McKean County Raceway
Davies rules McKean, Co., snaps Blair's streak
By Jay Pees
McKean County RacewayEAST SMETHPORT, Pa. (Aug. 1) — Dutch Davies of Warren, Pa., topped Rob Blair of Centerville, Pa., in Thursday’s Ned Gleason Memorial at McKean County Raceway, earning a $3,000 victory on the NDRL's ULMS Series and snapping Blair’s eight-race win string that included a perfect month of July.
Blair settled for second at the finish of the caution-free 30-lapper with Mike Knight of Ripley, N.Y., David Scott of Garland, Pa., and Boom Briggs of Bear Lake, Pa., rounding out the top five.
Blair and Davies shared the front row with Davies grabbing the lead on the back straightaway on the opening lap. By the five-lap mark, Davies had built a substantial lead over Blair, a five-time winner of the event, who himself had five car lengths over third-running Scott.
At race’s halfway point, the leaders caught lapped traffic, but Davies held his advantage over Blair, Scott, Knight, and Dick Barton. With ten laps remaining, Knight motored by Scott for third and Briggs was pressuring Barton for fifth, getting by two laps later.
Meanwhile, Davies continued to maintain his at the front of the pack, even with lapped traffic continually in the picture. With two to go, Davies had a half-straightaway lead over Blair and went on to claim his first victory of the season at McKean County.
Mike Pegher Jr. of Wexford, Pa., won the RUSH weekly-sanctioned Crate Late Model feature, topped Max Blair, son of the Super Late Model runner-up. The younger Blair led all but the last few feet of the race before Pegher got by in heavy lapped traffic.
Ned Gleason Memorial: (1) Dutch Davies, (2) Robbie Blair, (3) Mike Knight, (4) David Scott, (5) Boom Briggs, (6) Dick Barton, (7) Jason DuPont, (8) Matt Urban, (9) Brent Rhebergen, (10) Greg Oakes, (11) Dave Norton, (12) Ron Davies, (13) Rich Gardner, (14) Michael Oakes. Fast qualifier (among 14 cars): Blair, 15.530 seconds. Heat winners: Blair, Knight.
RUSH Crate Late Model feature: (1) Mike Pegher, (2) Max Blair, (3) Bryce Davis, (4) Ed Carley, (5) Zack Carley, (6) Chad Ruhlman, (7) Damien Bidwell, (8) Doug Ricotta, (9) Cody Mason, (10) Justin Smith, (11) John Haggerty, (12) Bob Kish, (13) Garrett Mott, (14) Paul Grigsby, (15) Craig Dean, (16) Bob Dorman, (17) Bill Mesler, (18) Critter Hemphill, (19) Brad Mesler, (20) Ward Schell, (21) Adam Sixt, (22) Dennis Lunger, (23) Dereck Frank, (24) Bruno Mowrey.
