FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 5, 2010

FASTRAK NORTHEAST LATE MODEL TOURING SERIES SET FOR RECORD 20-EVENT 2010 SLATE; AT LEAST 16 WEEKLY-SANCTIONED TRACKS SET FOR ACTION

By Mike Leone
Pulaski, PA…The FASTRAK Northeast Late Model Touring Series is set to embark on its fourth season of action and co-directors Vicki Emig and Mike Leone have announced the tentative 2010 schedule of events.

Thus far a record 20 events make up the Touring Series slate, which will occur at 12 speedways throughout western and central Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio, northern West Virginia, and western New York. Currently there are 12 $1,200 to-win shows, three $1,500 to-win mains, two $2,000 to-win events, and one $3,000, $5,000, and $6,000 to-win features. This is in addition to Night 1 of the Grand Nationals at Mercer Raceway Park on October 2.

“We can’t express how excited we are about the upcoming season,” stated Emig. “The schedule has just come together wonderfully and we really have to thank the tracks and racers for believing in this concept. All of our weekly-sanctioned tracks have just been super to work and coordinating these dates so we can maximize car counts. The growth of this Series annually is just astounding. In 2007 we started with four weekly tracks and 12 Touring events. That number grew to five weekly tracks and 15 Touring events in 2008, and then last year to nine weekly tracks and 17 Touring shows. Now here we are at 16 weekly tracks and 20 Touring events and as we speak there is still more interest out there!”

The FASTRAK Northeast Touring Series is coming off a record-breaking season where 15 of the 17 events were completed in 2009. A total of 138 cars competed in these events with an average car count of 32 per event. David Scott became the third Series champion joining Alan Dellinger and Max Blair.

The 2010 champion will again receive a minimum of $5,000. In 2007, an approximate $10,000 point fund was paid. That number rose 50% in 2008 to an approximate $15,000 point fund. This past season, the amount grew to $17,200 in cash with near $19,000 including contingencies. In 2009, the top 12 racers received cash with contingencies going to 13-15. If the support is there, the points paying positions could grow to 15 in 2010.

Due to a scheduling conflict in the summer, the season will open up with back-to-back appearances at Tyler County Speedway on Saturday, April 17 and May 1 for $1,500 to-win each. The first will be part of the track’s topless event.

The first of two straight events in the Buckeye State begins at Raceway 7 on Friday, May 21 then the following weekend, Sharon Speedway will host their first of three events on the Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend on May 29. Last year’s race was a stellar one with Mike Pegher, Jr. capturing the win over a 37-car field.

The first of two National FASTRAK events for the Northeast Region will take place on Saturday, June 19, as longtime FASTRAK supporter, McKean County Raceway, will hold their largest event ever for the division with $5,000 up for grabs.

The following day, the cars and stars of FASTRAK will head south to Clearfield County for the first time ever at “The Big Track”- Central PA Speedway on June 20. The event will be an interesting one on neutral ground and should draw a strong field of cars, as no other FASTRAK event will be held this night.

New track owner Rick Jones will bring in the FASTRAK Northeast Touring Series to Roaring Knob Motorsports Complex on Saturday, June 26 for the first of two events. Last year’s first ever Touring Series event at Roaring Knob was won by Bobby Powell as 17 invaders made the trek down to take on Roaring Knob’s regulars at the scenic facility.

For the second straight year, FASTRAK played to a huge packed grandstands at Expo Speedway at the Trumbull County Fairgrounds. Past winners include Powell and Blair. This year’s event is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, June 30.

The richest event in the history of FASTRAK Northeast will come to Mercer Raceway Park on Saturday, July 3 for the “Summer Nationals”. This National FASTRAK event will pay a cool $6,000 to the winner and will also be the richest Late Model event in the history of Mercer! Mercer hosted a $5,000 National FASTRAK event back on July 4, 2007, which was won by Dick Barton. The 2010 season will be the 40th anniversary since the Late Models first appeared at Mercer in 1970.

Tri-City Speedway will mark the halfway point of the season with race #10 of 20 when they host a Touring Series at their Venango County oval for their first of two appearances on Sunday, July 18.
Ohio’s Raceway 7 and Sharon Speedway again host back-to-back events with Raceway 7’s on Friday, July 23 and less than a week later back to Sharon for a special midweek show on July 28. Sharon’s second event will be a Late Model fan’s dream as FASTRAK joins with the World of Outlaws.

Everyone heads east for a two-day weekend at Dog Hollow and Hesston Speedways on Friday and Saturday, August 6-7. Friday’s show at Dog Hollow always brings out a large field of cars with the Northeast Touring Series regulars joining the track’s strong weekly field. The next day will mark the furthest east a Northeast Touring Series event has ever been held as new promoter Dusty Hertzler welcomes the Touring Series.

