RUSH Racing Series
10-20-2015, 08:39 PM
SWEENEY RUSH SERIES DOUBLEHEADER AT LERNERVILLE THIS WEEKEND WITH $2000 "GARY KNOLLINGER" MEMORIAL FOR LM TOUR PLUS $800 BICKNELL RUSH MOD TOUR
By Mike Leone
October 20, 2015 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Sarver, PA)...The Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC RUSH Racing Series is set for a huge season ending weekend (October 22-24) of racing at Lernerville Speedway. The “Steel City Stampede” will include the $2,000 to-win “Gary Knollinger Memorial” for the Bazell/Sunoco Race Fuels Southern Late Model Touring Series and an $800 to-win event for the RUSH Sportsman Modified Bicknell Racing Product Tour. Thursday will be open practice beginning at 5 p.m. Heat racing will get underway Friday at 7:05 p.m., while the program will conclude on Saturday beginning at 6.
This year’s “Steel City Stampede” will be the seventh edition of the growing event that includes nine of the region’s racing divisions all showcased in this end of the season blowout for the region. There has yet to be a repeat winner in the Crate Late Models; past winners include Josh Holtgraver (2009), Butch Lambert (2010), Bryan Force (2011), Max Blair (2012), Dennis Lunger, Jr. (2013), and Chad Ruhlman (2014).
After the twice rained out “Apple Festival Nationals,” which will now be concluded on April 16, 2016, the prestigious fifth annual “Gary Knollinger Memorial” will now be held at Lernerville for the first time ever! The winner will also receive the coveted "Gary Knollinger Memorial" statue trophy along with one of the “Steel City Stampede DIRTcar Roundup” belt buckles! Past “Gary Knollinger Memorial” winners include Max Blair, Joe Martin, and Ryan Montgomery, and Russell King.
“It’s an honor to again be able to hold a memorial for Gary,” expressed RUSH Co-Director Vicki Emig. “Gary was a standout Crate Late Model racer from Triadelphia, West Virginia. We, and many of the racers, became very close to Gary and his family when he was a fierce competitor before his tragic passing on Christmas 2010. One of those racers was Joel Prosser, who will again me making the trip up from West Virginia to compete. Due to the rainouts at Sharon, which was Gary’s favorite track, the Knollinger Family is looking forward to having Lernerville host this event at Lernerville for the first time.”
Max Blair clinched the $4,000 Insinger/Sunoco Northern Touring Series Championship with his victory on October 10 at McKean County Raceway. Blair will now look to close out the $10,000 championship sweep this weekend. Blair also has clinched the $2,000 combined Tour championship and will look to add the $4,000 Bazell/Sunoco Southern Touring Series crown by simply attempting to race on Friday.
The Centerville, Pa. driver has yet to finish worse than sixth in any of the point events to date with nine victories including the last four and six of the last seven! Blair leads Eric Wilson, who is coming off career best back-to-back runner-up finishes at Wayne County Speedway and McKean, by 72 points in the Southern Tour and Jason Knowles by 171 in the Combined Tour points. The battle for second in the Southern points is a tight one with Wilson up just seven on Jason Knowles and 19 on Brian Knowles. Currently Steve Lowery, John Waters, Kyle Lukon, Rob Marhefka, Michael Lake, Michael Duritsky, Jr., W.L. Stile, and Clay Ruffo round out the top 12 points paying positions.
Lernerville has hosted just two Sweeney RUSH events this year as Jared Miley topped a 21-car field on May 1 for the $700 Weekly Series win, while Ryan Montgomery beat a 38-car field on July 3 for the $1,200 Southern Tour win.
The Sweeney RUSH Sportsman Modifieds will complete their second season this weekend. Last year, Greg Martin won the inaugural “Steel City Stampede” event for the RUSH Mods. Martin has already clinched his second straight $3,000 Bicknell Racing Products Weekly Series title; however, the inaugural Bicknell Tour title is still up for grabs as four drivers having a legitimate shot.
Larry Kugel has been consistent with a pair of third place finishes and a fourth in addition to participating at Sharon before the rain out. Kugel leads another veteran in Jerry Schaffer by just seven points. Schaffer matched his season’s best overall finish at the last event at Tri-City with a runner-up. “Futures Cup” Champion Kole Holden is third and just 10 points behind, while Chelsie Kriegisch sits fourth 22 back of the point lead.
Saturday’s feature will pay a record $800 to-win in addition to the prestigious “Steel City Stampede DIRTcar Roundup” belt buckle. Adam Hilton is a perfect two-for-two this year winning the May 1 $350 Bicknell Weekly Series event and the July 17 $600 Bicknell Tour event. Two other Bicknell Weekly Series events were unfortunately lost to rain.
