Dog Hollow Speedway
October 9, 2011
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PEGHER OPENS $30,000 TO-WIN FASTRAK LATE MODEL GRAND NATIONALS WITH $1,500 DOG HOLLOW WIN IN NIGHT 1 FOR NORTHEAST & MOV

by Mike Leone
Strongstown, PA…After the completion of the successful 19-event Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC Northeast Touring Series slate, the FASTRAK Late Models participated in Night 1 of the Grand Nationals for the Northeast and Mid-Ohio Valley Regions on Sunday night at Dog Hollow Speedway. A sunny 80-degree day with a picture perfect fall foliage set the backdrop as a Night 1 record 35 FASTRAK member racers from Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, and West Virginia with a minimum 12 races completed in 2011 participated.

Mike Pegher, Jr. did exactly what he had to do in Night 1 of the FASTRAK Grand Nationals. The 2011 National Weekly Series and Northeast Touring Series runner-up qualified third fastest, won his heat, redraw the number one pill, and proceeded to lead all 30 laps of the feature for the $1,500 victory. Pegher now sits in a three-way tie atop the $30,000 to-win championship heading into Nights 2 and 3 at Tennessee’s Volunteer Speedway on October 21-22.

“I hope we can carry this momentum south,” expressed the 25-year-old Wexford, Pa. racer. “It would have been nice to beat Max (Blair) in the Touring points, but we didn’t want to tear our car up for this. I was lucky to start on the front row, but we had a really good car. I thought I was really good on the restarts, but Josh (Holtgraver) was able to keep up with me so I wasn’t sure if I should have been on the inside or outside. I have to thank all my crew and sponsors and of course Lynn Geisler, without them none of this would be possible.”

Pegher took off in the lead with Josh Holtgraver trailing. Robbie Blair passed Kyle Thomas for third on the opening lap, while Max Blair moved into the top five past Steve Dixon. Max and Thomas made some contact in turn two on lap four with Max getting by for fourth.

As the laps ticked off caution-free, Pegher opened up a half-straightaway lead before he caught lapped traffic on lap eight; meanwhile, Max ran down his father Robbie for third. On lap nine, Holtgraver began to close in, but he didn’t want to see the caution displayed when Butch Lambert spun with 10 laps completed.

After 10 non-stop laps, a rash of six cautions, the only ones of the event, occurred between laps 10 through 15. The only change up front in between those laps was the third position as Max was able to get around Robbie on lap 15.

Once things settled down, the last 15 laps went green-to-checkered. Pegher again took off in the lead and that final restart would be as close as any of his competitors would get. The remaining laps saw a three-car battle for second and a three-car battle for fifth. On lap 17, Max really put the pressure on Holtgraver, while Dixon slipped high allowing Troy Shields to move into the top five for the first time of the event.

Dixon again got high on lap 19 allowing Kyle Lukon to grab sixth. Lukon was pressuring Shields for fifth, but his great run would end in a puff of smoke on lap 20, which allowed Dixon to reclaim sixth.

Back up front, the top four pulled away as Pegher stretched out his lead slightly every lap. Max got alongside Holtgraver on lap 22, but Holtgraver continued to hold on. While Holtgraver did everything he could to withstand Max’s challenges, their battle allowed Robbie to zero back in making it a three-car race for runner-up on lap 24.

Their battles were just what Pegher needed as the Lynn Geisler-owned, #1 Cochran Automotive/Triple-S Auto Sales/Zero Wraps-sponsored #1c pulled away for his first win of the season at Dog Hollow. The victory was Pegher’s second in Grand National competition as he also won Night 1 at Mercer in 2009.

Holtgraver and Max were again side-by-side on lap 26, but Holtgraver would never let Max by as was able to hold on to second place at the finish. “I just tried to keep up with Mike,” stated the 23-year-old Pittsburgh, Pa. standout. “He does those goofy restarts. I knew everyone was right there. I was just putting around on the bottom so no would get around me. I have to thank my entire family for allowing me to do this and all of my sponsors for making it possible.”

“A top five in these shows is really good,” stated Max, the 21-year-old from Centerville, Pa. “This is by far the best car I have ever had here. The track was fairly racey; I just needed some more laps. Congrats to Mike and Josh.”

Robbie, who won Saturday’s Northeast Touring Series finale at Roaring Knob and won Night 2 of the Grand Nationals last season at Roaring Knob, crossed a close fourth. Shields and Dixon waged a battle right down to the finish. The duo was side-by-side on laps 27 and 28 with Dixon getting the fifth spot for good on lap 28. Shields took the checkered flag in sixth.

