By Mike Leone
July 6, 2012 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Conneaut, OH)… The Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC Pace Performance FASTRAK Northeast Late Model Touring Series crossed back into Ohio for the first and only appearance of the season at Raceway 7 on Friday night for leg #3 of the second annual five-night Original Pizza Logs "Cross the Borders" Speedweek. A big crowd turned out on a scorching hot evening to watch 33 teams from five states battle it out in race #11 of the 25-event 2012 slate.

After winning five of the Series' first six events, Ryan Montgomery, Joe Martin, and Will Thomas III all put an end to Blair's amazing start; however, after getting back into the win column Thursday night at McKean County Raceway, Blair made it two-in-a-row and a record seven on the season Friday night capturing the 25-lap feature event at his home track Raceway 7.

Blair charged from the 10th starting spot to pass leader Dan Angelicchio just before halfway and held off Angelicchio for the second straight night. Blair's all-time leading 19th career Tour win was worth $1,200 plus the $100 Genesis Shocks certificate for being the "Top Dog of the Night". Blair, who was last year's $1,000 Speedweek champion, took over the Speedweek point lead by two over Thomas with two events remaining.

"That was a lot of fun," expressed the 22-year-old Centerville, Pa. racer. "Speedweek started off real bad blowing a motor at Expo, and last week at Eldora (Speedway) we blew a motor and it stuffed me into the fence and tore up a lot of stuff. We really needed a couple good runs. Hopefully we can keep this momentum up and finish out the week. Anytime you start further back it's tough, but I do love this track and I love racing here. I grew up here watching dad (Robbie) and remember playing up there in that sandbox."

After coming up just shy to Blair on Thursday night, Angelicchio flew into the lead looking for his first Tour win of the season at a track he has little experience at. Josh Holtgraver, who lined up alongside, got a little sideways allowing Matt Long and sixth starting Nolan Dalton to move into second and third on the first lap.

Lap two saw Holtgraver get high in turn two as Bryan Salisbury and Billy Henry, Jr. advanced to fourth and fifth. Dalton was right on Long for third on lap three, while seventh starting Mike Pegher, Jr. cracked the top five on lap four disposing of Henry. Blair was slowly moving forward and began to challenge Pegher for fifth on lap six. The battle for fourth kicked into high gear as Salisbury was trying to keep standouts Pegher and Blair at bay.

Holtgraver slowed bringing out the first caution with eight laps scored. After another caution for Henry with still eight laps completed, the complexity of the event changed. Long and Salisbury's great runs ended under caution as Long pitted losing oil pressure and Salisbury lost a wheel on the backstretch. Long was selected as the event's Brake Man "Tough Brake of the Night".

Back under green flag conditions, Dalton raced side-by-side with Angelicchio nosing ahead to lead lap nine, but he pushed high in turn two on lap 10, which allowed Blair and Pegher to blow by for second and third. Pace Performance "Futures Cup" racers Shane Weaver and Eric Wilson brought out a caution with 10 laps scored.

On the ensuing restart, Blair ran a fast lap around the outside and carried the momentum off turn four to lead lap 11. Behind Blair, the racing was tremendous. Dalton and Pegher raced side-by-side between laps 12-14 with Dalton getting back by, but this allowed 11th starting Chad Wright and Thomas, who entered the night as the Speedweek point leader, to close in.

Dalton was able to get away from the trio behind him and instead went to work again on Angelicchio. Dalton got under the second place runner, but wasn't able to make the pass stick. As those two battled, Pegher had his hands full with Wright and Thomas before the event's final caution was displayed for Shane Bambarger with 21 laps scored. Blair went unchallenged over the final four laps in his Specialty Products/Rohrer Trucking/Moody & Son Welding/Genesis Shocks-sponsored #111 for the victory.

The battle was hot and heavy for second and then fourth position over the final four torrid laps. Dalton ran side-by-side with Angelicchio on the final lap, but Angelicchio was able to edge out the West Virginia veteran by 0.009! It was Angelicchio's third runner-up and fourth top five of the season.

"It's hard to beat Max here- he always runs good here," expressed the 24-year-old Greensburg, Pa. driver. "We'll see if we can get him tomorrow. There's a lane there with bite and if you hit it good your car took off. I missed it the one time and he got it- that's racing."

Dalton was able to match his career best Tour finish of third from May 20 at Canada's Humberstone Speedway. "I ran here a few times with the STARS and MACS Series when we ran Super Late Models," explained the 48-year-old Morgantown, West Virginia resident. "I always liked the track. The track needed just a little bit more down there, but other than that it was still real racey. It was real good racing. I ran beside Pegher and Angelicchio for a lot of laps and no one got out of shape."

"I have to thank all of the guys that help out, without them I couldn't do it," continued Dalton. "My dad is one of the biggest supporters there is. Wherever we go, it's a family thing and I can't think of any other major sport that is that way. I can remember running with Robbie (Blair) and Max was running around. They'd go to our house or vice versa when we'd travel. I've met some great people, and wouldn't change anything."

