IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 13, 2010

TYLER COUNTY TO KICKOFF 20-EVENT FASTRAK NORTHEAST LATE MODEL TOURING SCHEDULE SATURDAY; TOPLESS EVENT CO-SANCTIONED WITH MOV

By Mike Leone
Middlebourne, WV…The FASTRAK Northeast Late Model Touring Series will open up season number four this Saturday night, April 17 at Tyler County Speedway. “The Bullring” located in Middlebourne, West Virginia will kick off an exciting, record 20-event 2010 slate and will also be the debut of the new Mid-Ohio Valley Touring Series.

For the second straight year, the FASTRAK Northeast Touring Series will begin competition for the new year at Tyler County, and will once again be a “topless” race as FASTRAK joins the UFo Super Late Models. The 25-lap feature will pay $1,500 to-win, $175 to-start. It will be the first of three Northeast Touring Series events at Tyler County. The second will occur two weeks later on May 1 with $1,500 on the line once again and the finale as part of the “Black Diamond Weekend” on Friday, September 3 with a whopping $3,000 up for grabs!

The 2010 season marks the second for the FASTRAK Late Models at Tyler County as a weekly division, but first under the new Circle Track Management, LLC group led by Frank Wilson, Jr., Mitch Wilcox, and Craig Eddy. Tyler County has already completed two weekly-sanctioned events with excellent car counts of 23 and 25 respectively.

“We’re excited to open up our season again at Tyler County,” explained Northeast Co-Director Vicki Emig. “We’re thrilled Tyler County came on board last year with FASTRAK and that the new management group is continuing with this path. FASTRAK is really growing, which is evident by their car counts for their first two shows and we expect a strong field of competitors Saturday from all over.”

Alan Dellinger was the Series’ inaugural champion earning $5,000 amongst an approximate $10,000 point fund in 2007. In 2008, Max Blair won the $5,000 Northeast crown part of an approximate $15,000 point fund. Last year, David Scott became the new champion earning $5,000 for car owners John and Janet Powell amongst a point fund that was over $17,000 in cash in thousands additional in contingencies.

The 20-year-old Blair of Centerville has been off to a fast start with two Weekly Series victories at Mercer Raceway Park on April 3 and 10. He’ll face stiff competition again from Scott, who will make his season debut Saturday, as well as Mike Pegher, Jr., who like Blair is two-for-two with his wins coming at Pittsburgh’s PA Motor Speedway. Pegher was also last year’s “topless” winner at Tyler County.

Bud Watson had a strong third place effort in points last season and will hope to challenge for the title. Former Super Late Model standout Mike Blose joined FASTRAK later in the summer and was a threat to win every night. He’s all set for a full season now. Lots of additional racers have expressed an interest in competing with the FASTRAK Northeast Touring Series for the 2010 season.

“The growth of FASTRAK has been phenomenal,” stated Northeast Co-Director Mike Leone. “With 17 weekly tracks, 20 Northeast Touring Series events plus the new Mid-Ohio Valley Touring slate, and the competitor base just keeps growing here in the Northeast. The amount of new racers entering the division is astounding. Last year over 200 racers competed in the Northeast and that number is expected to increase dramatically.”

In the three-year history, there have been 34 Touring Series races contested with 16 different winners meaning there is a new winner nearly every other event! Blair currently sits atop the all-time win list at five followed by Dick Barton, Bobby Powell, and John Lacki with four, Pegher and Scott with three, Dellinger with two, and Todd Andrews, Kyle Drum, Frank Guidace, Lambert, Carl McKinney, Dennis Lunger, Jr., Tom Snyder, Jr., Chris Meadows, and Jim Frank with one victory.

The event will also be inaugural one for the new Mid-Ohio Valley Touring Series, which was formed over the offseason to allow racers in West Virginia and southeast Ohio the opportunity to compete in Touring Series events closer to home. It will be the first of four co-sanctioned with the Northeast. None of the other eight stand-alone Mid-Ohio Valley events conflict with Northeast events so it’s conceivable for a driver to compete for both crowns.

There is a $100 membership to be eligible for Touring Series points in either the Northeast or Mid-Ohio Valley or $200 for both. Those that have yet to pay their memberships can do so on Saturday. Already as of last weekend, 40 drivers have signed up for either the Northeast or Mid-Ohio Valley Touring Series. Forms are available on the website at www.fastraknortheast.com and at the track.

Feature payoff for Tyler County: 1. $1,500 2. $800 3. $500 4. $400 5. $370 6. $335 7. $315 8. $300 9. $280 10. $275 11. $250 12. $240 13. $225 14. $200 15. $190 16. $185 17. $180 18-24. $175. Non-qualifiers $75.

Pits open at 4:30 p.m. with hot laps at 6:30 and racing at 7 on Saturday. There is a $75 entry fee. Any tech questions, call Brad Hibbard at 330-540-RACE.

Tyler County Speedway is a ¼-mile high-banked dirt oval located at the Tyler County Fairgrounds in Middlebourne, West Virginia. For more information, check out their website at www.tylercountyspeedwayonline.com. The track phone is 304-758-2660.