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By Marty Landon
(Conneaut, OH) July 25th was a perfect night for racing as a record number of Fastrak Late Models visited Raceway 7 for the ESAB Fastrak Touring Show. The evening started with the Track Crew presenting a plaque to the Track Maintenance Supervisor Mike Eckert for all his years of service, a much deserved dedication! As hosts of the night’s racing action ESAB Cutting and Welding of Ashtabula, Ohio, treated Raceway 7 fans and ESAB employees with a generous number of door prizes for their employee night at the races! During racing action Mike Pegher of Wexford, Pa earned his first career win in the Fastrak Series, Joel Watson took the checkered in the Applebee Motorsports E-Mods, Rusty Wheeler went green to checker for the Joslin-Landis Street Stock Victory and Joe Plesniak earned his 2nd of the season in the Challenger division.
In the ESAB Fastrak Late Models 34 cars from Pennsylvania, Ohio and New York qualified for a spot in the 24 car feature and a shot at the $1200 to win. Mike Pegher started on the outside pole and was able to overtake pole-sitter and Super Late Model racer Bump Hedman for the lead with Bobby Powell and Steve Hollabaugh moving into third and fourth after one lap. The event’s first caution came with four laps completed when Bert Blackson got into the frontstretch wall. Racing resumed on lap five with Powell passing Hedman for runner-up. The two raced side-by-side on lap six with Powell maintaining the 2nd spot. On lap seven, Hedman slipped high in turn two leaving 10th starting Watson fourth on lap eight. Powell and Hollabaugh began to run down Pegher on lap nine and by lap 11 the top three pulled away from the pack. Following a restart for Justin Kann, Watson, seventh starting Dick Barton, and 12th starting Tom Snyder, Jr. were able to advance to third through fifth respectively on lap 12. Watson and Barton battled hard for third racing side-by-side on lap 13 and 14 before two cautions slowed action with 14 laps completed. When green replaced yellow on lap 15, Barton snuck past Watson for third then drove around Powell off turn four that same lap for second. Defending Series champion, Alan Dellinger, has his night come to an end while running sixth with 19 laps in the record books when his mount went up in smoke. The final caution came on lap 20 and on the restart Barton and Pegher were side-by-side down the frontstretch. Entering turn one, Barton had the advantage on the bottom and maintained it racing into turn two, but Pegher got a great run off the topside of two and blasted by Barton to hold his lead.
Powell and Barton would battle the remaining laps for runner-up as Pegher took the checkered flag first by 0.972 seconds in the Lynn Geisler-owned, #1 Cochran Automotive/Triple-A Auto Sales-sponsored #1C. Barton edged Powell by 0.245 seconds to finish second with Dennis Lunger, and Watson completing the top five.
The Applebee Motorsports E-Mod 20 lap feature resulted in Joel Watson, Ashtabula, Oh leading in the last 4 laps and taking his second feature win of the season. Mike Potoski, Guys Mills, Pa., was second with Ron Roncaglione, Percy McDonald and Gary Eicher finishing out the top five. Justin Carlson, Sherman, NY brought his 2nd car giving fans an opportunity to watch Super Late and Fastrak Late Model driver Dick Barton in his first E-Mod race!
Rusty Wheeler, Dorset, Ohio returned after several week absence in the Joslin Landis Street Stocks. By luck of the pill draw he started on the pole and never looked back running first from green to checker. Shaun Fawcett ran a hard second until going high with several laps remaining dropping back to 6th. Third running Dave McLaughlin from Conneaut, Ohio took over 2nd for the rest of the rest race with Dave Feringer third, Jason Reagle second, and after a late pass, Shaun Fawcett finishing fifth .
Fifteen cars took the field for the Challenger Mini Stock Feature with the # 2jr of Ron Armstrong on the pole. Contact between #9 Brad Cole and #83 Chuck Simms Jr forced a total restart with racing continuing caution free until lap 7 when #39 lost a tire and limped into the pits for the night. Finishing first was Joe Plesniak from Linesville, Pa for his 2nd win of the season, Vince Simms was second, Darrin Hart third, Kyle Dickenson fourth and point leader Ed Huge rounding out the top five.
During the next 2 weeks the Conneaut speed plant will host special races for different divisions. August 1st will be the first event for the Modified Lite STARS Series as they compete along with the 4 weekly divisions. On August 8th the Limited Sprints will return for their 2nd appearance of the season along with a special race and King of The Hill Heats for the Joslin- Landis Insurance Street Stocks. The Precision Weld Fab Fastrak Late Models, Applebee Motorsports E-Mods and Challengers are also on the card. The season will end on August 29th with the McMahon and Associates Fan Appreciation Night offering Special races for the Open 358 Modifieds, Applebee Motorsports E-Mods, Joslin-Landis Insurance Street Stocks and the Challenger stocks. For schedule updates visit www.raceway7.com . Raceway 7 is located 5 miles south in I 90 in on Route 7 in Conneaut, Ohio.