Two weeks later another first will take place as the FASTRAK Late Models head to Modified country at Woodhull Raceway in Woodhull, New York on Saturday, August 21 for $1,500 to-win. This event should draw an interesting mix of cars, as neither Mercer, McKean, Hesston nor Fulton Speedways will have FASTRAK as part of their schedule this night. It’ll also give the central New York FASTRAK racers possibly their first chance to take part in a Touring Series event.

A busy Labor Day Weekend will find the Touring Series competing at Tyler County Speedway on Friday, September 3 for $3,000 to-win as part of their Black Diamond Weekend then two days later at Tri-City Speedway as part of their annual Oil Region Labor Day Classic Weekend. Last year’s Tri-City event drew an all-time Northeast record 43 cars and was won by Jim Frank for the first time!

Sharon Speedway and McKean County Raceway will host their final appearances by the FASTRAK Northeast Touring Series on consecutive weekends Saturday, September 18 and Friday, September 24 respectively.

A new season ending event will take place at Roaring Knob as part of the track’s “Spectacular Fall Fest on October 8-9. The two-day event will feature heat races on Friday night followed by the $2,000 Northeast Touring Championship on Saturday. An open practice is scheduled for Thursday night.

In the previous three seasons, a total of 34 Northeast Touring Series events have been contested. Blair is the all-time winner with five victories followed by Powell, Barton, and John Lacki with four wins. Scott’s three checkered flags in 2009 moved him into fifth place in a tie with Pegher. Dellinger is the only other driver to score multiple wins at two. Todd Andrews, Kyle Drum, Frank Guidace, Butch Lambert, Carl McKinney, Chris Meadows, Dennis Lunger, Jr., Jim Frank, and Tom Snyder, Jr. all have single victories.

Membership to join the Touring Series is again $100 for the season. Though membership is not required, it does make one eligible for the point fund. Each event has a $50-$150 entry fee depending on the payoff.

The FASTRAK Northeast Region boasts 16 confirmed weekly-sanctioned tracks for 2010 with Beckley Motorsports Park, Brewerton Speedway, Elkins Speedway, Dog Hollow Speedway, Fulton Speedway, Hesston Speedway, Mercer Raceway Park, McKean County Raceway, New Egypt Speedway, Princeton Speedway, Raceway 7, Roaring Knob Motorsports Complex, Sharon Speedway, Tri-City Speedway, Tyler County Speedway, & West Virginia Motor Speedway. There are three other speedways in neogotiations to become weekly-sanctioned.

Anyone interested in joining the Series, hosting a Northeast Touring event, or sponsoring the Series either as a tile, associate, or contingency can contact the FASTRAK Northeast office at 724-964-9300. E-mail to info@fastraknortheast.com and snail mail to 4368 Route 422, Pulaski, PA 16143. For more information, check out the FASTRAK Northeast website at www.fastraknortheast.com. Become our fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/fastraknortheast.

2010 FASTRAK Northeast Late Model Touring Series
· Saturday, April 17 Tyler County Speedway Middlebourne, WV($1,500 to-win Topless)
· Saturday, May 1 Tyler County Speedway Middlebourne, WV($1,500 to-win)
· Friday, May 21 Raceway 7 Conneaut, OH ($1,200 to-win)
· Saturday, May 29 Sharon Speedway Hartford, OH ($1,200 to-win)
· Saturday, June 19 McKean County Raceway East Smethport, PA (National Event for $5,000 to-win)
· Sunday, June 20 Central PA Speedway Clearfield, PA ($1,200 to-win)
· Saturday, June 26 Roaring Knob Motorsports Complex Markleysburg, PA ($1,200 to-win)
· Wednesday, June 30 Expo Speedway Cortland, OH (TENTATIVE for $2,000 to-win Trumbull County Fair)
· Saturday, July 3 Mercer Raceway Park Mercer, PA (Summer Nationals National Event for $6,000 to-win)
· Sunday, July 18 Tri-City Speedway Franklin, PA ($1,200 to-win)
· Friday, July 23 Raceway 7 Conneaut, OH ($1,200 to-win)
· Wednesday, July 28 Sharon Speedway Hartford, OH  ($1,200 to-win with World of Outlaw Late Models)
· Friday, August 6 Dog Hollow Speedway Strongstown, PA ($1,200 to-win)
· Saturday, August 7 Hesston Speedway Hesston, PA ($1,200 to-win)
· Saturday, August 21 Woodhull Raceway Woodhull, NY ($1,500 to-win)
· Friday, September 3 Tyler County Speedway Middlebourne, WV (Black Diamond Weekend for $3,000 to-win)
· Sunday, September 5 Tri-City Speedway Franklin, PA (Labor Day Oil Region Classic for $1,200 to-win)
· Saturday, September 18 Sharon Speedway Hartford, OH (“Apple Festival Nationals” for $1,200 to-win)
· Friday, September 24 McKean County Raceway East Smethport, PA (“Fall Classic” for $1,200 to-win)
· Fri & Sat, October 8-9 Roaring Knob Motorsports Complex Markleysburg, PA (“Spectacular Fall Fest” with heats Friday & $2,000 to-win Saturday)