FASTRAK NE Tour Mercer Raceway Park July 14 preview

FASTRAK NE LATE MODEL TOUR HEADS TO A NEUTRAL SITE SATURDAY IN A LONG-AWAITED RETURN TO MERCER AFTER A 2-YEAR ABSENCE By Mike Leone July 11, 2012 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (Mercer, PA)…After an exciting five days of Speedweek presented by Original Pizza Logs that wrapped up last Sunday, the Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC Pace Performance FASTRAK Northeast Late Model Touring Series will get back at it this Saturday night, July 14 at Mercer Raceway Park. It will be the first appearance by FASTRAK since Night 1 of the Grand Nationals on October 1, 2010 and first Tour race since July 3, 2010. The second-half of the season is now underway as the Mercer event marks the 14th of the record 25-event 2012 slate. Mercer is in third year under the ownership of Bill Altman, who purchased the track from FASTRAK Northeast Co-Director Vicki Emig. Mercer has played an important part in the history of FASTRAK Northeast giving the Series a weekly Saturday night home from 2008-2010 in addition to holding five Northeast Touring shows including two National Events, and three Grand National Night 1 events! “It’ll be good to come home,” acknowledged Emig, the sixth year FASTRAK Northeast Co-Director. “The racers really wanted to come back to Mercer after not racing at the track for nearly two years. I have to thank Bill and general manager Frank Benic for scheduling an event. Mercer and Sharon struck up a deal with the Sprints and FASTRAK in 2011 so the two speedways wouldn’t conflict with their weekly programs, and the two traded off the divisions for this Saturday night as well. Mercer provides great racing no matter what division. It should be a great show for the fans and racers.” FASTRAK has competed 41 times at Mercer with 16 different winners as Max Blair leads the win list at 14 doubling up his nearest competitor Mike Pegher, Jr. at seven. Blair, four-time winner Frank Guidace, and Kyle Zimmerman have track championships to their credit. There has yet to be a repeat winner in Tour events at Mercer with Dick Barton, Guidace, Blair, David Scott, and Pegher all capturing victories. Blair recorded Night 1 Grand National wins in 2008 and 2010, while Pegher won the 2009 show. While Blair has certainly been the driver to beat on the 2012 Northeast Touring Series winning seven of the 13 races to date and leading the points, the competition has still been tough. No other driver has been able to repeat as Pegher, Ryan Montgomery, Joe Martin, and most recently in Speedweek competition Will Thomas III, Chad Ruhlman, and Matt Latta have all scored single victories. For the last two seasons, the Touring Series has averaged 35 cars per event. An amazing 163 different drivers have already participated in at least one of the 13 Touring events held this season! Heading into Saturday’s 25-lap $1,200 to-win feature, the 22-year-old Blair of Centerville, Pa. is fresh off his second straight “Cross the Borders” Speedweek crown and has opened up a 56-point lead on Pegher in search of his fourth championship in the past five seasons. It’s been an up and down season for Pegher, who is looking forward to the return to a track he’s had a lot of success at in both the Stock Cars and Late Models. Pegher has turned up the heat in the last eight events finishing in the top four six times with only one finish outside of the top six. Ruhlman is only three points behind Pegher as the battle for second has seemingly changed continually. Fifteen-year-old Ryan Montgomery has never raced at Mercer before and is currently fourth over Dan Angelicchio and Butch Lambert, who unfortunately will be out of action for the second straight race due to damages suffered last Saturday at Pittsburgh. John Over, Thomas, Chad Wright, and Martin round out the top 10 in the points. The “Wheelman” Bonus Event Challenge Series for non-qualifiers will be held in addition, if necessary. Jason Genco (two), Louie Krushansky, Bob Dorman, Junior Peters, Kyle Wiser, Joel Prosser, and Jamie Brown have picked up the non-qualifier wins to date, while W.L. Stile leads the points. An amazing 22 different drivers have scored victories in the 28 races run all-time. Of course all of the great contingency programs will be in full force. Besides the K&N “Cold Air Induction Dash” and fan giveaway, the Brake Man “Tough Brake of the Night”, Genesis Shocks “Top Dog of the Night”, Precise Racing Products “Pedal