Dog Hollow To Try Again Friday To Complete Their 2nd FASTRAK Northeast Touring Series Event
By Mike Leone
September 3, 2008
Strongstown, PA…After last Friday’s rain out, the FASTRAK Northeast Late Model Touring Series will try again this Friday night, September 5 to complete their second event of the season at Jim and Sharon Michny’s Dog Hollow Speedway.
Dog Hollow will play host to their final visit of the season by the Northeast Touring Series featuring a 25-lap featuring paying $1,200 to-win, $150 to-start. Last year’s event was won by Bobby Powell and earlier this year defending Series champion, Alan Dellinger, topped a 32-car field for his first win at the track.
“Hopefully the weather will cooperate this Friday night,” stated Northeast Co-Director Vicki Emig. “We expect a good turnout of cars as this is the only FASTRAK-sanctioned event all weekend as Raceway 7 and Tri-City Speedways have completed their seasons and the division is off at Mercer and McKean County. It’s good to see Dog Hollow’s weekly car count has been on the rise and we’ve averaged over 30 cars per event.”
Carl McKinney became the Touring Series’ eighth different winner in nine races when he won $2,100 in last Sunday’s non-stop feature at Tri-City. Thus far Max Blair is the only repeat winner. The Centerville, Pa. 18-year-old opened the 2008 Touring Series with a victory on May 24 at McKean County Raceway and backed that up with his second $1,200 victory on August 24 at Eriez Speedway after getting by Tom Snyder, Jr. on lap 21. The following drivers have also been victorious: Frank Guidace (Mercer), Alan Dellinger (Dog Hollow), John Lacki (Raceway 7), Kyle Drum (McKean), Bobby Powell (Expo), and Mike Pegher, Jr. (Raceway 7).
Blair has a 39-point lead over Powell heading into Friday and also leads the National Weekly Series points by five over Powell. Following Friday’s event, Mercer Raceway Park will hold their second and final event on Saturday, September 13 followed by the finale at McKean County on Friday, September 26. Both events will pay $1,200 to-win, $150 to-start.
“The amount of different winners is a testament of the competitiveness of the Series,” said Northeast Co-Director Mike Leone. “Then you factor in standout racers like Dick Barton, Tommy Snyder, Dennis Lunger, Jay Watson, Rusty Moore, Jim Frank, and Steve Hollabaugh, who are always competitive, haven’t even won a race. There has been a total of one caution in the last two events combined with just one stoppage at Eriez and none in last Sunday’s 30 lapper at Tri-City. At Tri-City, 16 cars were on the lead and all 24 cars finished the event!”
Current Touring Series Points (only Touring Series members are eligible to receive points): 1. Max Blair 279 2. Bobby Powell 240 3. Dick Barton 239 4. Tom Snyder, Jr. 238 5. John Lacki 228 6. Dennis Lunger, Jr. 210 7. Jay Watson 200 8. Rusty Moore 198 9. Jim Frank 183 10. Andy Buckley 177 11. Justin Kann 175 12. Roger French 168 13. Steve Hollabaugh 138 14. Jon Law 136 15. Bob Kish 133 16. Chad Myers 125 17. Bob Diver 120 18. Kevin Meadows 112 19. Mike Pegher, Jr. 111 20. Dereck Frank 97 21. Carl McKinney 93 22. Bert Cleer 89 23. Bobby Whitling 67 24. Kyle Drum 63 25. Brian Booher 62 26. Bob Dorman 38 27. Steve D’Apolito 37 28. Todd Sweet 36 29. Tommy Schirnhofer, Jr., Bryan Salisbury, & Dave Airgood, Jr. 10 32. Frank Guidace, Dan Karalagas, Gary Miller, Jr., Tim Schram, Mike Wonderling, Sr., Tommy Kronenwetter, Mike Lesky, John Eckenrod, Rocky Kugel, Alan Dellinger, Aaron Ridley, Tyler Dietz, Jeff Enos, Tony Hyde, Ron Smithley, Dan Angelicchio, Dave Lyon, Kyle Zimmerman, Bump Hedman, Greg Oakes, Alex Anderson, Dave Norton, Jr., Butch Lambert, Ben Black, Bryant Hank, Bob Vogt, Jr., Chris Haines, Dan Stives, Dave Osterberg, Gary Stahl, Scott Jones, Jason Stanke, John Haggerty, Kirby Tucker, Roger Laughlin, Chris Angelicchio, Wayne Mohawk, Mike Anderson (Jr.), Garrett Stephen, Bert Blackson, Tom Copeland. 0.
Feature payoffs for Dog Hollow: 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.
Pits open at 5:30 p.m. on Friday with racing at 7:30 p.m. There is a $50 entry fee. The Goodyear G45 or G50 tires are mandatory. They will be available at the track for $128 each or by calling BWR Performance at 330-509-1999.
Dog Hollow Speedway is a 4/10-mile dirt track located at in Strongstown, Pa. three miles north of US 422 on SR 403 then 0.1 miles east on Hamill. For more information on Dog Hollow, check out their website at www.dog-hollow.com or call 814-948-4252. The track number on race day is 814-948-6812.
2008 FASTRAK Northeast Touring Series associate sponsors thus far are Race 1, Fame RV Center, Yoder’s Performance Specialty & PRC, Bullitt Chassis, and Fred Beans Parts.
To join our mailing list, simply send an e-mail to fastrakpr-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. Mike Leone and Vicki Emig can be reached at 724-964-9300. E-mail to info@fastraknortheast.com and snail mail to 4368 Route 422, Pulaski, PA 16143. For more information, check out www.fastraknortheast.com.
Only 5 FASTRAK-sanctioned events remain…
Remaining 5 FASTRAK-sanctioned events:
Sept 5: Dog Hollow Speedway (NE Touring event $1,200 to-win)
Sept 12: Dog Hollow Speedway (regular show)
Sept 13: Mercer Raceway Park (NE Touring event $1,200 to-win)
Sept 26: McKean County Raceway (NE Touring event $1,200 to-win)
Sept 27: McKean County Raceway (regular show)
Oct 4: Mercer Raceway Park (Night 1 of Grand Nationals $2,000 to-win)
Oct 15-16: Track TBA (Night 2 of Grand Nationals, TBA)
Oct 17-18: Wythe Raceway (Night 3 of Grand Nationals, TBA)
YOU MUST HAVE 15 SHOWS COMPLETED & BE A FASTRAK MEMBER TO COMPETE IN THE 3 NIGHTS OF THE GRAND NATIONALS!
Thus far the following 23 racers are qualified:
Max Blair, Bobby Powell, Dick Barton, Steve Hollabaugh, John Lacki, Jay Watson, Dennis Lunger, Dan Angelicchio, Tom Snyder, Jr., Gary Stahl, Rusty Moore, Butch Lambert, Justin Kann, Roger French, Dave Airgood, Jr., Chad Myers, Chris Haines, Jim Frank, Kirby Tucker, Bob Dorman, Carl McKinney, Dereck Frank, Jon Law.
McKinney Scores Upset Tri-City Win To Become 8th Different Winner In 9 Fastrak Northeast Late Model Touring Races
By Mike Leone
August 31, 2008
Franklin, PA…For the first time ever, the FASTRAK Northeast Late Model Touring Series paid a visit to Mike Graham and Roger Crick’s Tri-City Speedway with heat races on Saturday and B mains and the feature on Sunday night. With picture perfect weather all weekend for the Oil Region Classic, 34 cars from all over western Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio, and western New York turned out for race #9 of 12.
Prior to Sunday night, Carl McKinney had never finished in the top five of a FASTRAK Touring Series event and in fact had never won a Late Model feature of any kind in his career. McKinney erased that distinction as he ran a flawless race to score the biggest upset victory in the two-year history of the FASTRAK Northeast Touring Series. McKinney became the eighth different winner in nine races this season with his wire-to-wire victory in the 30-lap affair worth $2,000 plus an additional $100 from Tri-City’s divisional sponsor 4 Your Car Connection.
“This is just awesome,” exclaimed the soft-spoken Mars, Pa racer, who is the Tri-City Speedway E-Mod Champion the past two seasons. “This is my first one ever and I really wanted to get to victory lane bad. The car was on a rail and I just wanted to protect the bottom. I have to thank my sponsors and the crew behind. A big thanks goes out to Lynn Geisler for getting this car squared away on Wednesday- he still knows what he’s doing.”
McKinney drew the pole position and raced to the lead. It was three-wide for second on lap two with Dick Barton advancing to second past Chad Myers. Touring Series and National Weekly Series point leader, Max Blair, entered the picture when he went three-wide with Myers and Aaron Ridley for third on lap five. Blair grabbed the spot with Ridley to fourth.
Barton began to track down McKinney on lap six, while Blair closed on the front two on lap 10. By lap 12, Blair was all over the veteran Barton. While the battle was on for second, McKinney continued to lead and opened up some ground by the halfway point. Blair made a nice move in turn two to duck under and past Barton for second on the 16th circuit.