The K&N “Cold Air Induction” Dash will be run for the first four drivers that finish outside of the feature redraw spots for both divisions and will pay $100 K&N certificate to win, $50 K&N certificate for second with $25 cash going to the third and fourth place finishers.
For both divisions, Precise Racing Products will award a $100 gift card for the "Pedal Down" Hard Charger that passes the most cars in the 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 in all events this weekend.
RUSH Officials will choose the "Maxima Performance" Award for a driver that exhibits a performance worthy of such for both divisions. The winner will receive a free case of either Maxima Semi-Syn High Performance Racing Oil or Maxima Performance Racing Oil of your choice. In addition, the winner will receive 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. The value of this prize package is $170!
The driver that finishes last on the lead lap in both divisions will receive a $25 gift certificate from CrateInsider.com. The first driver that fails to qualify for the Late Model feature will receive the ARbodies “Nosed Out” nose kit valued at $260.
For the Sportsman Modified Series, RUSH Officials will determine the Sherwood Racing Wheels "Man of Steel" award winner as one that bounced back from an earlier mishap to finish the event strongly. The selected driver will receive a certificate for a free Sherwood Racing Wheel.
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.
Late Model Non-Qualifier payoff: 1. $175 2. $150 3. $140 4. $135 5. $130 6. $125 7. $120 8. $115 9. $110 10-24. $105. Tow $100.
Sportsman Modified Feature Payoff: 1. $800 2. $500 3. $350 4. $300 5. $250 6. $220 7. $180 8. $175 9. $170 10. $165 11. $160 12. $155 13. $150 14. $145 15. $140 16. $135 17. $130 18-24. $125. Tow $60.
Bicknell Racing Products Sportsman Modified Touring Series Points (only Tour members receive points): 1. Larry Kugel 356 2. Jerry Schaffer 349 3. Kole Holden 346 4. Chelsie Kriegisch 334 5. Brandon Ritchey 316 6. Nick Ritchey 255 7. Kyle Martell 248 8. Will Schaffer 242 9. Jessica Kriegisch 173 10. Greg Martin 170 11. Justin Shea 165 12. Josh Deems 156 13. Jeremy Weaver 155 14. Jim Bryce 89 15. Jeff Hughes 87.
Bazell/Sunoco Southern Late Model Tour Points (Drivers must be Touring member to receive points): 1. Max Blair 924 2. Eric Wilson 852 3. Jason Knowles 845 4. Brian Knowles 833 5. Steve Lowery 698 6. John Waters 672 7. Kyle Lukon 491 8. Rob Marhefka 454 9. Michael Lake 410 10. Michael Duritsky, Jr. 352 11. W.L. Stile 317 12. Clay Ruffo 315 13. Rick Singleton 273 14. Ryan Montgomery 268 15. Ryan Markham 264 16. Troy Shields 230 17. Reese Masiello 228 18. Chad McClellan 174 19. Joe Martin 162 20. Doug Gavette 158 21. Russell Baird, Jr. 151 22. Randy Hall 89 23. Kyle Zimmerman 88 24. Andrew Wylie 81 25. Nolan Dalton 72 26. Cody Dawson 71 27. Josh Holtgraver & Will Thomas III 70.
Combined Northern/Southern Late Model Tour Points (Drivers must be Touring member to receive points): 1. Max Blair 1612 2. Jason Knowles 1441 3. Eric Wilson 1432 4. Brian Knowles 1424 5. John Waters 1292 6. Randy Hall 704 7. Steve Lowery 698 8. Bryce Davis 639 9. Kyle Lukon 587 10. Rob Marhefka 543 11. Ward Schell 484 12. W.L. Stile 471 13. Clay Ruffo 455 14. Joe Martin 414 15. Michael Lake 410 16. T.J. Downs 373 17. Michael Duritsky, Jr. 352 18. Kyle Zimmerman 341 19. Doug Gavette 316 20. Rick Singleton 273 21. Ryan Montgomery 268 22. Ryan Markham 264 23. Troy Shields 230 24. Reese Masiello & Andrew Wylie 228 26. Jamie Brown 223 27. Jon Rivers 221 28. Dennis Lunger, Jr. 190 29. Chad Wright 176 30. Chad McClellan 174 31. Jeff Dayman 163 32. Matt Harvey 159 33. Russell Baird, Jr. 151 34. Phil Potts 98 35. Adam Sixt 84 36. Nolan Dalton 72 37. Cody Dawson 71 38. Michael Mitchell, Josh Holtgraver & Will Thomas III 70.
