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DOG HOLLOW TO KICK OFF $30,000 TO-WIN FASTRAK
LATE MODEL GRAND NATIONALS SATURDAY; NIGHT 1 FOR NORTHEAST/MOV TO PAY $1500 By Mike Leone September 27, 2011 (Strongstown, PA)…For the first time ever, Night 1 of the FASTRAK Late Model Grand Nationals for the Northeast and Mid-Ohio Valley Regions will take place at Dog Hollow Speedway. Jim and Sharon Michny’s 4/10-mile oval will host the prestigious event this Saturday, October 1 with a rain date of Sunday. In years past, the Grand Nationals stretched over much of a week at three different speedways in the south, but in recent years in order to make it more affordable for the competitors, Night 1 has been held in each respective FASTRAK region. This also allows each region’s best to come to the nation’s meeting point on equal terms to battle it out for the $30,000 championship! To go one step further, this year’s Nights 2 and 3 will be held on consecutive nights on Friday and Saturday, October 21-22 at Volunteer Speedway in Bulls Gap, Tennessee. Drivers this year will only be required to pay one $150 entry fee for Nights 2 and 3 and every competitor that participates all three nights will be guaranteed $500 in point fund monies! The top 24 in points after three nights are part of the actual point fund with 24th paying $1,000! For the first time ever, the Grand National point fund will be paid out at a breakfast banquet the following day on Sunday, October 23 at 11 a.m. All of the points are now reset at zero as the Northeast and Mid-Ohio Valley Region racers head to Dog Hollow Speedway on Saturday night with the hopes and dreams of becoming the 2011 Grand National Champion. In order to be eligible to compete at Dog Hollow as well as the remainder of the Grand Nationals, drivers must be a FASTRAK member and have completed 12 events as part of their membership. Thus far, nearly 60% of the qualified Grand National drivers are from the Northeast (see list below). The qualifying procedure will be used for Saturday at Dog Hollow with heat line-up based off of qualifying time and a redraw of most likely six or eight cars from the heat races depending on the number of heat races with the remainder of the line-up straight-up on finish of heat and B main. The 30-lap feature will pay $1,500 to-win, $200 to-start. “Dog Hollow is thrilled to be able to host this event,” stated Northeast Co-Director Mike Leone. “Jim Michny has been a loyal supporter of FASTRAK from day one. He was on board in our inaugural season in 2007 and has always had some of the nation’s best weekly car counts. In fact, his worst weekly count for FASTRAK this season of 20 came on his final point night three Sundays ago with thunderstorms all around!” Last year, Max Blair and his father Rob were winners in Nights 1 and 2 at Mercer Raceway Park and Roaring Knob Motorsports Complex. The duo also finished runner-up to each other and headed to Night 3 at Virginia’s Wythe Raceway tied for the championship! Max would end up earning the $20,000 Grand Nationals runner-up honors, while his father tied for fifth! The father-son tandem will be primed for Saturday night at Dog Hollow; however, a victory at the speedway has always seemed to elude the younger Blair, but he would like nothing more than to end that skein with a win. Max is a three-time $10,000 National Weekly Series champion and is close to locking up his third Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC Northeast Touring Series Championship on October 7 at Roaring Knob Motorsports Complex. Max was also the Night 1 winner at Mercer back in 2008. Mike Pegher, Jr., who won Night 1 at Mercer in 2009, has had a strong 2011 season with 12 victories of which five have come on the Northeast Touring Series schedule along with his $2,500 win on September 3 at Pittsburgh’s PA Motor Speedway. Those victories have propelled Pegher into the top spot on the all-time Touring Series win list over his arch-rival Blair. Pegher was leading Blair on Saturday night at McKean with two laps to go until contact by Blair resulted in Pegher spinning and Blair being sent to the tail. Pegher would retire from the event pretty much ending his shot at his first Touring Series championship. Pegher had beaten Blair in seven consecutive Touring Series events prior to Saturday night now both racers enter the Grand Nationals following two disappointing nights of finishes out of the top 10. Pegher was also leading at Sharon on September 17 before being taken out by a lapped car. Those two turn of events allowed Ryan Montgomery and Wayne Robertson to capture their career first Touring Series wins. Speaking of Montgomery, the 14-year-old racer is closing in on the inaugural “Futures Cup” championship with the final point event coming in the third and final “trifecta” race on October 