They’re back, and they mean business. Mike Keener and Paul Mercure were the Camaro kings with a succession of Checkmate Camaros that competed in Stock, Modified Production, Super Modified, Top Stock, and Pro Stock classes from the early ’70s to the dawn of the 21st century. The partners set records, won races, and captured championships – including five NHRA national event victories, numerous divisional titles, 11 IHRA Top Stock titles, and an IHRA championship – before they decided to take a break from the brutal grind at the end of the 2006 season.
Now refreshed and recharged, Keener and Mercure are coming back. In place of the faithful first-generation Camaros that served them well for decades is a state-of-the-art 2012 COPO Camaro, now outfitted in fresh 2014 trim. Fuel injection and laptop computers have replaced four-barrel carburetors and tunnel ram manifolds in the pair’s pursuit of performance. What hasn’t changed, however, is the team’s familiar Checkmate logo, the trademark white and blue paint, and the fierce determination to win.
The Checkmate logo returns to sportsman drag racing in 2014 on the flanks of the Mercure & Keener COPO Camaro. A note to Factory Stock competitors: You have been warned.They’re back, and they mean business. Mike Keener and Paul Mercure were the Camaro kings with a succession of Checkmate Camaros that competed in Stock, Modified Production, Super Modified, Top Stock, and Pro Stock classes from the early ’70s to the dawn of the 21st century. The partners set records, won races, and captured championships – including five NHRA national event victories, numerous divisional titles, 11 IHRA Top Stock titles, and an IHRA championship – before they decided to take a break from the brutal grind at the end of the 2006 season.
Now refreshed and recharged, Keener and Mercure are coming back. In place of the faithful first-generation Camaros that served them well for decades is a state-of-the-art 2012 COPO Camaro, now outfitted in fresh 2014 trim. Fuel injection and laptop computers have replaced four-barrel carburetors and tunnel ram manifolds in the pair’s pursuit of performance. What hasn’t changed, however, is the team’s familiar Checkmate logo, the trademark white and blue paint, and the fierce determination to win.
Paul Mercure scored his first NHRA national event victory at the 1974 Sportsnationals in Bowling Green, Ky. After Mercure kissed the trophy queen, his Checkmate Camaro was promptly banned from Modified Production by tech officials who didn’t like its four-link rear suspension. Undeterred, Keener and Mercure built a second car, which NHRA approved, and Keener went on to win the 1974 Popular Hot Rodding meet with the team’s new D/MP ’68 Camaro.“I sprung this idea on Merc back in November and it just blossomed from there,” Keener explains. “I wasn’t going to do it without him, and we decided to go for it. It will be a great way to close out our careers.
“Although we’ve raced other cars over the years, we’re synonymous with Camaros,” he notes. “Everything about this car is different from a ’67-’69 Camaro. There’s nothing remotely similar, except four wheels and the name Camaro.”
In the eyes of many, the current crop of factory-built race cars, which includes COPO Camaros, Cobra Jet Mustangs, and Drag Pak Challengers, is the reincarnation of the original production-based Pro Stocks of the early ’70s when more than 40 cars would show up for national events. The advent of NHRA’s Factory Stock Showdown has provided an arena for heads-up, all-out sportsman drag racing.
“We both believe that the late-model musclecars are the future of doorslammer drag racing, and we’d like to do our part to take the Factory Stock Showdown to the next level,” Keener says. “Racer comments on various Internet forums indicates that many feel these cars do not belong in Stock Eliminator, and I don’t blame them. However, there were 30 cars at the U.S. Nationals this year, so I’m optimistic that we’ll see the program blossom into its own eliminator someday.”
Mercure agrees with his teammate’s assessment: “The COPO Camaros are cool cars,” he says. “We always raced a ’67, ’68, or ’69 Camaro since the early ’70s. Mike and I decided it was time to change. I like the computer stuff – I’m not real good at it yet, but I’m learning.”
Keener & Mercure are making their comeback with this 2012-turned-2014 COPO Camaro and setting their sights on the Factory Stock Showdown. About the only things the fifth-generation F-body has in common with its Checkmate predecessors is a V8 engine and Camaro badges. And, it seems like old times: Keener and Mercure began the process of sorting out their new Checkmate Camaro at the Mid Michigan Motorplex. The team initially tested at C/S weight in anticipation of competing in the naturally aspirated division of NHRA’s Factory Stock Showdown.
