FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 31, 2011

FASTRAK NE & MOV 2010 Touring Series Banquet held at Hard Rock Cafe Pittsburgh

By Mike Leone
(Pittsburgh, PA)…The Hard Rock Café Pittsburgh played host to the 2010 FASTRAK Northeast and Mid-Ohio Valley Late Model Touring Series Awards Banquet & Dinner on Sunday evening. The Hard Rock stage was the backdrop for this memorable night at Station Square, which saw a record $35,000 plus in cash and contingencies distributed. It was the first ever stand-alone banquet held for the Series after three prior years of being held in conjunction with the Mercer Raceway Park banquet. Longtime Tri-City Speedway announcer and publicist, Brian Spaid, emceed the affair.

“I would have never believed at the beginning of our attempt to have our own banquet that the results would be so wonderful,” expressed Northeast Co-Director Vicki Emig. “The support of our racers, weekly FASTRAK-sanctioned speedway promoters, and Series officials surpassed our expectations and the Hard Rock Café provided a perfect setting and atmosphere. We have to thank Hard Rock Café Sales and Marketing manager Roy Martin-Smith for working with us to ensure a perfect night and make sure everything went flawless. Brian Spaid did a fabulous job with the presentation, which received high marks from those in attendance, and we can’t thank him enough.”

The record-setting Northeast Touring Series saw all 20 events completed with six of those achieving 40 cars or more including an all-time high 53 at the opening event at Tyler County Speedway. The average car count was 33 per event with a record 176 different drivers competing! Twelve different drivers won events including eight first time Touring winners. For the first time, the top 15 drivers in points received cash amongst the ever-growing point fund.

For the second time in three seasons, Max Blair is the $5,000 Northeast Touring Series Champion. At 20 years of age, the Centerville, Pa. driver captured four wins bumping his career win total to an all-time Series high nine in his Specialty Products/4 Your Car Connection/Moody & Son Welding/Bossard’s Sales & Service-sponsored #111. Blair becomes the first repeat champion in the four-year history of the Series. Blair received an embroidered Northeast Touring Series Championship jacket that will match his National Weekly Series Championship jacket along with an engraved championship plaque, and a huge full color championship check.

Mike Pegher, Jr. continued his climb in the Touring Series standings advancing from 14th in 2008, to fourth in 2009, and to-runner-up in 2010. The Wexford, Pa. driver led the way with five victories. Like Pegher, Butch Lambert also continued his ascend up the standings in his third year on the Tour. The Mars, Pa. driver failed to win a race, but turned in the second highest top 10 finishes at 13 and passed an amazing 89 cars in feature competition!

The late Gary Knollinger finished his season on the Northeast trail in fourth garnering his career first win at Sharon Speedway on July 29 along with 12 top 10 finishes and perfect attendance despite having one of the longest nightly tows. Pittsburgh’s Josh Holtgraver made the short trip across town to accept his accolades with a great fifth place showing in points in his first season of Touring. Holtgraver also captured his first career Touring win at Sharon on May 29.

Bud Watson was sixth splitting his time between his family-owned #2 and defending car owner champions John and Janet Powell’s #100. The Conneaut, Ohio 17-year-old captured his first career FASTRAK win at Tri-City Speedway’s “Oil Region Labor Day Classic”. Continuing the trend of career first winners was Joe Martin, who won at Dog Hollow Speedway on August 6. The Mayport, Pa. second-year racer greatly improved from his 14th place in standings one year ago to a respectable seventh!

Dan Angelicchio of Greensburg, Pa. is one of the most consistent front-runners on the Tour and just missed out on his first career Touring win with two runner-ups and third place to push him to eighth in the final points. Despite joining the Tour late, Steve Dixon advanced his way to ninth in points in his first season of FASTRAK and is expected to contend for the title in 2011. The Smethport, Pa. driver won two events close to home late in the season at Woodhull Raceway and McKean County Raceway.

