New promoters won't reopen Marion Center
Marion Center (Pa.) Speedway won’t reopen under new promoter Danny Pikel after a fatal accident at his gas station, the track announced Saturday.
Track co-owner Janet Potts had announced Thursday that Pikel — along with Melissa Gearhart and Neal Watkins — would reopen Marion Center on July 21, but the trio have decided against promoting the racetrack in light of the accident and death of Pikel’s close friend.
Potts has asked that others interested in promoting the 52-year-old track contact her at (724) 840-4008 or June Potts at (724) 388-6212. The sisters don’t plan on operating the quarter-mile oval themselves in 2018.
Pikel, a long-time race team owner who fielded Late Models for Mike Blose and other drivers, was set to finalize details of his lease agreement with Janet Potts in a Thursday evening meeting. That meeting was canceled after a car smashed into Pikel’s Top Tier Fuels in Rayne Township, Pa., earlier that afternoon, striking a fuel pump and crashing into the building.
An employee was trapped inside the burning building and her body was later found by emergency responders, according to a report from WTAE-TV. The driver was arrested on charges including homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence, police told the TV station.