Blair Scores 11th Victory at Tri-City Speedway

May 16, 2010
Franklin, PA

In the one of the closest races in track history, two-time defending track champion Max Blair of Centerville, Pa., beat Joe Martin to the finish line by only 0.022 seconds to win the 20-lap FASTRAK Late Model feature. For Blair, it was his 11th career win at Tri-City aboard his Bossard’s Sales and Service/4 Your Car Connection Rocket No. 111, and his first of the season.

“Joe is a good friend, and that was a clean move,” said Blair, who was amazed that he won. “I was trying to be patient with the lapped cars, and I thought I had a cushion over the second place guy. I was going into turn three thinking I won the race, and then Joe dove under me and I thought I lost it. The track was excellent. The track crew did a great job tonight.”

Blair started the race in fifth and watched the field drift wide on the first circuit around the half-mile. Passing Kyle Zimmerman off turn four, Blair was the leader at the end of lap one. Martin quickly moved into third. From there, the top three paced themselves in the caution-free event. As the race wound down, however, Blair was slower and Zimmerman and Martin caught him. Zimmerman tried to slip his car under Blair in turn one, but Martin managed to use lapped traffic to his advantage. On the 17th lap, Zimmerman slipped wide in turn two, and Martin drove by for second. Then, Martin tracked down Blair. With Blair using patience in lapped traffic heading into turn three on the final circuit, Martin dove low and passed Blair going through turn four. Blair maintained his momentum off turn four and barely beat Martin to the finish line with the crowd cheering wildly. Behind Blair and Martin, Zimmerman, Bobby Whitling and Josh Double rounded out the top five. Whitling and Blair won the FASTRAK Late Model heats.
In the one of the closest races in track history, two-time defending track champion Max Blair of Centerville, Pa., beat Joe Martin to the finish line by only 0.022 seconds to win the 20-lap FASTRAK Late Model feature. For Blair, it was his 11th career win at Tri-City aboard his Bossard’s Sales and Service/4 Your Car Connection Rocket No. 111, and his first of the season.

“Joe is a good friend, and that was a clean move,” said Blair, who was amazed that he won. “I was trying to be patient with the lapped cars, and I thought I had a cushion over the second place guy. I was going into turn three thinking I won the race, and then Joe dove under me and I thought I lost it. The track was excellent. The track crew did a great job tonight.”

Blair started the race in fifth and watched the field drift wide on the first circuit around the half-mile. Passing Kyle Zimmerman off turn four, Blair was the leader at the end of lap one. Martin quickly moved into third. From there, the top three paced themselves in the caution-free event. As the race wound down, however, Blair was slower and Zimmerman and Martin caught him. Zimmerman tried to slip his car under Blair in turn one, but Martin managed to use lapped traffic to his advantage. On the 17th lap, Zimmerman slipped wide in turn two, and Martin drove by for second. Then, Martin tracked down Blair. With Blair using patience in lapped traffic heading into turn three on the final circuit, Martin dove low and passed Blair going through turn four. Blair maintained his momentum off turn four and barely beat Martin to the finish line with the crowd cheering wildly. Behind Blair and Martin, Zimmerman, Bobby Whitling and Josh Double rounded out the top five. Whitling and Blair won the FASTRAK Late Model heats.