Down” Hard Charger, and the Utsinger’s Towing Hoosier Tire Giveaway will also take place. Decal packages will be available for these programs. Drivers are reminded that decals are required to be eligible for these awards with the exception of The Brake Man. Joe Martin, who captured his first career win at Mercer as well as receiving the Horizon Award, leads the K&N Dash Championship points by just one over Pegher. Three points behind is Over with Thomas and Blair quickly closing in. Saturday night’s dash will be run for the top four drivers that fail to make the redraw and will determine those positions starting spots in the feature. The payoff is $100 K&N certificate for first, $50 K&N certificate for second with $25 cash to third and fourth. There have been 86 Northeast Touring Series races contested with 33 different winners all-time. Max Blair leads nemesis Mike Pegher, Jr. 19 to 14 followed by Dick Barton, Bobby Powell, John Lacki, and David Scott with four, Steve Dixon, Josh Holtgraver and Joe Martin at three, Alan Dellinger, Dan Angelicchio, Robbie Blair, and Ryan Montgomery with two, and Todd Andrews, Kyle Drum, Frank Guidace, Butch Lambert, Carl McKinney, Dennis Lunger, Jr., Tom Snyder, Jr., Chris Meadows, Jim Frank, Mike Blose, Jonathan Davenport, Gary Knollinger, Dusty Hamrick, Bud Watson, Russell King, George Kowatic, Wayne Robertson, Will Thomas III, Chad Ruhlman & Matt Latta with one victory. Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC Northeast Touring Series Driver Points (must be Touring member to receive points): 1. Max Blair 443 2. Mike Pegher, Jr. 387 3. Chad Ruhlman 384 3. Ryan Montgomery 370 5. Butch Lambert & Dan Angelicchio 325 7. John Over 322 8. Will Thomas III 295 9. Chad Wright 252 10. Joe Martin 237 11. Shane Weaver 235 12. Matt Latta 231 13. Lauren Longbrake 216 14. Brad Kling 201 15. Bobby Rohrer 200 16. Jamie Brown 174 17. Nolan Dalton 163 18. Steve Dixon 161 19. Josh Holtgraver 155 20. Justin Tatlow 114 21. Andrew Wylie 108 22. Eric Wilson 106 23. Andrew Satterlee 101 24. Ricky Meglaye 99 25. Wayne Robertson 89 26. George Kowatic 88 27. Damian Bidwell 79 28. Adam Sixt 78 29. Junior Peters 69 30. Billy Henry, Jr. 65 31. Shane Bambarger 63 32. Jason Knowles 57 33. Rick Singleton 52 34. Tim Sears, Jr. 48 35. Billy Stile III. 44 36. John Lacki 43 37. Mike Laughard 38 38. Steve Beatty 36 39. David Scott & Brian Booher 33 41. Jorden Peters 32 42. Pat Willar 29 43. Jon Lichy 28 44. Shane Hitt 21 45. Doug Horton & Robbie Blair 11 47. Scott Smith, Cody Dawson & Jason Stetson 10. Mercer A Feature Payoff: 1. $1,200 2. $650 3. $450 4. $350 5. $325 6. $300 7. $275 8. $260 9. $255 10. $250 11. $225 12. $210 13. $200 14. $175 15. $165 16. $160 17. $155 18-24. $150. Non-Qualifier B Feature Payoff: 1. $125 2. $100 3. $90 4. $85 5. $80 6. $75 7. $70 8. $65 9. $60 10-24. $55. $50 to any driver failing to start either feature. Be sure to stop by the FASTRAK Northeast Apparel Trailer and Travel Boutique for all of the latest apparel, merchandise, and novelties. The new 2012 Fan Guide & Driver Handbook will also be on sale. There is a $50 entry fee and pit passes are $30. RACEceivers are mandatory at all events, and transponders are required at Mercer. Any tech questions call Brad Hibbard at 330-540-RACE. Gates open at 4 p.m. with racing at 7. Mercer Raceway Park is a 3/8-mile dirt track located minutes from both Interstate 79 and 80 just off Route 19 on Fairground Road in Mercer, Pa. For more information call the track at 724-662-1310 or their website at www.mercerracewaypark.com for the latest. 2012 FASTRAK Northeast marketing partners include Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC, Pace Performance, Hoosier Tires, K&N Filters, The Brake Man, Utsinger’s Towing, Original Pizza Logs, Precise Racing Products, VP Fuels, Beyea Custom Headers, Genesis Shocks, H&H Racing Equipment, High Gear Speed Shop, Hyperco, Jake’s Golf Carts, Lincoln Electric, Wrisco Aluminum, and Wylie Race Cars. You can reach co-directors Vicki Emig and Mike Leone at the FASTRAK Northeast office at 724-964-9300. E-mail to info@fastraknortheast.com and snail mail to 4368 Route 422, Pulaski, PA 16143. The office is open daily late mornings and after 1:30 p.m. For more information, check out the FASTRAK Northeast website at www.fastraknortheast.com. Become our fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/fastraknortheast and follow us on Twitter @FASTRAKNE ###

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