The site predates motorized competition by decades, having hosted horse racing as part of the Mercer County Fair during the 1800s. Automobile racing began at the oval on July 26, 1951, making Mercer Raceway Park one of the oldest continuously operated dirt track sites in Pennsylvania and among the oldest in the nation.
The facility runs on Saturday nights from late March into early October. It is situated at 555 Fairground Road in Mercer, Pennsylvania.
Mercer Raceway Park fields a broad weekly program across multiple divisions. Regular divisions have included 410 Sprint Cars, 358 Modifieds, Outlaw Sprint Warriors, Mod Lites, Stock Cars, and Mini Stocks. The track draws several touring series throughout the season, among them the UFO Late Models, Auto Racers for Kids Charities, All Star Sprint Circuit of Champions, All-American Sprint Nationals Pulling, BRP Modified Tour, and ARDC Sprint Midgets.
The mix of winged sprint cars and modifieds alongside regional touring series has made Mercer a consistent destination for western Pennsylvania open-wheel and short-track oval competition.
The Western PA Sprint Championship is the track's signature invitational event, originating in 1966 as a 100-lap endurance sprint race. Ralph Quarterson won the inaugural edition and claimed the next three consecutive renewals before the event was canceled in 1970.
The championship was revived in 1971 and ran as a 100-lap contest through 1977, when the distance was reduced to 50 laps. In 1978 the event was sanctioned by the World of Outlaws and won by Johnny Beaber of Gibsonburg, Ohio. The race shortened again to 40 laps in 1981 and ran once more in 1982, after which the track entered a closure period of nearly 11 years lasting from 1982 to 1994.
The event was revived again in 2004. Through 2010, a total of 21 races had been contested with 11 different winners. Ralph Quarterson leads the all-time list with five victories, followed by Bobby Allen with four. Johnny Beaber and Ed Lynch Jr. each won twice, as did Brian Ellenberger. Single-victory winners include Kenny Weld, Jan Opperman, Buddy Cochran, Lynn Paxton, Lou Blaney, and Carl Bowser.
Mercer Raceway Park has passed through several ownerships across its modern era. Vicki Emig owned and operated the facility from 1999 through the start of 2010. On April 30, 2010, Bill Altman purchased the track from Emig and immediately increased the Sprint Car purse by more than $1,000 to support the division.
Edward Michaels subsequently purchased the track from Altman in 2018. In 2026, Michelle and Earl Michaels purchased the facility from Edward Michaels, continuing family ownership of the track.
Under the current ownership, the speedway has maintained its position as one of the region's top dirt tracks for western Pennsylvania's competitive short-track community.
Mercer Raceway Park's longevity — from 19th-century fairgrounds horse racing through 21st-century sprint car competition — places it among the oldest continuous motorsport sites in Pennsylvania. The Western PA Sprint Championship's 1966 origins and its record of world-class competitors across six decades underscore the track's role as an anchor venue for regional open-wheel racing in the tri-state area of Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia.