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MAX BLAIR EXTENDS POINT LEAD WITH 2nd FASTRAK NORTHEAST LATE MODEL TOURING SERIES WIN IN FRONT OF A STANDING-ROOM-ONLY CROWD AT EXPO SUNDAYBy Mike Leone Defending FASTRAK Northeast Touring Series Champion and current point leader Max Blair extended his point lead by scoring his second win of the season in the wild 30-lap feature. The $2,000 win matched the biggest of Blair’s career as he also won the $2,000 Night of 1 of the Grand Nationals at Mercer last October. “Mike (Pegher) had the car to beat tonight, but we had luck on our side,” explained the Centerville, Pa. third generation driver. “This is just awesome. I’ve never seen a crowd like this. I have to thank them for supporting this. This was a lot of fun and I hope we can come back next year- I love it here. My dad’s here and that just makes it better.” After finishing a close second in last year’s feature and a dominating heat win Sunday, Pegher looked to be the man to beat racing to the lead from the outside pole as third starting Blair and fifth starting David Scott moved to second and third respectively after one lap. Pegher held down the lead through the first 10 laps, but following a caution after a restart, something broke in Pegher’s rear end as the left rear wheel came off. Blair was handed the lead with Scott second and 12th starting Tommy Schirnhofer, Jr. to third. When racing resumed, eighth starting Bobby Powell grabbed third from Schirnhofer and Russell King followed in fourth one lap later. Powell and King were battling hard for third when the two made contact allowing Schirnhofer to sneak back by the duo for third with Gary Knollinger up to fourth. After a caution for a spin by Jason Rider, a wild restart saw Scott and Blair make contact allowing Schirnhofer to advance again- this time to second with King to third. Scott wasn’t about to give up as he drove by King for third on lap 22 and overtook Schirnhofer for second on lap 26 with an inside move in turn three. It looked like Scott was going to run out of time, but a pair of cautions with 28 laps completed bunched up the field. The second caution was when Schirnhofer made contact with Russell King sending King hard into the yuke tires ending his FASTRAK debut after coming from 20th to third. On the ensuing restart, Scott got a good restart as he had the advantage down the long frontstretch into turn one. Scott appeared to have the pass made, but Blair drove hard underneath Scott through turn one. The two made contact with Blair coming back out with the lead. Scott lost all of his momentum as Blair pulled away for his fourth career Touring Series victory tying Dick Barton for the all-time lead. Blair does lead the all-time FASTRAK-sanctioned event win list at 21 now in his Eagle Hoist & Winch/Specialty Products/Loney Timber/Moody Welding-sponsored #111. Scott held on to finish second to break the second place point tie with Pegher. Powell, who won last Saturday’s inaugural Touring Series event at Roaring Knob Motorsports Complex, raced home third for his fourth top five in six events. Knollinger recorded his third top five in fourth. Dan Angelicchio, who entered Friday night as the Touring Series point lead but failed to qualify for the feature, rebounded with a fifth place effort after starting 22nd. Sixth through tenth were 16th starting Butch Lambert, 23rd starting Joel Prosser, 19th starting Bud Watson, Gary Miller, Jr., and Bob Diver. Heat winners were Pegher, Schirnhofer, and Dave Airgood, Jr., while Watson won the B main.
FASTRAK Northeast Late Model Touring Series Race #6 (30 laps $2,000 to-win): 1. MAX BLAIR (111) 2. David Scott (Powell 100) 3. Bobby Powell (Bidwell B1D) 4. Gary Knollinger (38K) 5. Dan Angelicchio (14) 6. Butch Lambert (27) 7. Joel Prosser (77) 8. Bud Watson (2) 9. Gary Miller, Jr. (1m) 10. Bob Diver (23) 11. Garrett Mott (43x) 12. Tommy Schirnhofer, Jr. (8s) 13. Josh Double (38) 14. John Watson (48) 15. Dave Airgood, Jr. (42JR) 16. Russell King (8K) 17. Jason Rider (Johnson 2J) 18. Jon Law (14) 19. Shane Bambarger (68B) 20. Dennis Lunger, Jr. (Schwartz 17L) 21. Mike Pegher, Jr. (Geisler 1c) 22. Joe Martin (55) 23. Tom Copeland (98) 24. Chris Angelicchio (4) DNQ: Jason Stanke, Ben Black, Tyler Barris, Jim Long. Lap leaders: Pegher (1-10, Blair 11-30) Heat winners: Mike Pegher, Jr., Tommy Schirnhofer, Jr., Dave Airgood, Jr. B main winner: Bud Watson The FASTRAK Northeast Late Model Touring Series will visit McKean County Raceway in East Smethport, Pa. this Saturday night, July 11 for the first of two appearances. The 25-lap feature will pay $1,200 to-win, $150 to-start.
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