FASTRAK World Championship Official PR Story from Beckley,WV
Max Blair Wins FASTRAK World Championship for $22,000 Payday
(Centerville, Pennsylvania driver bests 186 entrants to take home big check and the title World Champion)
Four Oaks , North Carolina All season long and it all came down to this, a cold night in the air on a fall October night but hot on the tight 3/8th mile facility ran Joe and Billie Joe Jackson in Prosperity,West Virginia. Beckley Motorsports Park was ready for the last race of the season for the FASTRAK Racing Series the $250,000 World Championship weekend. The action started on Thursday night with open practice, progressed through Topless Twin 40 lap qualifiers and culminated on Saturday night with the 75 lap A-Main paying $22,000 Dollars the FASTRAK World Championship was here.
After special driver introductions down track-side with the FASTRAK Rock-Stars riding around in the Beckley Auto Mall beautiful pick up trucks in the back of Chevy and GMC vehicles waving to the crowd, the exciting 4 wide salute with Lady Gaga's "Edge of Glory" to set the mood and the spectacular Phantom Fireworks show. The time had come that everyone in the "Wild & Wonderful" State was waiting for to arrive since the announcement came in Labor Day 2012. The green flag!!
As the dust settled on Beckley Motorsports Park, Max Blair was standing in Victory Lane having bested 24 other drivers and 186 total entrants to claim the ultimate goal in FASTRAK Pro Late Model Racing. Blair started on the outside of the front row for the 75 lap feature event and, in the end, beat Joe Martin to the checkered flag in a seven lap shootout to the finish. Billy Henry started the A-Main in the 24th starting position and raced all of the way to third as the race ended. Wayne Robertson came from the 21st starting spot to claim the fourth position while Chris Meadows raced his way into the feature through the 50 lap Weekly World Challenge, started shotgun on the 25 car field and ultimately rounded out the top five. The second half of the top 10 included Brian Conner, Mike Faykus, Jordan Dill, Chad Ruhlman and Hot Rod LaMance. The race was slowed by nine cautions.
Mike Pegher Jr. led the field to the green for the final race of the FASTRAK Racing season with Blair to his outside. The first caution of the night flew for Ryan Atkins car stalled on track. Ryan Montgomery went for a spin in turn number four. Shortly after the race went back to green another wreck in turn four brought out the third caution of the race. The fourth caution of the race flew on lap 50 after Wayne Robertson had worked his way toward the front and caught Chris Ferguson. The two drivers putting on the best battle for the lead in ages on the FASTRAK Tour took each other out in turn number one to bring out the yellow, both cars sustained damage and #20 Wayne Roberston afetr being dejected from the incident found his was out of his car and to the #22 of Ferguson to show his feelings vocally about the incident. Both continued on with the event.
The fifth caution of the night flew as Furman Parton stalled in turn three, contacted the wall after getting into #9 of Ryan Atkins forcing the Lazier chassis of Parton's to rim ride up the back stretch retaining wall til he stopped with a broke front end and rear end. Parton's car had damaged his car enough to require a red flag to fly in order to remove his wounded vehicle from the track. The race went back to green only to see David Smith spin and bring the caution back out for the sixth time. Eddie Hambrick was the next driver to bring out a caution after a spin in one and two before Smith followed up his spin with a stall to bring out the penultimate caution of the night. The final caution of the night came out when Brandon Umberger went for a twirl on lap 68, setting up the seven lap shootout for the win.
After the seven laps were in the books it was Max Blair who went to Victory Lane to hold up the big fake check while Joe Martin was left wondering what might have been. Blair is 22 years old from Centerville, PA. Blair is a 10 time winner in the Northeast Region of the FASTRAK Racing Series and 2 time Northeast Series Champion and claimed it for the third time in 2012 along with this event that has eluded him for years being World Champion. On this night he became just that in front of the FOX Sports television cameras for the 4 one hour FASTRAK TV episodes scheduled to be aired on January,21st with show one.
Chris Ferguson and Brandon Umberger took the checkers first in their respective qualifying races on Friday night. Fergusons win came at the expense of eventual championship winner Blair. Blair drives a Rocket Chassis that is sponsored by Craiger Racing Engines, Marks Water Conditioning, Moody and Son Welding, Rohrer Racing, Specialty Products and Wescoat Excavating.
FASTRAK Officials made a huge announcement as part of the World Championships. FASTRAK Racing Series will be celebrating 10 years!! Yes one decade with the "Premier Pro Late Model Series in the Country" and is so exciting to be cranking up the season much quicker as we will be Opening the East Bay Winternationals in early 2013. The races, held at East Bay Raceway Park in Gibsonton, Florida, will take place from January 30th through February 2nd.
Unofficial Results of the FASTRAK World Championship
Beckley Motorsports Park Beckley, WV
25 FASTRAK Drivers representing 8 states GA, NY, NC, PA, SC, TN, VA and WV
1. #111 Max Blair Centerville, PA
2. #55 Joe Martin Mayport, PA
3. #21 Billy Henry Conneantville, PA
4. #20 Wayne Robertson Corning, NY
5. #33 Chris Meadows Crab Orchard, WV
6. #77 Brian Connor Martinez, GA
7. #6 Mike Faykus Prosperity, WV
8. #22D Jordan Dill Landrum, SC
9. #4S Chad Ruhlman Bemus Point, NY
10. #85L Hot Rod LaMance Six Mile, SC
11. #6W Chad Wright Springboro, PA
12. #23 Corey Gordon Charlotte, NC
13. #88 Trent Ivey Union, SC
14. #25 Matt Long Concord, NC
15. #4MS Mike Smith Rogersville, TN
16. #44W Brandon Umberger Rural Retreat, VA
17. #11 David Smith Inman, SC
18. #45 Eddie Hambrick Oak Hill, WV
19. #28 Aaron Barley Mt. Hope, WV
20. #12 Ryan Montgomery Fairmont, WV
21. #22 Chris Ferguson Mt. Holly, NC
22. #6FP Furman Parton Rutherford, NC
23. #1C Mike Pegher Jr. Cranberry, PA
24. #11R Bob Rorhrer Erie, PA
25. #25 Ryan Atkins Mt. Airy, NC
The FASTRAK Racing Series City Chevrolet Touring Divisions would like to thank all of its marketing partners for their great and continuing support. Those 2012 sponsors include: Hoosier Race Tires, VP Racing Fuel, City Chevrolet, Chevrolet Performance Parts, Vicci Apparel, TNT Race Cars, Rocket Chassis, Longhorn Race Cars, RockAuto.com and FK Rod Ends. FASTRAK would also like to welcome Cool Shirt, Five Star Bodies, Hooker Harness, Velocita USA Driving Suits, Beya Headers, Kooks Custom Headers, R2C Filters, Sisco Fire and Safety and Tiger Rear Ends to our line-up of product sponsors. If you are interested in becoming a sponsor of the Premier Pro Late Model Series in the Country please contact Stan Lester at the FASTRAK Corporate Office at (678) 935-7304 or Series Director Kelley Carlton at (864) 871-1442. Also Visit the FASTRAK Racing Series online at www.fastrakracing.com and be sure to like us on ******** and/or follow us on Twitter at @FASTRAK_Racing!!