6 at Roaring Knob. Montgomery is one of several of the 18 “Futures Cup” contenders that will be on hand Saturday. Damian Bidwell, who is runner-up in the “Futures Cup,” has come on strong of late with three top five Touring Series finishes in his last five starts including a near win at Sharon before losing the lead off turn four on the final lap to Montgomery. Chad Wright is third in “Futures Cup” points and collected his first career win at Sharon Speedway this year. Shane Weaver is fourth and will be looking forward to competing at his home track. Several of the other “Futures Cup” racers will be participating including Eriez Speedway standout Bobby Rohrer, Jr. along with Trifecta Race #2 winner Lauren Longbrake and local Joe Petyak. A driver that could easily be considered a favorite to lead Dog Hollow tied for the point lead is Joe Martin. The Mayport, Pa. third year driver has gotten better and better, and owns five career victories at Dog Hollow. His two career Touring Series wins have come at his home track and almost pulled off the $3,000 upset at Tyler County on September 2 finishing second to Pegher. Martin is a great qualifier, which will also give him an advantage for Saturday. Drivers like Dan Angelicchio, Josh Holtgraver, Steve Dixon, Kyle Lukon, Tom Snyder, Jr., George Kowatic, Butch Lambert, Troy Shields, Bill Cunningham, Sharon Speedway champion Josh Double, Eriez Speedway champion Kyle Zimmerman, Shawn Jett, Shane Hitt, Mike Laughard, and several others could easily contend for the feature win. “We’re real excited once again for our racers,” expressed Northeast Co-Director Vicki Emig. “Our guys have continued each season to do well in the National Weekly and Grand National points and have continued to increase our point funds each season. Last year, we were pleased to announce that over $100,000 in point fund monies were paid to our regional racers excluding all local point fund monies and of course race earnings.” Saturday’s Dog Hollow Grand National Night 1 Payoff: 1. $1,500 2. $850 3. $600 4. $500 5. $400 6. $350 7. $325 8. $315 9. $300 10. $275 11. $250 12. $240 13. $225 14. $210 15-24. $200. Tow/Non-qualifiers $100. The following 94 member FASTRAK Northeast/Mid-Ohio Valley drivers are qualified as of 9/24 for completing 12 events: Steve Adkins, Jr., Dan Angelicchio, Russell Baird, Jr., Aaron Barley, Tyler Barris, Matt Bassaro, Steve Beatty, Scott Beitzel, Damian Bidwell, Max Blair, Rob Blair, Boone Blankenship, Larry Blankenship, Brian Booher, Jamie Brown, Tom Copeland, Bobby Cossell, IV, Bill Cunningham, Billy Cunningham, Jr., Nico Dabecco, Steve Davis, Steve Dixon, Bob Dorman, Josh Double, T.J. Downs, Mike Faykus, Lee Roy Ferguson, Jeff Fornash, Beau Glemba, Chad Green, Dusty Hamrick, Darin Henderson, Billy Henry, Jr., Ken Herman, Daniel Hill, Shane Hitt, Josh Holtgraver, Tate Hughes, Shawn Jett, Frankie Johnston, Chad Justice, George Kowatic, Justin Kreider, Rocky Kugel, Justin Lamb, Butch Lambert, Matt Latta, Mike Laughard, Brian Lessley, Mike Lewis, Jeff Lilly, Rich Logan, Jr., Lauren Longbrake, Kyle Lukon, Laura Lukon, D.J. Macri, Jr., Joe Martin, Ricky Meglaye, Mike Mitchell, Mark Moats, Jr., Ryan Montgomery, Joe Moyer, Mike Opalinski, Rob Ormsbee, John Over, Mike Pegher, Jr., Darren Peters, Joe Petyak, Bob Pifer III, Joel Prosser, Bobby Rohrer, Clay Ruffo, Troy Shields, Adam Sixt, Ron Smithley, Tim Snare, Tom Snyder, Jr., Rick Solari, Jason Stanke, Billy Stile, III, Rick Strickler, Orville Syester, III, Newt Tackett, Kyle Thomas, John Volpe, John Watson, Shane Weaver, Bobby Whitling, Eric Wilson, Chad Wright, Andrew Wylie, Alessa Young, Kyle Zimmerman, Jeremy Zufall. Any driver that feels he has qualified, but is not on this list should contact us immediately to verify eligibility. Drivers with 11 events can compete this Friday, September 30 at Elkins Speedway to qualify for the Grand Nationals. Transponders and RACEceivers are mandatory. Westhold transponders (yellow) will be required, and rentals will be available. There is a $100 entry fee. Any tech questions or information on the RACEceivers, call Brad Hibbard at 330-540-RACE. Pit gates open at 2:30 p.m. with hot laps at 5 followed by qualifying and heat races. Pit passes are $35. The rain date is Sunday with the same times. Dog Hollow Speedway is a 4/10-mile dirt track located 3.5 miles north of Route 422 in Strongstown, PA at 76 Hamill Road, Northern Cambria, PA 15714. For more information on Dog Hollow, check out their website at www.dog-hollow.net or call 814-948-4252. The track number on race day is 814-948-6812. FASTRAK Northeast’s 2011 marketing partners include Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC, The Original Pizza Logs, Bully Dog, Contingency Connection, Utsinger’s Towing, and Hoosier Tire. 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. |
