MAX BLAIR DECLARED FASTRAK NATIONAL WEEKLY SERIES & NORTHEAST TOURING CHAMPION; AT LEAST 8 OTHER NE RACERS EYE $50,000 GRAND NATIONALS

October 13, 2008                   

Pulaski, PA…Fresh off the $5,000 FASTRAK Northeast Late Model Touring Series Championship, the $10,000 FASTRAK National Weekly Series Championship, and a $2,000 win in Night 1 of the $250,000 FASTRAK Grand Nationals, Max Blair will lead the Northeast pilgrimage south as they head to Friendship Speedway in Elkin, North Carolina on October 15 and 16 in Night 2 then on to Wythe Raceway in Rural Retreat, Virginia on October 17 and 18 for the Night 3 conclusion.  Fans can listen live every night at www.audiosportsonline.net/Fastrak/Fastrak.htm. 

In the sophomore season of the Northeast Touring Series, Blair was the only driver to repeat with victories in the 11-event slate.  The 18-year-old Centerville, Pa. racer won the opening event at McKean County Raceway on May 24 and scored his second win on August 24 at Eriez Speedway.  Blair edged out veteran Dick Barton by 17 points for the $5,000 top prize.  Barton, who missed the opening event at McKean and finished 23^rd in the next Touring event at Mercer, finished strong never finishing worse than seventh including a win at Dog Hollow.  It was the second straight year Barton has finished second in the Touring points.  Completing the top 10 with wins in parentheses were John Lacki (1), Bobby Powell (1), Tom Snyder, Jr., Dennis Lunger, Jr., Rusty Moore, Andy Buckley, Justin Kann, and Jay Watson.  Other winners were Mike Pegher, Jr., Carl McKinney, Butch Lambert, Alan Dellinger, Kyle Drum, and Frank Guidace.  The Northeast Touring Series will tentatively be held in conjunction with the Mercer Raceway Park banquet on Saturday, January 17. 

“This was my first year ever chasing points,” acknowledged Blair.  “At the beginning of the year I wanted to win three races and the Tri-City Speedway championship.  I’ve watched dad (Robbie Blair) do it all these years, but I wasn’t even planning on running all the Touring races.  It’s been cool going to all these different tracks and new places for me.”

This year saw a change from individual FASTRAK track champions to a new Weekly Point Series presented by City Chevrolet.  The system calculated drivers’ best 15 point finishes and paid down 30 spots.  Blair and Powell traded the top spot in points for much of the season before Blair took control and then had to hold off a September charge by Wisconsin’s Craig Bartz for the $10,000 prize.  In the final numbers, Blair topped Bartz by a mere two points earning 738 out of a maximum 750.  The Northeast had a strong showing taking nearly 50% of the total prize money ($15,700) as Powell finished in third ($3,000) just five points back and Barton fourth ($2,000) only seven points back.  Lacki finished in 11^th ($700).  Steve Hollabaugh missed the top 30 by just one point, Lunger by three, and Watson by four.          

“The coolest thing is me, Bobby (Powell), and Barton taking three of the top four spots,” expressed Blair.  “It’s just crazy and awesome in my eyes.  There was a lot of stress all year long and every race. and it’s a relief now that it’s over.  Point racing was in the back of my mind every night and I had to keep in mind many nights while running second that just by finishing there would gain me two points.”        

On October 4 at Mercer Raceway Park in Night 1 of the Grand Nationals for the Northeast Region, Blair passed Barton to capture the $2,000 win.  Even more importantly, Blair is now in a five-way tie for first with Shannon Buckingham (Southern/Mid-East), Ed Dixon (Midwest), Joey Tanner (Pacific), and Craig Bartz (Great Lakes) in Grand National points heading into Friendship Speedway on Wednesday and Thursday night.  Other Northeast racers confirmed to head south include Powell, Barton, Snyder, Lacki, Pegher, Lambert, and Hollabaugh.  Additional drivers are TBA.

“I’m very excited, but real nervous,” revealed Blair on Sunday night.  “There’s been a lot of work to get ready and I’m taking a spare car down just in case.  There’s a lot of pressure…what if I don’t make that first race?  It’s going to be a lot of fun and just traveling down together with Bobby (Powell) and of course I have my dad in my corner.  Nothing would have happened this year without him.  If he wasn’t going, I wouldn’t even be going because I wouldn’t have had a shot.  I’m going down with the maximum points, but I grew up around the tracks at home and these will be new tracks for both me and my dad.”   

All told, Blair ended the season with 13 FASTRAK sanctioned wins including six at Tri-City, three at Mercer, three at McKean, and one at Eriez in his Specialty Products/Loney Timber/Moody Welding/Eagle Hoist & Winch-sponsored #111.  Along with the Touring and National Weekly Series Championships, Blair also captured both the McKean and Tri-City track championships.  Of note, Blair’s hot streak continued this past Saturday night when he won another $2,000 race in his steel-block Late Model at The Challenger Raceway.

“This has been quite the year for FASTRAK here in the Northeast,” stated Northeast Co-Director Vicki Emig.  “We were very excited back in January to unveil the new National Weekly Point Series.  Little did we know we’d have three of the top four racers in the country and five in the top 11 spots!  Blair, Barton, and Powell had amazing seasons despite how competitive the entire season was both Touring and locally.  We had 10 different winners in 11 Touring events and averaged 30 cars per event.  Along with Mercer, we really have to thank Raceway 7, Dog Hollow, McKean, and Tri-City Speedways for being FASTRAK-sanctioned speedways and giving our racers the opportunity to compete for all these dollars FASTRAK doles out.  We received lots of great press coverage both for the Series and our drivers.  Now we’re looking forward to our top racers heading south to compete against the entire nation with a shot at the $50,000 championship and bringing some of the $250,000 back to the Northeast.” 

Final 2008 FASTRAK Touring Series Points (only Touring Series members are eligible to receive points): 1. Max Blair 325  2. Dick Barton 308  3. John Lacki 291  4. Bobby Powell 287  5. Tom Snyder, Jr. 284  6. Dennis Lunger, Jr. 265  7. Rusty Moore 239  8. Andy Buckley 225  9. Justin Kann 203  10. Jay Watson 200  11. Jim Frank 198  12. Bob Kish 188  13. Roger French 168  14. Mike Pegher, Jr. 158  15. Steve Hollabaugh 157  16. Jon Law 146  17. Carl McKinney 144  18. Kevin Meadows 138  19. Bert Cleer 127  20. Chad Myers 125  21. Bob Diver 120  22. Dereck Frank 114  23. Kyle Drum 75  24. Bobby Whitling 67  25. Brian Booher 62  26. Bob Dorman 48  27. Todd Sweet 46  28. Tommy Schirnhofer, Jr. 38  29. Steve D’Apolito 37  30. 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, Sammy Stile, Alan Dellinger, Aaron Ridley, Tyler Dietz, Jeff Enos, Tony Hyde, Ron Smithley, Dan Angelicchio, Dave Lyon, Kyle Zimmerman, Jason Fosnaught, Bump Hedman, Greg Oakes, Chad Wilds, Alex Anderson, Dave Norton, Jr., Butch Lambert, Ben Black, Bryant Hank, Bob Vogt, Jr., Chris Haines, Jim Laughard, Dan Stives, Dave Osterberg, Gary Stahl, Scott Jones, Jason Stanke, John Haggerty, Kirby Tucker, Roger Laughlin, Chris Angelicchio, Joe Zulinsky, Wayne Mohawk, Mike Anderson (Jr.), Garrett Stephen, Bert Blackson, Tom Copeland, Chris Knuth 0.

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.