Five cars went at it for fourth swapping positions four through eight back and forth, but it was Pegher holding on. For the second straight night, Wright crossed the finish line in fifth matching his career best Tour finish. Bill Cunningham had a solid run coming from 15th to fifth, but had to settle for sixth after losing the spot to Wright on lap 23. Kyle Zimmerman made just his second Tour start of the season and was a season best seventh. Thomas moved up from 13th to finish eighth as Ryan Montgomery and Matt Latta completed the top 10.

After taking his first Series provisionals for the second straight night, Butch Lambert rebounded from a 25th place starting spot and an early spin to finish 10th and won the $100 Precise Racing Products certificate for being the "Pedal Down" Hard Charger for the third time this season! Racing with a broken wrist from an accident at McKean County Raceway on June 16, Junior Peters was the final car on the lead lap and received the Utsinger's Towing free Hoosier Tire.

After qualifying for the first two Speedweek events, Jamie Brown just missed out on Friday night, but he made the most of it winning the non-qualifier event for the second time in his career. The 22-year-old Jamestown, New York driver led all five laps for the $125 win in his Applebee Motorsports/Roger's Auto/Hientzman Accounting/Extreme Marine/Ron Davies Racing-sponsored #135. Brown also continues to lead the "Wheelman" Bonus Event Challenge Series points. Fourteen-year-old Pace Performance "Futures Cup" racer, Breyton Santee, finished second over W.L. Stile, who is second in "Wheelman" points.

Heat winners were Wright, Henry, Angelicchio, and Holtgraver, while Bambarger and Peters won the two B mains. Will Thomas III became the 10th different K&N "Cold Air Induction" Dash winner outdueling Chad Ruhlman for the $100 K&N certificate and earned the 13th starting spot in the feature. Ruhlman received a $50 K&N certificate, while Cunningham and John Over received $25 cash for finishing third and fourth respectively.

Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC Pace Performance FASTRAK Northeast Late Model Touring Series Race #11 (25 laps, $1,200 to-win): 1. MAX BLAIR (111) 2. Dan Angelicchio (14) 3. Nolan Dalton (D2) 4. Mike Pegher, Jr. (Geisler 1c) 5. Chad Wright (6) 6. Bill Cunningham (59) 7. Kyle Zimmerman (z17) 8. Will Thomas (9) 9. Ryan Montgomery (12) 10. Matt Latta (Bidwell B1D) 11. Chad Ruhlman (Suppa 4s) 12. Shane Weaver (Ruffner 325x) 13. John Over (K2) 14. Dennis Lunger, Jr. (Schwartz 71L) 15. Butch Lambert (27) 16. Lauren Longbrake (27) 17. Billy Cunningham (44c) 18. Shane Bambarger (68B) 19. Junior Peters (00) 20. Eric Wilson (27W) 21. Matt Long (25) 22. Bryan Salisbury (126) 23. Billy Henry, Jr. (McGee 13) 24. Josh Holtgraver (00) 25. Andrew Wylie (84) 26. Kyle Lukon (1). Note: Butch Lambert took a Series provisional & Billy Cunningham took a Track provisional.)

Non-Qualifier (5 laps, $125 to-win): 1. Jamie Brown (135) 2. Breyton Santee (9) 3. W.L. Stile (2$) 4. Bobby Whitling (7W) 5. John Lacki (7)-DNS 6. Dereck Frank (16)-DNS 7. Clay Ruffo (14R)-DNS.

Heat Winners: Wright, Henry, Angelicchio & Holtgraver
B Main Winners: Bambarger & Peters
K&N Cold Air Induction Dash: 1. Will Thomas 2. Chad Ruhlman 3. Bill Cunningham 4. John Over
Feature Lap Leaders: Angelicchio (1-8), Dalton (9), Angelicchio (10), Blair (11-25)
Car Count: 33

Genesis Shocks "Top Dog of the Night": Max Blair
Precise Racing Products "Pedal Down" Hard Charger: Butch Lambert
Utsinger's Towing Hoosier Tire Giveaway: Junior Peters
Brake Man "Tough Brake of the Night": Matt Long

2012 Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC FASTRAK Northeast Late Model Touring Series Results
Date/Track/State/Winner/# of Wins/To-Win Amount/Car Count
April 1 Roaring Knob Motorsports Complex (PA)/Max Blair (1)/$3,000/47
April 20 Roaring Knob Motorsports Complex (PA)/Mike Pegher, Jr. (1)/$1,200/42
May 13 Eriez Speedway (PA)/Max Blair (2)/$1,200/32
May 20 Humberstone Speedway (ON)/Max Blair (3)/$2,000/26
May 26 Sharon Speedway (OH)/Max Blair (4)/$1,500/34
May 27 Sharon Speedway (OH)/Feature to be made up 8/18/12/$1,500/31
June 8 Dog Hollow Speedway (PA) /Max Blair (5)/$1,200/32 (41 between the 2 nights)
June 16 McKean County Raceway (PA)/Ryan Montgomery (1)/$1,200/24
June 23 Sharon Speedway (OH)/Joe Martin (1)/$2,000/35
July 4 Expo Speedway (OH)/Will Thomas (1)/$2,000/30
July 5 McKean County Raceway (PA)/Max Blair (6)/$1,200/49
July 6 Raceway 7 (OH)/Max Blair (7)/$1,200/33