Wednesday (Dec. 9) was a very calm day in the very heated battle between George Napolitano Jr. and Aaron Merriman for the 2015 North American dash winning crown for drivers. Both recorded one winner on the day, bringing the current scoreline to Napolitano 820, Merriman 817.

It was an unremarkable day at Philly on Wednesday afternoon, as far as the range of winning prices – the average win price for the afternoon was $10.93, vs. the seasonal average of $10.88. But Napolitano did not have the contending stock he frequently handles there – seven of his 13 drives went off at 5-1 or more, which is practically longshot status on George Napolitano Jr. in eastern Pennsylvania, and Hall of Famer David Miller fashioned a fine afternoon with four wins.

At The Meadows, the Wednesday form was wild for the second consecutive week, as three horses paid $50 or more over the Lightning Limestone (with an 86-1 shot missing by a nose in a another heat); Merriman prevailed with one of the chalks that did reach the winners circle.

At Northfield, Merriman hit the board six times in 10 drives, but he couldn’t make the winning breakthrough. Ron Wrenn Jr., two-time defending North America champion, Northfield’s leader, and third behind George and Aaron in 2015, did get two victories, raising his 2015 total to 750. But he too often came away “close but with no cigar,” as he had five other board finishes in his nine sulky steers.

Perhaps the race that best summarized the night for Merriman and Wrenn was Northfield’s 11th, where Wrenn was second, beaten a neck, with Merriman another neck behind in third, to Rumors Havit and driver Jason Thompson, who blew up the tote board with a $222.60 mutuel.

Checking slated action, Napolitano is scheduled to drive on Thursday, Friday, and Sunday afternoons at Harrah’s Philadelphia – the last three racing cards of the year at the suburban Philadelphia track, and likely the end of Napolitano’s driving for 2015. Merriman has doubleheader action slated for The Meadows (afternoon) and Northfield (night) on Friday and Monday, and also work on Sunday night; Wrenn is scheduled to join him on the three Northfield cards.