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By Mike Leone
May 25, 2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Bushnell, OH)
After six months of planning and promotion, the
speculation ended Friday night at Ron Nielson's Raceway 7. Dick
Barton will go down in the record back as the very first winner of
the FASTRAK Northeast Late Model Touring Series topping a superb
field of 20 competitors. A shower delayed the start of the history-
setting night some 30 minutes, but the majority of the rain stayed
south and the rest of the night remained rain-free as fans were
treated to great racing on the tacky, dust-free surface.
Late Model standout Dick Barton has won over 200 races and
numerous championships throughout his illustrious career; now he can
now add a FASTRAK Northeast Touring Series event to his resume. The
Ashville, New York driver came out on top of a furious battle with
Jay Watson to capture the 25-lap $1,500 to-win feature in an event
that had just two cautions and only two lapped cars.
"This is PURE racing," expressed Barton after he climbed from
his winning race car in victory lane. "This is what it's all about-
just racing. Jay (Watson) and I were real even and it just took an
instance and I got him. You look under the hood and it's the same
motor and everyone's on the same Goodyear tires. It's so much fun
and the track surface has been good here every week. This motor can
be claimed for $5,000; if it is, good, we'll get a brand new one.
It's all about the teching and that will make it survive. The
procedure is very straight forward. They pull the valve cover and
then check the spacer for size plus the cam, rocker arms, carburetor,
and distributor are all checked."
Alan Dellinger drew the pole position for the feature event,
but it was New York invader Greg Oakes overtaking one of the region's
greats for the early lead. Barton, who started seventh, cracked the
top five on lap two when he passed former Mod Lite racer Jeff
Teeters. One lap later Barton slipped past Bump Hedman for fourth.
Watson began pressuring Dellinger for second on lap four,
while Barton closed in making it a three-car race for second just
before the first caution waved for former Empire Super Sprint racer
Kyle Drum. Under caution, Dellinger pitted moving Watson and Barton
up to second and third. Dellinger re-entered the event at the tail
of the field.
When racing resumed, Watson found the high side to his liking
using a sweeping move off turn two to power past Oakes for the lead.
Barton followed and nipped Oakes for second at the line. Barton set
his sights on Watson and looked under the leader on lap eight, but
Watson maintained his advantage. On laps 10 and 11 Barton closed
back in and was all over leader. Watson though continued to lead as
green flag racing took place.
Lapped traffic didn't come into play until the 17th circuit
when the leaders dealt with another former Mod Lite competitor in
Jack Nutter. Stock car graduate Chad Myers was the second and final
lapped car Watson and Barton would face. On laps 18 and 19, Watson
tried to find the best way around Myers as Barton was right there in
the exciting duel. The duo then ran side-by-side on laps 19 and 20
keeping the fans on the edge of their seat in suspense.
Finally on lap 21, Barton used some of his 23 years of
experience in a Late Model to make a great move slipping under and
past Watson as the two raced off turn two. Barton and Watson crossed
under the line in first and second to count lap 21 before the second
and final caution was displayed for Teeters, who came to a rest.
Barton mastered the double-file restart choosing the outside and
getting a great restart to lead the event's final five laps to
capture the inaugural feature event for the FASTRAK Northeast
Series. Barton's victory came in Neilson's Bolt Place/All Sound
Group/Custom Vinyl Graphics-sponsored #28B and he credited all the
people behind the scenes for giving him a great race car. Barton has
the early lead in the Northeast Touring Series standings, which will
award the Series champion $5,000 and 2008 Bullitt Chassis worth
$3,395 plus puts him in good shape toward the $50,000 National
Championship.
Watson was a strong second. Oakes, a former big winner in
the E-Mod division, held off Stock Car great Tom Snyder, Jr. for
third. Hedman was fifth. Dellinger charged back through the field
to collect sixth. Jon Law finished seventh, but was disqualified at
the scales for being too light moving 19th starter Todd Andrews up to
seventh. John Watson was eighth. Veteran Late Model racer Steve
Hollabaugh came home ninth in a competitive run over Carl McKinney,
one of the region's top E-Mod racers.
Barton drew the number pill at the beginning of the night
earning him the pole position of the first 10-car, 8-lap heat race,
which he was victorious in. Rodney Phillips won an excellent heat
race number two in which the top four cars would have been covered
with a blanket and doing it amazingly with a $3,000 GM 602 engines.
"We were very thrilled with 20 quality race cars and drivers
for the inaugural show on a very threatening weather night," stated
Northeast Co-Director Vicki Emig. "There was actually another seven
drivers that paid their membership for the Series that did not show.
All of these drivers and tracks need commended for sticking their
necks out when a lot of naysayers said it would never fly. These
drivers will be remembered as the pioneers for this Series many years
from now. The fans tonight got a good taste of just how competitive
the racing is going to be. We're greatly looking forward to the
growth of FASTRAK here in the Northeast."
FASTRAK Northeast Late Model Series (25 laps): 1. DICK BARTON
($1,500) 2. Jay Watson 3. Greg Oakes 4. Tom Snyder, Jr. 5. Bump
Hedman 6. Alan Dellinger 7. Todd Andrews 8. John Watson 9. Steve
Hollabaugh 10. Carl McKinney 11. Larry Kugel 12. Rodney Phillips
13. Chad Myers 14. Jack Nutter 15. Jeff Teeters 16. Tom Kemp 17.
Bob Vogt, Jr. 18. Mark Osburn 19. Kyle Drum 20. Jon Law-DSQ
(light).
Lap leaders: Oakes (1-4), Jay Watson (5-20), Barton (21-25)
Heat winners: Dick Barton, Rodney Phillips.
Car count: 20
The Northeast Touring schedule is approximately 15 events at
11 different tracks in four states. The events will pay a minimum of
$1,200 to-win highlighted by the $5,000 to-win event at Mercer
Raceway Park on Wednesday, July 4.
The next event will be this Sunday, May 27 at Eriez Speedway, which
is located outside of Erie, Pa. in Hammett, Pa. The 25-lap feature
will pay $1,500 to-win. Gates open at 3:30 p.m. with racing at 5.
Take Interstate 90 to exit 8 (Route 8). Go south on Rte 8
approximately 2.5 miles towards Hammett, Pa to Tate Rd. Turn right
onto Tate Rd and follow until the "T" intersection. At the "T" turn
left onto Lake Pleasant. Go approximately .3 miles to Sampson Rd and
turn right. Eriez Speedway is on the left. For more info check out
www.eriez-speedway. com or call 814-796-6747.
To join our mailing list, simply send an e-mail to fastrakpr-
subscribe@yahoogrou ps.com. Mike Leone and Vicki Emig can be reached
at 724-964-9300. E-mail to webmaster@mercerrac ewaypark. com and snail
mail to 4368 Route 422, Pulaski, PA 16143. For more information,
check out www.fastrakracing. com.
Partners of the FASTRAK Racing Series Include: Goodyear Racing, GM
Performance Parts, Maypole Chevrolet, Duralite Wheels, PPM Racing
Products, Heintz Performance, MK-Direct, Braswell Carburetion,
Mastersbilt Racing Chassis, TNT Racing Chassis, Rocket Racing
Chassis, Modern Chevrolet and Schoenfeld Headers.
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