Big Weekend Coming Up For Rush Racing Series LM’s & Sportsman

Story By: MIKE LEONE / RUSH RACING SERIES – PULASKI, PA – A huge weekend is in store for the Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC RUSH Racing Series powered by Pace Performance. Friday night (June 30) will see both the Sweeney Late Model Touring Series and Bicknell Sportsman Modified Touring Series in action at Lernerville Speedway.

On Saturday night, Sharon Speedway will host the Bicknell Sportsman Modified Touring Series and “Manufacturers Night” presented by MSD Performance. The weekend will conclude on Sunday with the first ever Sweeney Late Model Touring Series event at Old Bradford Speedway. Race time is 7:30 on Friday night, 7 on Saturday night, and 6 on Sunday night.

Friday’s event at Lernerville has become an annual pairing for both the Late Models and Sportsman Modifieds with the BOSS Sprint Car Series. The weekly RUSH Pro Stocks will also be in action. Friday will be a $2,000 to-win “Marquee” Sweeney Tour event for the Late Models and a $600 to-win Bicknell Tour event for the Sportsman Modifieds at the Sarver, Pa. oval.

Last year’s event saw Bryce Davis top a 34-car Late Model field, while Nick Ritchey won the Sportsman Modified portion. Lernerville has yet to host a RUSH Late Model event this season; however, the Sportsman Modifieds have run a pair of Bicknell Weekly Series events this season with Rocky Kugel winning both over a 24-car field in April and 20-car field in May.

Five of the seven scheduled 2017 Sweeney Tour events for the Late Models have been completed with four different winners. Bryce Davis, who won at Outlaw Speedway, currently leads the points by 10 over Jeremy Wonderling, the Series’ only repeat winner. Wonderling won the $2,000 opener at Stateline Speedway and last Sunday’s $2,000 “Bill Emig Memorial” at Tri-City Raceway Park. Defending Series Champion, John Waters, has a win at Genesee Speedway and is third in points. Charlie Sandercock became the first Canadian to win a Sweeney Tour event when he won in his home country at Merrittville Speedway on May 22.

Meanwhile, the Sportsman Modifieds have completed two Bicknell Touring Series events this season with Kyle Martell ironically winning both over 26-car fields. The Ravenna, Ohio 17-year-old won his first ever race at Thunder Mountain Speedway on June 9 then did the same last Sunday at Tri-City. Martell, the 2016 “Futures Cup” Champion, has a 15-point lead on Anthony Gillespie heading into this weekend’s events.

The Sportsman Modifieds will then be right back in action on Saturday at Sharon Speedway in Hartford, Ohio with the June 24 rescheduled $600 to-win Bicknell Touring Series event and the fourth annual “Manufacturers Night” as over $19,000 in products will be distributed to competing racers. There will be at least 37 product packages each valued at a minimum of $350 up to the grand prize of $1,420!

MSD Performance, the “Official Ignition” of RUSH, will present all five of the Series’ Manufacturers Nights as well as providing product for giveaways. MSD was purchased by Holley Performance in 2016, which expanded their support and contribution substantially to RUSH throughout all of the divisions under the RUSH banner.

On Sunday, action heads back north as the Old Bradford Speedway hosts its first ever Sweeney Late Model Touring Series event! The “Firecracker 50” will be one the season’s richest RUSH Late Model events paying $3,000 to-win, $300 to-start. Due the small size of the 1/4-mile track, the starting field will be 18 cars with up to two provisionals. An increased paying non-qualifiers event will be run pending enough cars.

Bradford, which is located just east of Bradford, Pa. in Rew, is in its third year of running the RUSH Late Models on a weekly basis under Norm Asel. Bradford will be new territory for many of the racers. Unfortunately weather has been the real story this season as only two events have been completed with Jeremy Wonderling winning on opening night and Andy Michael victorious in the second event. Bradford also runs the RUSH Pro Mods, which will also be in action on Sunday.

“This is a big weekend for us,” acknowledged Series Director Vicki Emig. “The Lernerville races always produce some of the season’s best racing and drivers certainly appreciate the opportunity to race there. We thank the Tomson Family for continuing their support of RUSH. The weather hasn’t been kind to Sharon this year, but when the Sportsman Mods have raced, the car counts have been very good. We expect a great turnout on Saturday for our Sportsman Mod Tour and MFG Night. We have to thank Norm Asel for stepping up and paying this impressive purse for our Late Models on Sunday. He wanted to do a big event over the Independence Day holiday thus the $3,000 to-win Firecracker 50.”