Bryan Force of Indiana, Pa. finished 10th and is another driver that continues to knock on the door for his career first Touring win. Completing the top 15 in points were Dan Karalagas, Mike Blose (one win), Kyle Zimmerman, Kyle Lukon, and Troy Shields.

It was only fitting that a huge angel and blue sky overlooked the entire Hard Rock Café. Gary Knollinger, Jr. may no longer be with us physically, but his spirit will never leave all that he touched. The Wheeling, West Virginia resident received three standing ovations from the large crowd of attendees on Sunday evening. Gary’s parents Gary Sr. and Bev, longtime girlfriend Heather Stollar, and crew chief John Seyler accepted his awards as the 2010 Mid-Ohio Valley Touring Series Championship. All four received embroidered jackets and engraved plaques to always remember Gary’s championship season. Heather gave an emotional speech that touched everyone that was present.

Finishing second through 10th in the inaugural standings and receiving cash and contingencies were Kyle Thomas, Pegher (one win), Holtgraver, Shane Hitt, K.C. Burdette and Joel Prosser tie, Aaron Barley, Shawn Jett, and Karalagas. Knollinger, Pegher, Holtgraver, and Karalagas were able to finish in the top 11 of both Series standings. Special thanks to Hitt and Prosser, who made the trip up from West Virginia to receive their awards.

Justin Kreider celebrated the inaugural “Wheelman” Bonus Event Challenge Series Championship. The Linesville, Pa. driver picked up $500 in cash and contingencies for his efforts. This inaugural program began in July and offered a bonus feature with an additional cash and point payoff for non-qualifiers. Martin and Jamie Brown, who made the long trip down from Jamestown, New York, were in attendance at the banquet and also received cash and contingencies for finishing third and fifth respectively.

Brant Granda captured the 2010 “Crew Chief of the Year” Award. The 15-year-old cousin to Max Blair was right by Blair’s side all season long. Many times it was just the two of them traveling up and down the highway for some 55 races they competed at. Blair has stated time and time again his success couldn’t have happened without his crew chief, who propelled Blair to his second championships in both the Northeast Touring and National Weekly Series, along with his runner-up in the Grand Nationals. Those three point funds alone were worth $35,000 in addition to his local titles at Raceway 7 and Tri-City Speedway as well runner-up at Mercer Raceway Park!

Another youngster receiving accolades was Austin Graul, a teenager who resides only minutes away from Hard Rock Café. Graul won the “Special Appreciation” Award for his continuous support of FASTRAK and its teams. Graul travels all across the Northeast and beyond for events to support the Series and his favorite drivers of Dan Angelicchio, Troy Shields, Bryan Force, and Mike Pegher, Jr. Graul received a huge poster sign with those racers and their cars as his award.

Northeast Tech Director Brad Hibbard surprisingly presented co directors Vicki Emig and Mike Leone with awards. Emig received the Director of the Year for her loyalty to the racers and success she’s made of FASTRAK Northeast. Leone was recognized for his appreciation of expertise and dedication towards procedures, operations and promotion.

New FASTRAK Northeast Touring Series 2011 sponsor, Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC of Boardman, Ohio sent four representatives to the banquet led by parts manager and main contact Matt Fullerton. Sweeney provided 20 $100 gift cards that were given out Sunday as part of their intro into the FASTRAK Northeast Series.

Wedge Motorsports and owner Dave Willoughby provided 10 $50 gift certificates that were presented to various drivers. Willoughby and track announcer Jim Pollock also represented Sharon Speedway- a new weekly track for FASTRAK in 2011. Other track representatives on hand included Frank Wilson, Jr. and Darren Dodd of Tyler County, Ben and Matt Miley of Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway, and former Tri-City owners Mike and Margaret Graham and Roger and Suzy Crick. The other FASTRAK weekly-sanctioned speedways were also recognized and thanked for allowing the Northeast racers to win over $100,000 in cash in FASTRAK’s point funds.