ESAB Cutting and Welding Products Fastrak Touring Series
Heat 1: John Law, Mike Pegher, Max Blair, Scott Jones, Jim Frank, Derick Frank, Rusty Moore, John Lacki
Heat 2: Bump Headman, Scott Meyers, Bobby Powell, Brian Booher, Bob Kish, Dave Osterberg, Bert Cleer, Mike Lesky, Tony Hyde.
Heat 3: Steve Hollabaugh, Dick Barton, Alan Dellinger, Bobby Whitling, Dan Stives, Bob Diver, John Law, Roger French.
Heat 4: Jay Watson, Dennis Lunger, Mike Pegher Rick Robinson, Bert Blackson, Bob Vogt, Alex Anderson, Meyers.
B Main 1: Dave Osterberg, Derick Frank, Rusty Moore, Kevin Meadows, Bert Cleer, Tony Hyde, Mike Leski.
B Main 2: Bob Diver, Bob Vogt, John Law, Meyers, Roger French, Alex Anderson.
Feature: Mike Pegher, Dick Barton, Bobby Powell, Dennis Lunger, Jay Watson, Steve Hollabaugh, Mike Pegher, Max Blair, Dave Osterberg, Scott ones, Bob Vogt, Brian Booher, John Law, Bobby Whitling,Derick Frank, Bob Diver, Bump Headman (dnf), Alan Dellinger (dnf), Bob Kish (dnf), Dan Stives (dnf), Rick Robinson (dnf), Scott Meyers (dnf), Jim Frank (dnf), Bert Blackson (dnf).
Applebee Motorsports E-Mods:
Heat 1: Joel Watson, Jack Young, Mike Potoski, Tim Deutsch, Chuck Steinle Jr, Andy Sweetland, Rick Pratschler, Gary Vanryswyk (dnf).
Heat 2: Gary Eicher, Justin Carlson, Ron Roncaglione, Dick Barton, Joe Gabrielson, Horward Fraley, Dan McDonald, Jeff Sharp (dnf).
Heat 3: Richard Michael, Percy McDonald, Hugo Litwiler, Russ Dunn, Jeff Walters, Arlen Coy, Gerry Kielar, Bill Taylor (dnf).
Feature: Joel Watson, Mike Potoski, Ron Roncaglione, Percy McDonald, Gary Eicher, Hugo Litwiler, Arlen Coy, Justin Carlson, Joe Gabrielson, Jack Young, Russ Dunn, Andy Sweetland, Rick Pratchler, Dan McDonald, Chuck Steinle Jr, Bill Taylor, Gerry Kieler, Tim Deutsch, Dick Barton (dnf), Richard Michael (dnf), Jeff Walters (dnf), Howard Fraley (dnf), Gary Vanryswyk (dnf).
Joslin-Landis Insurance Agency Street Stocks
Heat 1: Dan Lewis, Ken Zimmer, Jason Reagle, Jim Flaherty, Chad Stevenson, Chuck Fultz, Mike Harmon, Jeff Yocum, Becky Case
Heat 2: Rusty Wheeler, David McLaughlin, Charlie Beck, Jason Stanke, Bill Myers, Becky Case, Randy Wyant, Chris Haines.
Heat 3: Shaun Fawcett,Dave Feringer, Toni Spagetti, Ed Bolyard, Mike Cross, Art Gilchrist, Bryan Wagner, Ed Snyder.
Feature: Rusty Wheeler, David McLaughlin, Dave Feringer, Jason Reagle, Shaun Fawcett, Russ Biller, Ken Zimmer, Jason Stanke, Ed Bolyard, Chris Haines, Randy Wyant, Jim Flaherty, Chad Stevenson, Jeff Yocum, Tony Spagetti, Bill Myers, Ed Snyder, Mike Harmon (dnf), Chuck Fultz (dnf), Art Gilchrist (dnf), Dan Lewis (dns), Charlie Beck (dns), Mike Cross (dns), Becky Case (dns).
Challenger Mini Stocks:
Heat 1: Vince Simms, John Boyd, Joe Plesiak, Bud Sergeff, Kyle Dickenson, Darrin Hart, James Edison Sr, Chuck Simms Jr.
Heat 2: Ed Huge, John Cross, Brad Cole, Chris Pildner, Ron Armstrong, Rick Tackett, Mark Hayes.
Feature: Joe Plesniak, Vince Simms, Darrin Hart, Kyle Dickeson, Ed Huge, John Boyd, Mark Hayes, Chuck Simms Jr, Ron Armstrong, Bud Sergeff, Rick Tackett, James Edison Sr, Brad Cole, John Cross, Chris Pildner.