RUSH Racing Series
04-13-2015, 05:19 PM
PREVIEW OF THE 2015 SEASON FOR THE SWEENEY RUSH LATE MODEL & SPORTSMAN MODIFIED SERIES’ WEEKLY MEMBER TRACKS
By Jim Zufall & Mike Leone
April 13, 2015 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Pulaski, PA)…As one of the coldest and seemingly longest winters in recent memory finally loses its grip on the Northeast, dirt tracks in all parts of the region are ready to swing open the gates and get the 2015 season underway. Among those tracks are the 14 that will host the Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC RUSH Dirt Late Model and RUSH Sportsman Modified Series in addition to several other speedways hosting RUSH Weekly and/or Touring Series events.
“We are thrilled to be ready to start the 2015 season with such a stellar group of sanctioned speedways’” stated series director Vicki Emig. “The addition of all of these great facilities is definitely going to influx a whole new group of racers into our program, which is sure to add a very exciting twist to the final results of our championship programs.”
Among the new tracks joining the RUSH family this season is Stateline Speedway in Busti NY. Stateline already had a well-established Crate Late Model division in place and along with nearby track Eriez Speedway near Erie, Pa. will give the northwest Pa., northeast Ohio, and southwest New York region racers a chance to race under the RUSH banner two nights a week.
Bob Rohrer of Eriez explains how the track came to come on board with the RUSH Series. “Basically they had a meeting with the drivers; and the majority of them, probably 95% voted to go with RUSH. And it was brought up that RUSH was the most organized (crate late model series).” As for getting the chance to work with Emig, Mike Leone and the rest of the RUSH Racing Series, Rohrer states, “Vicki has always been good. Pretty much what she says, they do. They seem very organized. She contacts me quite a bit in the off season and quite a bit during the season. She was always well prepared about RUSH and what they could represent. “
Eriez will also have the distinction of hosting the wildly popular $30,000 RUSH Late Model “Manufacturers Night” on Sunday, July 26. Rohrer thinks it will be a great fit for Eriez. “I think it will be good for the drivers and for RUSH, because Eriez has always been like a centralized track in the area. Because Sharon (Speedway) isn’t far from us, Raceway 7 (in Conneaut Ohio), Stateline isn’t that far from us. Most of our drivers are in the Sharon area, the Erie area and in Ohio.” All that said, Rohrer thinks this could be the biggest Manufacturer’s Night yet. “I think we will bring in more cars than they’ve ever had!”
Another one-two punch in the southern region of the RUSH family of tracks are Potomac and Winchester Speedways running a Friday-Saturday combination for the fans in the Northern Virginia and Maryland area. Potomac, whose 25 lap, double points feature was won by Darin Henderson on April 3, will see a stout field of RUSH Late Models take to the track. Last year it was Brandywine, Maryland’s Ben Bowie besting a field of 36 competitors in the division at the Budd’s Creek MD track.
Winchester Speedway’s season is also underway as Henderson picked up the win on April 11 over a 19-car field to take the early lead in the $5,000 to-win Sweeney Weekly Series Championship. Kris Eaton, one of the Bilstein Bandit competitors chasing after the $5,000 title finished runner-up. Potomac and Winchester will team up to host the second annual “Mid-Atlantic States Classic” on May 9-10 with $2,000 to-win on the line each night in the Bazell/Sunoco Race Fuels Southern Touring Series events.
Up north, Freedom Motorsports Park is under new management and will once again have their Late Model division run under the RUSH Series banner. A multi-use facility, Freedom has stock car, motocross and ATV events on their very full 2015 schedule. Stock car racing gets underway on Friday, May 8 after an open practice night and safety tech inspection for all stock car classes on May 1st.
Freedom’s promoter, Bob Reis is looking forward to the chance to work with the RUSH Series. “Coming into this I knew that this was a RUSH sanctioned track last year. I looked into it and saw that RUSH was an upcoming thing and growing,” said Reis, who has a rather extensive background racing Super Modifieds on the pavement in addition to Sportsman Modifieds on the dirt. “They are a pretty solid Series with good sponsorship throughout. The tech program was really good, so I just figured that was the way to go. A lot of the competitors pointed me in that direction also.”
Freedom will likely be one of RUSH’s stoutest weekly field of competitors on the track each night. Reis talks about the support he has from the race teams for the division, “Right now, our headcount is at 28 to 32. We’re going to need consi’s every night if everybody shows up!”