Several Series officials were on hand and recognized including Brad and Karen Hibbard, Todd and Tyler Beichner, Greg Wheeling, and Doug Ferrell. Rich Berry, Jimmy Dutko, Red Feitt, Dave Kittey, and Steve Wheeling, who were unable to attend, were also thanked for their help.

Other racers on hand to take in the night included Josh Double and Nico Dabecco. Double, who finished just outside the top 15 in Northeast Touring Series points in 16th, is going to make a run at the Touring championship in 2011. Double won his first career FASTRAK race at Mercer Raceway Park in a Weekly Series event this past season. Dabecco is the nephew of Dan Karalagas and is anxious at his first full season of FASTRAK to contend for the inaugural “Futures Cup” in 2011 in a former Chub Frank car. Dabecco had several impressive runs in limited action in 2010 at various tracks throughout the region.

Photos from throughout the 2010 season from Scott Whipple, Paul Oyler, and Jimmy Balentine rotated throughout the night on Hard Rock’s high definition television screens and a power point production was shown during the presentation throughout the cafe. Jody Halbedl did a great job capturing the memories of the night. Her photos are already online at http://racingweb.com/Photos/2011/fastrak-banquet/album/index.html.

The 2011 season was previewed by Spaid and a tentative schedule was released to attendees. More info on this will be released very soon.

“Sunday was such a great night,” stated Northeast Co-Director Mike Leone. “The results speak for themselves. We had a 50% higher turnout than we had hoped for when we announced this stand-alone banquet. After four seasons here in the Northeast, over 20 events contested with record breaking car counts this past season, and a record setting point fund to distribute, these racers certainly deserved their own night. Everyone was so pleased and happy with the results from us personally, to Hard Rock Café, and the overwhelming positive feedback from the attendees. Hard Rock Café has already penciled us in for next year so this can become an annual event!”

Hard Rock Café provided a knockout menu for attendees with Pittsburgh cheese steaks, mini legendary burgers, pulled pork sandwiches, wings, cheese sticks, and potato skins from 5 until 6 p.m. That was followed up by the buffet dinner at 6, which included a steamship beef carving station, white cheddar smashed potatoes, green beans, salad, and rolls, along with Clark Bar cheesecake and NY Style with strawberry toppings for dessert!

FINAL 2010 FASTRAK Northeast Late Model Touring Series Top 15 in Points: 1. MAX BLAIR (111) 629 2. Mike Pegher, Jr. (Geisler 1c) 576 3. Butch Lambert (27) 538 4. Gary Knollinger (38K) 536 5. Josh Holtgraver (00) 529 6. Bud Watson (2/Powell 100) 479 7. Joe Martin (55) 352 8. Dan Angelicchio (14) 346 9. Steve Dixon (50) 329 10. Bryan Force (31) 285 11. Dan Karalagas (G1) 276 12. Mike Blose (5) 253 13. Kyle Zimmerman (z17) 214 14. Kyle Lukon (1) 211 15. Troy Shields (11) 205.

FINAL 2010 FASTRAK Mid-Ohio Valley Late Model Touring Series Top 10 in Points: 1. GARY KNOLLINGER (38K) 161 2. Kyle Thomas (57) 142 3. Mike Pegher, Jr. (Geisler 1c) 135 4. Josh Holtgraver (00) 129 5. Shane Hitt (2) 123 6. K.C. Burdette (KC44) & Joel Prosser (77) 117 8. Aaron Barley (28) 106 9. Shawn Jett (1J) 103 10. Dan Karalagas (G1) 86.

FINAL 2010 FASTRAK Northeast “Wheelman” Bonus Event Challenge Series Top 5 in Points: 1. JUSTIN KREIDER (29) 98 2. Jason Genco (29J) 80 3. Joe Martin (55) 76 4. Bobby Cossell IV (50c) 65 5. Jamie Brown (135) 64.