STRONGSTOWN, Pa. (July 4) — In a race where several drivers where gunning to be the Top Dog, Gregg Satterlee of Indiana, Pa., came out on top Friday at Dog Hollow Speedway.
Satterlee, one of four leaders in the Fourth of July special, earned $4,000 in the Top Dog 50, capping his run with a last-lap slide job of fellow fourth-row starter Dan Stone of Thompson, Pa.
Mike Altobelli Jr. of Saxton, Pa., who started 17th, was third in the holiday special while 18th-starting Jason Covert of York Haven, Pa., crossed the line fourth. Shawn Claar rounded out the top five finishers.
George Lee of Orrville, Ohio, started outside the front row and jumped to the early lead with Stone moving in for a side-by-side battle that lasted most of the first half of the race. When Lee drifted high, Stone took command while Satterlee dropped Lee to third on lap 28.
Stone kept a comfortable margin on Satterlee as they worked lapped traffic, but Satterlee took advantage of a lap-34 restart to grab the lead.
The race — and its drama — was far from over, though.
Jared Miley of South Park, Pa., moved into contention, catching the lead duo and disposing of Stone before tracking down Satterlee. But an oil line came apart on the 46th lap, knocking Miley out of contention.
On the restart, the race took a dramatic turn when Satterlee and Stone both pushed too high in turn one, allowing Brandon Delano of Stoystown, Pa., slip underneath and take the lead in looking for the biggest victory of his career.
But after Delano led a single lap, the high-flying duo of Satterlee and Stone went past on the outside, while Delano spun exiting turn four, setting up a two-lap dash to the checkers.
Satterlee was out front again, but he again push on the restart and Stone regained the lead. Satterlee quickly closed back in and the pair raced down the backstretch on the final lap.
Going into turn three, Satterlee dove underneath Stone for a clean pass, then held him off in a drag race to the finish.
Notes: Drivers failing to make the feature lineup were Dan Gill, Ryan Christoff, Brian Tavenner, Scott Rhodes and Rance Garlock. ... Townsend Oil & Gas sponsors the track's Late Model division. ... Andrew Satterlee, Gregg's cousin, won the Crate Late Model feature.