You do not have to a member of RUSH to compete. The red AMB transponders will be used. RACEceivers will be mandatory. The entry fee for the Late Models is $100. The entry fee for the Sportsman Modifieds is $35.
On Thursday, pits open at 3 p.m. with practice beginning at 5. On Friday, pits open at 3 p.m. with heat races at 7:05. On Saturday, pits open at noon with the remainder of the program getting underway at 6 p.m. Three-day member pit passes are $55 or $65 for non-members. Two-day member pit passes are $50 or $60 for non-members.
By Mike Leone
October 20, 2015 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Sarver, PA)...The Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC RUSH Racing Series is set for a huge season ending weekend (October 22-24) of racing at Lernerville Speedway. The “Steel City Stampede” will include the $2,000 to-win “Gary Knollinger Memorial” for the Bazell/Sunoco Race Fuels Southern Late Model Touring Series and an $800 to-win event for the RUSH Sportsman Modified Bicknell Racing Product Tour. Thursday will be open practice beginning at 5 p.m. Heat racing will get underway Friday at 7:05 p.m., while the program will conclude on Saturday beginning at 6.
This year’s “Steel City Stampede” will be the seventh edition of the growing event that includes nine of the region’s racing divisions all showcased in this end of the season blowout for the region. There has yet to be a repeat winner in the Crate Late Models; past winners include Josh Holtgraver (2009), Butch Lambert (2010), Bryan Force (2011), Max Blair (2012), Dennis Lunger, Jr. (2013), and Chad Ruhlman (2014).
After the twice rained out “Apple Festival Nationals,” which will now be concluded on April 16, 2016, the prestigious fifth annual “Gary Knollinger Memorial” will now be held at Lernerville for the first time ever! The winner will also receive the coveted "Gary Knollinger Memorial" statue trophy along with one of the “Steel City Stampede DIRTcar Roundup” belt buckles! Past “Gary Knollinger Memorial” winners include Max Blair, Joe Martin, and Ryan Montgomery, and Russell King.
“It’s an honor to again be able to hold a memorial for Gary,” expressed RUSH Co-Director Vicki Emig. “Gary was a standout Crate Late Model racer from Triadelphia, West Virginia. We, and many of the racers, became very close to Gary and his family when he was a fierce competitor before his tragic passing on Christmas 2010. One of those racers was Joel Prosser, who will again me making the trip up from West Virginia to compete. Due to the rainouts at Sharon, which was Gary’s favorite track, the Knollinger Family is looking forward to having Lernerville host this event at Lernerville for the first time.”
Max Blair clinched the $4,000 Insinger/Sunoco Northern Touring Series Championship with his victory on October 10 at McKean County Raceway. Blair will now look to close out the $10,000 championship sweep this weekend. Blair also has clinched the $2,000 combined Tour championship and will look to add the $4,000 Bazell/Sunoco Southern Touring Series crown by simply attempting to race on Friday.
The Centerville, Pa. driver has yet to finish worse than sixth in any of the point events to date with nine victories including the last four and six of the last seven! Blair leads Eric Wilson, who is coming off career best back-to-back runner-up finishes at Wayne County Speedway and McKean, by 72 points in the Southern Tour and Jason Knowles by 171 in the Combined Tour points. The battle for second in the Southern points is a tight one with Wilson up just seven on Jason Knowles and 19 on Brian Knowles. Currently Steve Lowery, John Waters, Kyle Lukon, Rob Marhefka, Michael Lake, Michael Duritsky, Jr., W.L. Stile, and Clay Ruffo round out the top 12 points paying positions.
Lernerville has hosted just two Sweeney RUSH events this year as Jared Miley topped a 21-car field on May 1 for the $700 Weekly Series win, while Ryan Montgomery beat a 38-car field on July 3 for the $1,200 Southern Tour win.
The Sweeney RUSH Sportsman Modifieds will complete their second season this weekend. Last year, Greg Martin won the inaugural “Steel City Stampede” event for the RUSH Mods. Martin has already clinched his second straight $3,000 Bicknell Racing Products Weekly Series title; however, the inaugural Bicknell Tour title is still up for grabs as four drivers having a legitimate shot.
Larry Kugel has been consistent with a pair of third place finishes and a fourth in addition to participating at Sharon before the rain out. Kugel leads another veteran in Jerry Schaffer by just seven points. Schaffer matched his season’s best overall finish at the last event at Tri-City with a runner-up. “Futures Cup” Champion Kole Holden is third and just 10 points behind, while Chelsie Kriegisch sits fourth 22 back of the point lead.