Across the border in Ontario Canada, Humberstone Speedway in Port Colborne returns to action on Sunday, May 3 for their 56th opening day. The DIRTcar Sportsman and RUSH Late Models top the five-division weekly Sunday night program. Springville, NY racing veteran Paul Grigsby is the defending champion as Humberstone moves into its second season as a RUSH weekly member track.
The 2015 season will see another Canadian track joining the Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC RUSH Dirt Late Model Series family. Brighton Speedway in Brighton, Ontario will add the RUSH sanctioning to the Crate Late Model division for the division’s sixth season at Brighton. The Crate Late Model class at Brighton is a stout one with Charlie Sander(not a nice word)(not a nice word)(not a nice word)(not a nice word) the defending champion. Brighton Speedway kicks off the 2015 campaign on May 2 with a special $2.00 admission price with a non-perishable food donation.
Another track joining the RUSH family for 2015 is Can Am Speedway & Motorsports Park. The LaFargeville, NY track is planted squarely in the heart of center-steer Modified country, but includes a Crate Late Model class on their schedule. This year, with RUSH sanctioning and the support that inherently comes with partnering with RUSH, the Late Model division at Can Am is likely to expand. As with Brighton, Charlie Sander(not a nice word)(not a nice word)(not a nice word)(not a nice word), who will campaign on the Bilstein “sealed” spec shocks in 2015, is the defending champion at Can Am. Their season kicks off on Friday, April 17 after two open practice sessions on April 12th and 15.
Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway has now had to push their season opening practice sessions and opening night by two weeks after the long winter has left the facility to wet and unsuitable for racing. When they do get underway, it will see the Sweeney RUSH Late Model Series become the headline division on a weekly basis. Returning to PPMS to defend his title is last year’s rookie champion Corey McPherson. Crate Late Model standouts Nice Dabecco and Colton Flinner will be there to try to unseat McPherson in 2015. Opening night at PPMS is now scheduled for April 18.
Roaring Knob Motorsports Complex got their season underway on April 11 with Troy Shields capturing the opening day honors. The Markleysburg, Pa. facility returns for a third season running the Crate Late Models under the RUSH Series sanctioning. Roaring Knob’s schedule goes well into October with the Sweeney RUSH Series featured nearly every week through the season of Saturday night racing. The 2015 Touring Series opener is scheduled for this Saturday, April 18.
The addition of Wayne County Speedway in Orrville, Ohio brings the number of states with tracks in the RUSH Weekly Series family to five, along with one province in Canada. Wayne County takes the Series to its furthest westward location as it’ll host the RUSH Late Models throughout the season, starting on Saturday April 18 when Tony Stewart’s All-Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Car Series invades the speedway. Wayne County will host three $1,500 to-win Touring Series events in 2015 including the popular Sweeney/Pace GM 604 Engine Giveaway Night on Saturday, July 4.
Rounding out the dozen member tracks now in the RUSH Weekly Series family is Fulton Speedway in Fulton, NY. Another of the tracks headlined by the New York-style Modifieds, the RUSH Late Models also have a prominent spot in Fulton’s weekly line up. Set to drop the green flag on the 2015 season on Friday, April 24 with their “Highbank Holdup” weekend. Regular racing at Fulton is Saturday nights when the gates open at 5:00 PM.
After the first season of special events only, the Sweeney RUSH Sportsman Modified division will have two weekly homes in 2015. Sharon Speedway in Hartford, Ohio and Sportsman’s Speedway in Knox, Pa. will give the fledgling series a chance to race every week and for some racers twice. Sharon kicks off the 2015 campaign on Saturday, April 25 with the first of a summer’s worth of “Steel Valley Thunder” weekly race programs. Sportsman’s get things underway with a practice day on May 3 and the first of the weekly “Sunday Night Thunder” race nights the following week on Mother’s Day, May 10.
It should also be noted that even though Sharon isn’t hosting the Sweeney RUSH Late Models on a weekly basis in 2015, they still will have a strong presence with at least five Sweeney Weekly Series events on tap in addition to the “Gary Knollinger Memorial” Tour event on September 11-12. Sharon’s event will not conflict with nearby Wayne County Speedway’s events.
Other tracks such as Brewerton Speedway, Expo Speedway, Lernerville Speedway, McKean County Raceway, Merrittville Speedway, Tri-City Raceway Park, and Woodhull Raceway will all host Sweeney Weekly and/or Touring events for either the RUSH Late Models and/or Sportsman Modifieds.
