By Mike Leone

October 22, 2008

Pulaski, PA…The 2008 season has come to a close for the FASTRAK Northeast Late Model racers following the Grand Nationals held this past week at Friendship Motor Speedway and Wythe Raceway.   David Smith captured Night 2 at Friendship, while Ty Dillon took Night 3 at Wythe, and Royce Bray is the 2008 $50,000 Grand National Champion with a box stock GM 604 engine.  In the end, Northeast racers took home over $40,000 in National Weekly, Northeast Touring, and Grand National point fund monies!  This is up from some $30,000 in 2007.      

The sophomore season for the Northeast Region saw a total of nine racers head south after Night 1 at Mercer to compete in Nights 2 and 3 of the $250,000 Grand Nationals up from five one year ago.  Those racers included Max Blair, Dick Barton, Mike Pegher, Jr., Bobby Powell, Tom Snyder, Jr., Dennis Lunger, Jr., John Lacki, Butch Lambert, and Steve Hollabaugh.  The drivers showed great resilience fighting it out until the end, helping each other out, battling crazy weather, and representing the Northeast in fine fashion.  Six of the nine racers made it into the top 30 points paying positions, while the other three finished just outside the top 30 as some 75 drivers competed in Nights 2 and 3 alone.

Fresh of his National Weekly and Northeast Touring Championships, Max Blair added another notch to his resume by finishing the highest of the Northeast racers in the Grand National points with a tie for seventh place.  After winning the $2,000 Night 1 at Mercer, Blair could only muster a 19^th in Night 2 at Friendship after getting caught up in a 14-car melee.  Blair then rebounded in his Specialty Products/Loney Timber/Moody Welding/Eagle Hoist & Winch-sponsored #111 at Wythe transferring from the B main into the 50-lap championship feature where he finished 10^th after starting 19^th.  The 18-year-old Centerville, Pa. driver earned over $20,000 in FASTRAK point fund monies alone not counting what he’ll receive for his championships at McKean County and Tri-City Speedway along with his seventh place at Mercer and all of his race event earnings throughout the season!  

There probably wasn’t anyone more disappointed following the Grand Nationals than Dick Barton.  One year after tying for fifth in the 2007 Grand National points, Barton got off to a strong start with a second at Mercer and backed that up with an impressive showing at Friendship as he was one of the few drivers able to pass advancing from the 11^th starting spot to a fine fourth place effort.  The Ashville, New York driver headed to Virginia tied for the point lead with Royce Bray.  Barton’s shot at $50,000 ended almost as fast as the night started as he got pinched coming out of turn two on lap one in a loaded heat race.  Barton’s Ron Nielson-owned, The Bolt Place/Raceway 7-sponsored #28B got freight-trained like he fell out of the draft at Daytona.  After a disappointing heat finish, Barton was unable to transfer out of the B main, which was lined-up on heat race finish rather than time.  In the end, Barton tied for ninth in the Grand National points. 

Mike Pegher, Jr. will probably look back on the 2008 Grand Nationals and think “Oh what could have been”.  The Stock Car graduate had a tremendous 2008 season with eight victories including his first ever Touring Series win in his first full season in a Late Model.  In Night 1 at Mercer, Pegher led the first two laps and was running third before spinning on lap 19 and was credited with 20^th.  Despite being mired in a tie for 95^th in points, car owner Lynn Geisler took the 22-year-old Wexford, Pa. racer south to gain valuable experience and that he did.  Pegher started one spot behind Barton in 12^th in Night 1 and would stay out of trouble to finish a very strong seventh.  Pegher was impressive on the high banks of Wythe as he qualified well and was the only local to transfer out of his heat for a 14^th place starting spot.  Pegher was moving forward in the feature running just outside the top 10 and two spots ahead of Blair when another spin cost him not only a top 10 feature finish, but a top 10 Grand National point placing.  In the final rundown, Pegher was tied for 18^th in the Cochran Automotive/Triple-S Auto Sales-sponsored #1C and joined Blair as the only two locals to make all three Grand National features.

Bobby Powell and Tom Snyder, Jr. tied for 28^th in the final Grand National point standings.  Powell started off the Grand Nationals by setting fast time at Mercer in the Scott Bidwell-owned, Fame RV Center/Maloney Tool & Mold-sponsored #B1D, but could only muster a seventh at the finish.  The Waterford. Pa. driver was the last car to transfer into the feature at Friendship, but like Blair, also got caught up the 14-car accident and would finish 21^st.  Hoping to add more points to his total at Wythe, Powell’s night ended at about the same spot where Barton got pinched as Powell slammed the turn two wall in his heat race and injuring his hand, which ended his inaugural Grand Nationals. 