Mercure came within a heartbeat of winning the NHRA Modified eliminator championship in 1981 with this D/MP Camaro. He won the Sportsnationals, and was runner-up at the Grandnational, Summernationals, Golden Gate Nationals, and World Finals. A shifter malfunction in the final round of the World Finals handed the last NHRA Modified championship to Mike Edwards. One year later, Mercure and his Camaro won Competition eliminator at the 1982 NHRA World Finals after the Modified Production classes were folded into Comp.These old dogs are learning new tricks. Their familiar first-generation small-blocks and brawny big-blocks have been pushed aside in favor of an all-aluminum Gen III powerplant. “We’ve got an in-house engine program underway, and we just got our first 350 from Allan Patterson that we’re using to sort out the car,” Keener says. “Our goal is to get our Factory Stock engine going as soon as possible and compete in the next shootout event at Maple Grove.”
Keener and Mercure have remained true to their Modified roots with a manually shifted four-speed transmission in their modern Camaro. “Merc and I would never race an automatic,” Keener declares. “No offense to those who do, but it just isn’t our cup of tea. All of the factory COPOs come with a G-Force transmission and a different type of clutch than we use. We have a Jerico and some proven Pro Stock-type technology in the clutch department, so nothing about this car is the same as any other COPO.”
The new Checkmate Camaro was the prototype for the production run of 2012 COPO Camaros constructed by MPR Race Cars in nearby Almont, Mich.
“It’s a special car because it was the one that all of the COPOs were patterned after,” Keener explains. “I put the bug in Mike Pustelny’s ear to sell it to us. It was already painted white, so that made it a lot easier. All we had to do was add some blue trim and go from there!”
You couldn’t tell the players without a program when the Keener & Mercure team raced matching ’67 Camaros. In the span of 40 years, the pair has competed in a staggering variety of NHRA and IHRA classes, including Stock, Modified Production, Super Modified, Top Stock, Gas, and Pro Stock. The partners are members in good standing of the Detroit Rat Pack, a loose association of Michigan racers that included Pro Stock standouts Wally Booth, Dick Arons, Mike Fons, and Richard Maskin.Coming to terms with the fifth-generation Camaro’s chassis is an ongoing process for the veteran racers. “It’s real smooth, not violent like the old cars,” Mercure said after the team’s initial test sessions at the Mid Michigan Motorplex. “The 60-foot numbers aren’t anything to brag about yet, and that’s what I’m working on. This car has a strut front end with tiny coil springs, and it just doesn’t have enough stored energy compared to the old Camaros. I’m adjusting the four-link and the rearend to make the chassis work – but it’s a fine line, and I’ve already burned up a couple of clutches.”
Keener and Mercure relish the challenge of developing their new race car. They plan to share the driver’s seat after accumulating enough grade points to earn entries to NHRA national event competition.
“We’re going to run enough points races to get into national events, and we’ll do whatever we have to do,” Keener says. “I’m 67 and Paul is 72, so I have to tell you, a few days at the track takes its toll. Unless something unforeseen happens, we’re going to run all the way through 2015 and 2016, and then see what happens.”
“Iconic” is a much-abused adjective, but it accurately describes the stature of the Checkmate Camaros in sportsman drag racing. The enduring partnership of Keener and Mercure spans the sport’s history from the glory days of Modified eliminator in the 1970s to the return of factory-built race cars in the present. Armed with decades of experience and energized with newfound enthusiasm, Mike Keener and Paul Mercure are ready to checkmate the competition again.
Although Mercure & Keener traditionally favored first-generation Camaros, Mike won the 1976 NHRA Fallnationals with the team’s Pro Stock-style Vega Gasser, defeating Tony Christian’s Corvette in the final round.
Not a carburetor in sight – the twin Holley four-barrels and tunnel rams of yesteryear have been replaced by electronic fuel injection on Keener & Mercure’s Patterson Racing-prepared Gen III 350-cubic-inch small-block. Technical support from Holley helped to flatten the learning curve and eased the transition to 21st century technology. [Below] Keener & Mercure have remained true to their Modified roots with a manually shifted transmission. The pair installed a Jerico four-speed gearbox and a proven Pro Stock-style adjustable clutch in their COPO Camaro.
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