By Jim Zufall & Mike Leone
April 13, 2015 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Pulaski, PA)…As one of the coldest and seemingly longest winters in recent memory finally loses its grip on the Northeast, dirt tracks in all parts of the region are ready to swing open the gates and get the 2015 season underway. Among those tracks are the 14 that will host the Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC RUSH Dirt Late Model and RUSH Sportsman Modified Series in addition to several other speedways hosting RUSH Weekly and/or Touring Series events.
“We are thrilled to be ready to start the 2015 season with such a stellar group of sanctioned speedways’” stated series director Vicki Emig. “The addition of all of these great facilities is definitely going to influx a whole new group of racers into our program, which is sure to add a very exciting twist to the final results of our championship programs.”
Among the new tracks joining the RUSH family this season is Stateline Speedway in Busti NY. Stateline already had a well-established Crate Late Model division in place and along with nearby track Eriez Speedway near Erie, Pa. will give the northwest Pa., northeast Ohio, and southwest New York region racers a chance to race under the RUSH banner two nights a week.
Bob Rohrer of Eriez explains how the track came to come on board with the RUSH Series. “Basically they had a meeting with the drivers; and the majority of them, probably 95% voted to go with RUSH. And it was brought up that RUSH was the most organized (crate late model series).” As for getting the chance to work with Emig, Mike Leone and the rest of the RUSH Racing Series, Rohrer states, “Vicki has always been good. Pretty much what she says, they do. They seem very organized. She contacts me quite a bit in the off season and quite a bit during the season. She was always well prepared about RUSH and what they could represent. “
Eriez will also have the distinction of hosting the wildly popular $30,000 RUSH Late Model “Manufacturers Night” on Sunday, July 26. Rohrer thinks it will be a great fit for Eriez. “I think it will be good for the drivers and for RUSH, because Eriez has always been like a centralized track in the area. Because Sharon (Speedway) isn’t far from us, Raceway 7 (in Conneaut Ohio), Stateline isn’t that far from us. Most of our drivers are in the Sharon area, the Erie area and in Ohio.” All that said, Rohrer thinks this could be the biggest Manufacturer’s Night yet. “I think we will bring in more cars than they’ve ever had!”
Another one-two punch in the southern region of the RUSH family of tracks are Potomac and Winchester Speedways running a Friday-Saturday combination for the fans in the Northern Virginia and Maryland area. Potomac, whose 25 lap, double points feature was won by Darin Henderson on April 3, will see a stout field of RUSH Late Models take to the track. Last year it was Brandywine, Maryland’s Ben Bowie besting a field of 36 competitors in the division at the Budd’s Creek MD track.
Winchester Speedway’s season is also underway as Henderson picked up the win on April 11 over a 19-car field to take the early lead in the $5,000 to-win Sweeney Weekly Series Championship. Kris Eaton, one of the Bilstein Bandit competitors chasing after the $5,000 title finished runner-up. Potomac and Winchester will team up to host the second annual “Mid-Atlantic States Classic” on May 9-10 with $2,000 to-win on the line each night in the Bazell/Sunoco Race Fuels Southern Touring Series events.
Up north, Freedom Motorsports Park is under new management and will once again have their Late Model division run under the RUSH Series banner. A multi-use facility, Freedom has stock car, motocross and ATV events on their very full 2015 schedule. Stock car racing gets underway on Friday, May 8 after an open practice night and safety tech inspection for all stock car classes on May 1st.
Freedom’s promoter, Bob Reis is looking forward to the chance to work with the RUSH Series. “Coming into this I knew that this was a RUSH sanctioned track last year. I looked into it and saw that RUSH was an upcoming thing and growing,” said Reis, who has a rather extensive background racing Super Modifieds on the pavement in addition to Sportsman Modifieds on the dirt. “They are a pretty solid Series with good sponsorship throughout. The tech program was really good, so I just figured that was the way to go. A lot of the competitors pointed me in that direction also.”
Freedom will likely be one of RUSH’s stoutest weekly field of competitors on the track each night. Reis talks about the support he has from the race teams for the division, “Right now, our headcount is at 28 to 32. We’re going to need consi’s every night if everybody shows up!”