Snyder left Mercer with a third place finish and tied for 11^th in points overall.  He joined Barton as the only two racers from 2007 that once again headed south.  The Mayport, Pa. driver of the Faster Chassis/JR’s Welding-sponsored #1F was unable to qualify for either feature at Friendship or Wythe and had to fall back on his Mercer points and show up points for Nights 2 and 3 to tie Powell.        

Dennis Lunger, Jr. made his first trek south to compete in the Grand Nationals after high hopes following a solid fourth place effort at Mercer.  The Corry, Pa. driver just couldn’t find enough speed to make either the Friendship or the Wythe features.  Lunger will still be rewarded as he held on to the final paying position in 30^th in the Schwartz Construction/Penn-Ohio/Carter Lumber/Mucci’s Pizza/Shetler Construction/Erie Marketing/Joe’s Carpentry/Lineup Masonry-sponsored #17L.  

While the final box scores may only show DNQ’s in Nights 2 and 3 and outside the top 30 in points for the other three local racers, their efforts should not go unnoticed. 

In his rookie Late Model season, Stock Car graduate Butch Lambert hit the highway competing whenever and wherever including stops at Eldora Speedway and Wythe earlier in the season.  The Mars, Pa. driver had late season success with his first win in the Touring finale at McKean on September 26 and then one week later garnered a fifth place effort in Night 1 at Mercer.  The underdog Lambert put on a great effort in both his heat and B main at Wythe that would make everyone here at home proud, but in the end came up short.  Lambert didn’t load up after failing to qualify as he ran the non-qualifiers race and came home fourth.  Lambert missed tying Lunger for 30^th by one point in his Bagel Bites/Austin’s A1 Bleach/Stover’s Net Connection/RAM Transit/Sports & Spirits/Dewitt Enterprises/Woodward Inc.-sponsored #27.    

Steve Hollabaugh has been a FASTRAK supporter from day one in 2007.  The Guys Mills, Pa. veteran driver competed weekly at both Mercer and Tri-City in 2008 finishing fourth in both tracks’ points.  Hollabaugh put forth a late charge in Night 1 at Mercer to finish a consistent sixth.  Hollabaugh surprised many when he headed south for the first time in his Brunot & Hollabaugh Glass/Esterly Machining/Hills Micro Weld/Meadville Bottling/Cargo Cleaners-sponsored #3H, but in the end missed tying Lunger for 30^th by two points.    

John Lacki joined Barton as the only two New York drivers to compete in all three nights of the Grand Nationals.  The Sinclairville, Ny. driver towed all over the Northeast in 2008 chasing both FASTRAK National Weekly and Touring points.  His efforts paid off with a third place in the final Touring and an 11^th place in the National Weekly points.  Lacki was hoping for a trifecta by racing his way into the top 30 points paying positions in the Grand Nationals, but missed out by five points.  The Grand Nationals started off good for Lacki with a pole position at Mercer, but a broken steering line relegated him to a 13^th place finish.  After missing the feature in Night 2, Lacki put together a strong qualifying effort in 14^th at Wythe in Night 3 and would later transfer to the feature through his B main.  Hoping to accumulate important feature points, Lacki could only muster a 21^st in his B&L Wholesale/Bradford Window Company/Duggan & Duggan Construction-sponsored #7. 

“We are very proud of these nine drivers,” stated Northeast Co-Director Vicki Emig along with Mike Leone.  “They put in a lot of effort and hard work during the Grand Nationals.  It was pretty neat seeing all of the Northeast parked together at Wythe and come together and support each other after a long year.  All of the drivers did a great job and everyone in the Northeast should be proud.  We can’t thank all of the tracks and drivers for their excellent support in 2008.  We’re looking to forward to year three and will now start focusing our efforts toward 2009.”  

It should also be noted that Northeast Regional Tech Inspector Brad Hibbard was part of the Grand National tech inspections as he did in the national event in August at Eldora and Northeast Regional Pit Steward Jim Dutko attended all events throughout the Grand Nationals.

Race fans and competitors can check out www.fastraknortheast.com for the latest news over the off-season and all of the final points, stats, driver profiles, and much more. 

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.