Blair now set his sights on McKinney and began to reel in the leader. Last Sunday night at Eriez Speedway, Blair took a first win away from Tom Snyder, Jr. with four to go and hoped to do the same with McKinney as he was right on the leader with 10 laps to go. McKinney though was able to clear the lapped car of Chris Haines, while Blair got caught behind Haines allowing McKinney some breathing room.
Barton closed in on Blair on lap 22 and then two laps later Blair again erased McKinney’s advantage. On lap 26 though, Blair again had trouble clearing a lapped car. This time it was Myers, and the two made contact, which allowed McKinney to get away. And that was all she wrote as McKinney’s Mikan Motors/Hufnagel-Majors Trailer Sales/Results Chiropractic-sponsored #6M beat Blair to the finish by 1.827 seconds in an event timed in 10:59.067 that saw all 24 starters complete the 30-lap event. McKinney also has four E-Mod wins this season and 10 for his career at Tri-City.
Blair extended his Touring Series point lead to 39 and his National Weekly Series to five over Bobby Powell with his runner-up finish. Barton, who is still searching for his first Touring Series win of the season, was third. Chatsworth, Georgia’s Aaron Ridley, a third cousin of former NASCAR racer and one-time Winston Cup winner Jody Ridley, finished fourth after starting seventh in his debut in the Bob Williams #8, which was driven to last year’s championship by Alan Dellinger. Tom Snyder, Jr. passed Butch Lambert on lap 17 to finish fifth and trails Barton by one point for third and Powell two points for second.
Completing the top 10 were Lambert, Powell, 17th starter Dennis Lunger, Jr., Jim Frank, and John Lacki. After getting in the feature with a last lap pass in the first B main, Raceway 7 champion Jay Watson passed the most cars in the non-stop feature coming from 24th to finish 11th. On Saturday, Ridley, Barton, McKinney, and Blair won the heat races and John Haggerty and Steve Hollabaugh opened Sunday with victories in the two B mains.
FASTRAK Northeast Late Model Touring Series Race #9 (30 laps $2,100 to-win): 1. CARL MCKINNEY (6M) 2. Max Blair (111) 3. Dick Barton (Nielson 28B) 4. Aaron Ridley (Williams 8) 5. Tom Snyder, Jr. (1F) 6. Butch Lambert (27) 7. Bobby Powell (Bidwell B1D) 8. Dennis Lunger, Jr. (Schwartz 17L) 9. Jim Frank (14*) 10. John Lacki (7) 11. Jay Watson (7x) 12. Kyle Zimmerman (17) 13. Roger French (-1) 14. Steve Hollabaugh (3H) 15. Dereck Frank (16*) 16. Justin Kann (Powell 100) 17. Rusty Moore (17M) 18. Chad Myers (01) 19. Steve D’Apolito (84) 20. Chris Haines (35H) 21. Bob Kish (5) 22. Bob Diver (23) 23. John Haggerty (49) 24. Tony Hyde (12) DNQ: Andy Buckley (Robinson 34R), Bobby Whitling (7w), Tyler Dietz (10), Bryan Salisbury (26), Tom Copeland (98), Alex Anderson (Woodard 22x), Jason Stanke (44), Bryant Hank (28), Mike Pegher, Jr. (Geisler 1C), Brian Booher (Hoover 00H).
Lap leaders: McKinney (1-30)
Heat winners: Aaron Ridley, Dick Barton, Carl McKinney, Max Blair
B main winners: John Haggerty & Steve Hollabaugh
Car count: 34
Next up for the FASTRAK Northeast Touring Series will be race #10 of 12 this Friday, September 5 at Dog Hollow Speedway in Strongstown, Pa. The event will pay $1,200 to-win, $150 to-start. Racing begins at 7:30 p.m. Dog Hollow will be followed by Mercer Raceway Park on Saturday, September 13 and McKean County Raceway on Friday, September 26 for $1,200 to-win events.
2008 FASTRAK Northeast Touring Series associate sponsors thus far are Race 1, Fame RV Center, Yoder’s Performance Specialty & PRC, Bullitt Chassis, and Fred Beans Parts.
To join our mailing list, simply send an e-mail to fastrakpr-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. Mike Leone and Vicki Emig can be reached at 724-964-9300. E-mail to info@fastraknortheast.com and snail mail to 4368 Route 422, Pulaski, PA 16143. For more information, check out www.fastraknortheast.com.
