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By Mike Leone
June 17, 2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Hammett, PA
After being rained out on May 27, the FASTRAK Northeast
Late Model Touring Series made their first ever appearance to Bobby
Rohrer's Eriez Speedway on a hot and sunny Sunday evening. A fine
field of 22 competitors from four different states closed out the
historic three-race weekend at the 3/8-mile oval located just outside
the Erie metro area as Dick Barton won for the second time this
season. Fans were treated to the FASTRAK brand of racing with two
and three-wide racing all night long that is becoming customary every
night.
Dick Barton backed up his inaugural FASTRAK Northeast Late Model
Touring Series win at Raceway 7 on May 25 by capturing his second
Touring victory of the season in the 25-lap, $1,500 to-win event out-
dueling John Watson for the victory "John (Watson) is a great race
car driver," expressed the Ashville, New York driver. "He had a good
weekend. This Series is a blast! There were already 41 FASTRAK
drivers in the area before this weekend. This is the future of
racing. We're all on the same Goodyear tires and run the same
engine. I made the outside work, but it was so slick coming off two."
Watson drew the pole position and raced out to the early lead with
Rodney Phillips and Barton in tow. By lap three it was a three-car
race for the lead with Watson trying to hold off Phillips and
Barton. Phillips tried to get under Watson, while Barton ran the top
side of the speedway. On lap six, it was three-wide for the lead
with Barton edging past Phillips for second. Barton appeared to make
the outside work to overtake Watson on lap seven, but a spin by Bob
Kish negated the pass for the lead. The event's second and final
caution was for Dave Padula with eight laps completed as the final 17
laps went non-stop.
When racing resumed, Chris Knuth and Alan Dellinger passed Phillips
for third and fourth on lap nine, while Watson and Barton raced side-
by-side for the lead. Directly behind the race for the lead, Knuth
and Dellinger were also side-by-side on lap 10. Dellinger made the
move for third on lap 11, but the following lap saw Phillips and
Knuth battle back running three-wide once again for the spot.
Barton kept working and working the top side of the speedway finally
making the pass stick coming off turn four on lap 13; meanwhile,
Phillips worked his way back to third taking the position back away
from Knuth. Now it was Dellinger's turn to make a move. The veteran
standout racer started ninth, got as high as third on lap 11 before
falling back to fifth on lap 12. Dellinger didn't give up as he took
fourth away from Knuth on lap 15 and slipped past Phillips for third
on lap 17. Dellinger ran down Watson and the two ran side-by-side on
laps 18 and 19 for second with Dellinger making the pass on the
outside on the 19th circuit.
Barton began to deal with lapped traffic on lap 20 and then again on
the event's final two laps. Dellinger cut into Barton's near
straightaway lead, but ran out of time as Barton raced on the
checkered flag first in Ron Neilson's Bolt Place/All Sound
Group/Custom Vinyl Graphics-sponsored #28B. Barton credited all the
people behind the scenes for giving him a great race car. Barton
continues to lead the Northeast Touring Series standings, which will
award the Series champion $5,000 and a 2008 Bullitt Chassis worth
$3,395 plus puts him in good shape toward the $50,000 National
Championship.
Dellinger's runner-up was his best effort of the season in Bob
Williams' #8. Phillips passed Watson on lap 23 to finish third;
however, was disqualified in post-race tech inspection for a
carburetor spacer infraction. Phillips had just gone from a GM 602
to the GM 604 engine. Watson moved back up to third at the finish.
Knuth, who charged from 19th to finish sixth Saturday night at McKean
County Raceway, had another solid run placing fourth. John Lacki's
bid for a clean sweep of the weekend ended with a fifth place finish
after starting 12th. Completing the top 10 were Steve Hollabaugh,
Bump Hedman, Tom Snyder, Jr., Tom Kemp, and Mark Osburn.
The event was completed in less than 15 minutes with only two
cautions for minor spins and once again just three cars were lapped.
Heat winners over the 22-car field were Greg Oakes, Lacki after
Phillips was disqualified, and Barton. At least three racers were
unable to return that were on hand before the rains came on May 27
including Jay Watson, Carl McKinney, and Bob Vogt, Jr.
Newcomers to the Series on Sunday night were Dog Hollow Speedway
regular Dave Padula, who made the long tow from near the
Pennsylvania/ Maryland border in Greencastle, Pa. and Wayne Mohawk of
Irvine, New York.
FASTRAK Northeast Late Model Series Race #4 (25 laps): 1. DICK BARTON
($1,500) 2. Alan Dellinger 3. John Watson 4. Chris Knuth 5. John
Lacki 6. Steve Hollabaugh 7. Bump Hedman 8. Tom Snyder, Jr. 9.
Tom Kemp 10. Mark Osburn 11. Dave Padula 12. Joe Watson 13. Chad
Myers 14. Wayne Mohawk 15. Bob Kish 16. Scott Lyon 17. Dereck
Frank 18. Jon Law 19. Greg Oakes 20. Kyle Drum 21. Jim Frank 22.
Rodney Phillips-DSQ (illegal).
Lap leaders: John Watson (1-12), Dick Barton (13-25)
Heat winners: Greg Oakes, John Lacki, Dick Barton
Car count: 22
The next event is this coming Saturday night, June 23 at Ohio's
Lakeville Speedway, where the FASTRAK Late Models will be running a
25-lap $1,200 to-win feature joining the Super Late Models and Steel-
Block Late Models. For more info, check out
www.lakevillespeedw ay.com.
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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