Across the border in Ontario Canada, Humberstone Speedway in Port Colborne returns to action on Sunday, May 3 for their 56th opening day. The DIRTcar Sportsman and RUSH Late Models top the five-division weekly Sunday night program. Springville, NY racing veteran Paul Grigsby is the defending champion as Humberstone moves into its second season as a RUSH weekly member track.
The 2015 season will see another Canadian track joining the Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC RUSH Dirt Late Model Series family. Brighton Speedway in Brighton, Ontario will add the RUSH sanctioning to the Crate Late Model division for the division’s sixth season at Brighton. The Crate Late Model class at Brighton is a stout one with Charlie Sander(not a nice word)(not a nice word)(not a nice word)(not a nice word) the defending champion. Brighton Speedway kicks off the 2015 campaign on May 2 with a special $2.00 admission price with a non-perishable food donation.
Another track joining the RUSH family for 2015 is Can Am Speedway & Motorsports Park. The LaFargeville, NY track is planted squarely in the heart of center-steer Modified country, but includes a Crate Late Model class on their schedule. This year, with RUSH sanctioning and the support that inherently comes with partnering with RUSH, the Late Model division at Can Am is likely to expand. As with Brighton, Charlie Sander(not a nice word)(not a nice word)(not a nice word)(not a nice word), who will campaign on the Bilstein “sealed” spec shocks in 2015, is the defending champion at Can Am. Their season kicks off on Friday, April 17 after two open practice sessions on April 12th and 15.
Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway has now had to push their season opening practice sessions and opening night by two weeks after the long winter has left the facility to wet and unsuitable for racing. When they do get underway, it will see the Sweeney RUSH Late Model Series become the headline division on a weekly basis. Returning to PPMS to defend his title is last year’s rookie champion Corey McPherson. Crate Late Model standouts Nice Dabecco and Colton Flinner will be there to try to unseat McPherson in 2015. Opening night at PPMS is now scheduled for April 18.
Roaring Knob Motorsports Complex got their season underway on April 11 with Troy Shields capturing the opening day honors. The Markleysburg, Pa. facility returns for a third season running the Crate Late Models under the RUSH Series sanctioning. Roaring Knob’s schedule goes well into October with the Sweeney RUSH Series featured nearly every week through the season of Saturday night racing. The 2015 Touring Series opener is scheduled for this Saturday, April 18.
The addition of Wayne County Speedway in Orrville, Ohio brings the number of states with tracks in the RUSH Weekly Series family to five, along with one province in Canada. Wayne County takes the Series to its furthest westward location as it’ll host the RUSH Late Models throughout the season, starting on Saturday April 18 when Tony Stewart’s All-Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Car Series invades the speedway. Wayne County will host three $1,500 to-win Touring Series events in 2015 including the popular Sweeney/Pace GM 604 Engine Giveaway Night on Saturday, July 4.
Rounding out the dozen member tracks now in the RUSH Weekly Series family is Fulton Speedway in Fulton, NY. Another of the tracks headlined by the New York-style Modifieds, the RUSH Late Models also have a prominent spot in Fulton’s weekly line up. Set to drop the green flag on the 2015 season on Friday, April 24 with their “Highbank Holdup” weekend. Regular racing at Fulton is Saturday nights when the gates open at 5:00 PM.
After the first season of special events only, the Sweeney RUSH Sportsman Modified division will have two weekly homes in 2015. Sharon Speedway in Hartford, Ohio and Sportsman’s Speedway in Knox, Pa. will give the fledgling series a chance to race every week and for some racers twice. Sharon kicks off the 2015 campaign on Saturday, April 25 with the first of a summer’s worth of “Steel Valley Thunder” weekly race programs. Sportsman’s get things underway with a practice day on May 3 and the first of the weekly “Sunday Night Thunder” race nights the following week on Mother’s Day, May 10.
It should also be noted that even though Sharon isn’t hosting the Sweeney RUSH Late Models on a weekly basis in 2015, they still will have a strong presence with at least five Sweeney Weekly Series events on tap in addition to the “Gary Knollinger Memorial” Tour event on September 11-12. Sharon’s event will not conflict with nearby Wayne County Speedway’s events.
Other tracks such as Brewerton Speedway, Expo Speedway, Lernerville Speedway, McKean County Raceway, Merrittville Speedway, Tri-City Raceway Park, and Woodhull Raceway will all host Sweeney Weekly and/or Touring events for either the RUSH Late Models and/or Sportsman Modifieds.