The FK Rod Ends “Shock the Clock” Qualifying and “Beat the Heat” program will be in effect at Lernerville and Bradford for the Late Models meaning the fastest qualifier will receive $100 and all heat race winners will receive $25.

For both nights of competition for both classes, the K&N “Cold Air Induction” Dash will pay a $100 K&N certificate to win, $50 K&N certificate for second, and $25 cash for third and fourth place. The Dash will also set the beginning of the Late Model feature lineup for the top two finishers in the heat races if there are less than five heats or for the heat winners if there are five or more heats, while the Sportsman Modified dash will set the line-up for the first four positions outside of the redraw cars.

Precise Racing Products will award a $100 gift card for the “Pedal Down” Hard Charger that passes the most cars in each feature. The TBM Brakes “Tough Brake of the Night” will award three bottles of Xtreme6 Racing Brake Fluid valued at approximately $45 along with a certificate for a discount off any TBM Brakes purchase for each division.

RUSH Officials will choose the “Maxima Performance” Award for a driver that exhibits a performance worthy of such. The winner will receive a $50 certificate, one can of SC-1 clear coat, one 16-oz bottle of Maxima Cool-Aide concentrate, one 32-oz quart of Maxima PSF power steering fluid, and a Maxima t-shirt.

ARbodies will award a nose kit to the first Late Model non-qualifier part of the “Nosed Out” contingency program at each event. Also, CrateInsider.com will award a $25 gift certificate to the driver that finishes last on the lead lap at the finish of each feature.

Lernerville Late Model Feature Payoff: 1. $2,000 2. $1,000 3. $650 4. $550 5. $470 6. $435 7. $410 8. $370 9. $340 10. $310 11. $280 12. $270 13. $260 14. $250 15. $240 16. $230 17. $220 18-24. $210.

Lernerville Late Model Non-Qualifier: 1. $175 2. $150 3. $140 4. $135 5. $130 6. $125 7. $120 8. $115 9. $110 10-24. $105. Tow $100.

Bradford Late Model Feature Payoff: 1. $3,000 2. $1,500 3. $1,000 4. $750 5. $600 6. $550 7. $500 8. $475 9. $450 10. $400 11. $375 12. $360 13. $350 14. $340 15. $330 16. $320 17. $310 18. $300

Bradford Late Model Non-Qualifier Payoff: 1. $400 2. $300 3. $250 4. $225 5. $200 6. $175 7. $150 8. $140 9. $130 10. $125 11. $120 12. $115 13. $110 14-18. $105

Lernerville & Sharon Sportsman Modified Feature Payoff: 1. $600 2. $400 3. $300 4. $250 5. $225 6. $200 7. $170 8. $165 9. $160 10. $150 11. $140 12. $135 13. $130 14. $125 15. $120 16. $115 17. $110 18-24. $100. Tow $50.

Late Model Adjusted Sweeney Touring Series points (only Touring members receive points): 1. Bryce Davis 386 2. Jeremy Wonderling 376 3. John Waters 364 4. Jason Knowles 351 5. J.J. Mazur 350 6. Brian Knowles 348 7. Brian Swank 319 8. Mike Pegher, Jr. 290 9. Bruce Hordusky, Jr. 240 10. Kyle Murray 236 11. Jamie Wrightsman 166 12. Chad Wright 156 13. Tony White 153 14. D.J. Krug 147 15. Max Blair 98 16. Matt Latta 86 17. Jon Rivers 82 18. Jamie Brown & Carl Shetler 81 20. Bill Kessler 79.

Sportsman Modified Bicknell Touring Series points (only Touring members receive points): 1. Kyle Martell 200 2. Anthony Gillespie 185 3. Nick Ritchey 184 4. Jeremy Weaver 183 5. Brandon Ritchey 179 6. Shayne Izzo 178 7. Chelsie Kriegisch 174 8. Brian Schaffer 173 9. Chas Wolbert 169 10. Jerry Schaffer 166 11. Jonathan Myers & Jessica Kriegisch 164 13. Steve Slater 163 14. Kole Holden 162 15. Blaze Myers 160 16. Billy Myers 153 17. Tiffany Williams 82 18. Jordan Ehrenberg 80 19. Josh Seippel 78 20. Jacob Jordan 76 21. Justin Shea 75 22. Jessica Shea 73 23. Preston Cope 72 24. David Kalb, Jr. 70.

You do not have to a member of RUSH to compete. The AMB/MyLaps transponders are required at Lernerville and Sharon. RACEceivers are always mandatory. The entry fee is $100 for Late Models and $25 for Sportsman Modifieds each night. Pit passes are $30 all three nights. Pits open at 5 p.m. on Friday, 4 on Saturday, and 3 on Sunday.