Veteran Bill Cunningham had a solid run taking the seventh spot in his first Dog Hollow start. Cunningham started 13th and had one close call when he just missed a sideways car on the backstretch that forced him to take evasive action into part of the infield without the caution ever being displayed. After tangling with Joe Martin on lap 13, Thomas came all of the way back to finish eighth.

Fourteen-year-old Ryan Montgomery, who won Friday night’s Futures Cup Trifecta race along with the inaugural championship and then went on to finish runner-up in the Northeast Touring Series finale on Saturday, finished ninth after starting 17th. Bobby Whitling, who qualified fourth fastest and had a good run in his heat going until getting shuffled back on a late race restart, came from 16th to finish 10th in his first ever Dog Hollow FASTRAK start.

Heat victors were Holtgraver, Robbie Blair, Pegher, and Thomas, while Tim Snare, Jr. and T.J. Downs captured the B mains.

“We have to really thank Jim and Sharon Michny for holding this event,” explained fifth year Northeast Co-Director Vicki Emig. “Jim stuck his neck out years ago for FASTRAK starting with only two cars and now has one of the strongest weekly car counts in the nation. He really wanted to hold Night 1 for our region and did everything he could to get this show in for us after losing the event last weekend. Even though we probably lost a half-dozen cars from Roaring Knob that were planning on competing, the car count was still higher than any of the other previous four Grand National races held in the past.”

Night 1 of FASTRAK Late Model Grand Nationals (Northeast/MOV) (30 laps, $1,500 to-win): 1. MIKE PEGHER, JR. (Geisler 1c) 2. Josh Holtgraver (00) 3. Max Blair (111) 4. Robbie Blair (W11) 5. Steve Dixon (50) 6. Troy Shields (11) 7. Bill Cunningham (59) 8. Kyle Thomas (Groves 32) 9. Ryan Montgomery (12) 10. Bobby Whitling (7W) 11. Ricky Meglaye (5) 12. Mike Laughard (38L) 13. Dan Angelicchio (14) 14. Rocky Kugel (21KRT) 15. Shawn Jett (137) 16. Butch Lambert (27) 17. Kyle Lukon (1) 18. Bobby Rohrer, Jr. (11) 19. T.J. Downs (03) 20. Joe Martin (55) 21. Josh Double (38) 22. Joe Moyer (LeComte 32) 23. Shane Weaver (Ruffner 325x) 24. Tim Snare, Jr. (99). DNQ: Clay Ruffo (14R), Rich Logan, Jr. (33L), Tom Copeland (98), Ron Smithley (13s), Joe Petyak (44), Nico Dabecco (Karalagas 1Freek), Joel Prosser (77), Damian Bidwell (17), Justin Lamb (93x), Andrew Wylie (84), Jamie Brown (135).

Time Trials (Best of 2 laps; No previous track record): 1. Max Blair 17.204 (NTR) 2. Robbie Blair 17.306 3. Mike Pegher, Jr. 17.316 4. Bobby Whitling 17.448 5. Josh Holtgraver 17.460 6. Kyle Lukon 17.493 7. Shawn Jett 17.512 8. Joe Martin 17.534 9. Ryan Montgomery 17.567 10. Josh Double 17.582 11. Troy Shields 17.631 12. Steve Dixon 17.641 13. Joe Moyer 17.682 14. Dan Angelicchio 17.689 15. Butch Lambert 17.721 16. Kyle Thomas 17.735 17. Bill Cunningham 17.783 18. Andrew Wylie 17.790 19. Damian Bidwell 17.811 20. Ricky Meglaye 17.824 21. Bobby Rohrer, Jr. 17.860 22. Jamie Brown 17.931 23. Shane Weaver 17.933 24. Nico Dabecco 17.973 25. Tim Snare, Jr. 17.977 26. Joe Petyak 17.893 27. Mike Laughard 18.016 28. Ron Smithley 18.043 29. Clay Ruffo 18.093 30. Rocky Kugel 18.100 31. Rich Logan, Jr. 18.111 32. T.J. Downs 18.232 33. Joel Prosser 18.269 34. Tom Copeland 18.748 35. Justin Lamb 18.752.

Heat winners: Holtgraver, R. Blair, Pegher, Thomas
B main winners: Snare, Downs
Lap leaders: Pegher (1-30)
Car count: 35

The next race for FASTRAK will be on Friday and Saturday, October 21-22 at Volunteer Speedway in Bulls Gap, Tennessee for Nights 2 and 3 of the $30,000 to-win Grand Nationals. There will be an open practice on Thursday, October 20.