rear end may have collapsed again, but it checked out and a few hours later they found the culprit.

"The right front spring had collapsed and that was what was making the car so loose. It was wicked loose so I knew something was wrong, but we still had a car that could win, so that was impressive," concluded Mercer.

Mercer will be back in action for two more weeks straight at Hickory Motor Speedway and may make some more appearances at Tri-County in the near future to try and gain some more NASCAR points. Mercer is supported by Reliable Fire & Safety, Steele Rubber Products, Performancenter Racing Warehouse, WP Racing Shocks, and Mercer Race Car Engineering.

For more on Mercer Racing and driver, Andy Mercer please visit their new website at www.mercerracing.com or contact RaceBrand Driver Management at (276) 613-4208.

About Reliable Fire & Safety
Based in Gastonia, NC, Reliable Fire & Safety offers fire extinguisher sales and service, restaurant and industrial fire suppression systems, as well as emergency light testing and repair. View the full line of Safety Supplies and Services at www.ReliableFireandSafety.com

About Steele Rubber Products
Steele Rubber Products is located in Denver, North Carolina. Our company manufactures and provides only the highest quality rubber parts and weatherstripping for classic cars, trucks and street rods. Steele was founded on a simple philosophy; it is less costly to "do it right the first time" than to buy inferior products that won't stand up over time or meet our customer's high expectations. For more visit www.steelerubber.com or www.springrubber.com