Saturday’s feature will pay a record $800 to-win in addition to the prestigious “Steel City Stampede DIRTcar Roundup” belt buckle. Adam Hilton is a perfect two-for-two this year winning the May 1 $350 Bicknell Weekly Series event and the July 17 $600 Bicknell Tour event. Two other Bicknell Weekly Series events were unfortunately lost to rain.
The K&N “Cold Air Induction” Dash will be run for the first four drivers that finish outside of the feature redraw spots for both divisions and will pay $100 K&N certificate to win, $50 K&N certificate for second with $25 cash going to the third and fourth place finishers.
For both divisions, Precise Racing Products will award a $100 gift card for the "Pedal Down" Hard Charger that passes the most cars in the 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 in all events this weekend.
RUSH Officials will choose the "Maxima Performance" Award for a driver that exhibits a performance worthy of such for both divisions. The winner will receive a free case of either Maxima Semi-Syn High Performance Racing Oil or Maxima Performance Racing Oil of your choice. In addition, the winner will receive 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. The value of this prize package is $170!
The driver that finishes last on the lead lap in both divisions will receive a $25 gift certificate from CrateInsider.com. The first driver that fails to qualify for the Late Model feature will receive the ARbodies “Nosed Out” nose kit valued at $260.
For the Sportsman Modified Series, RUSH Officials will determine the Sherwood Racing Wheels "Man of Steel" award winner as one that bounced back from an earlier mishap to finish the event strongly. The selected driver will receive a certificate for a free Sherwood Racing Wheel.
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.
Late Model Non-Qualifier payoff: 1. $175 2. $150 3. $140 4. $135 5. $130 6. $125 7. $120 8. $115 9. $110 10-24. $105. Tow $100.
Sportsman Modified Feature Payoff: 1. $800 2. $500 3. $350 4. $300 5. $250 6. $220 7. $180 8. $175 9. $170 10. $165 11. $160 12. $155 13. $150 14. $145 15. $140 16. $135 17. $130 18-24. $125. Tow $60.
Bicknell Racing Products Sportsman Modified Touring Series Points (only Tour members receive points): 1. Larry Kugel 356 2. Jerry Schaffer 349 3. Kole Holden 346 4. Chelsie Kriegisch 334 5. Brandon Ritchey 316 6. Nick Ritchey 255 7. Kyle Martell 248 8. Will Schaffer 242 9. Jessica Kriegisch 173 10. Greg Martin 170 11. Justin Shea 165 12. Josh Deems 156 13. Jeremy Weaver 155 14. Jim Bryce 89 15. Jeff Hughes 87.
Bazell/Sunoco Southern Late Model Tour Points (Drivers must be Touring member to receive points): 1. Max Blair 924 2. Eric Wilson 852 3. Jason Knowles 845 4. Brian Knowles 833 5. Steve Lowery 698 6. John Waters 672 7. Kyle Lukon 491 8. Rob Marhefka 454 9. Michael Lake 410 10. Michael Duritsky, Jr. 352 11. W.L. Stile 317 12. Clay Ruffo 315 13. Rick Singleton 273 14. Ryan Montgomery 268 15. Ryan Markham 264 16. Troy Shields 230 17. Reese Masiello 228 18. Chad McClellan 174 19. Joe Martin 162 20. Doug Gavette 158 21. Russell Baird, Jr. 151 22. Randy Hall 89 23. Kyle Zimmerman 88 24. Andrew Wylie 81 25. Nolan Dalton 72 26. Cody Dawson 71 27. Josh Holtgraver & Will Thomas III 70.
Combined Northern/Southern Late Model Tour Points (Drivers must be Touring member to receive points): 1. Max Blair 1612 2. Jason Knowles 1441 3. Eric Wilson 1432 4. Brian Knowles 1424 5. John Waters 1292 6. Randy Hall 704 7. Steve Lowery 698 8. Bryce Davis 639 9. Kyle Lukon 587 10. Rob Marhefka 543 11. Ward Schell 484 12. W.L. Stile 471 13. Clay Ruffo 455 14. Joe Martin 414 15. Michael Lake 410 16. T.J. Downs 373 17. Michael Duritsky, Jr. 352 18. Kyle Zimmerman 341 19. Doug Gavette 316 20. Rick Singleton 273 21. Ryan Montgomery 268 22. Ryan Markham 264 23. Troy Shields 230 24. Reese Masiello & Andrew Wylie 228 26. Jamie Brown 223 27. Jon Rivers 221 28. Dennis Lunger, Jr. 190 29. Chad Wright 176 30. Chad McClellan 174 31. Jeff Dayman 163 32. Matt Harvey 159 33. Russell Baird, Jr. 151 34. Phil Potts 98 35. Adam Sixt 84 36. Nolan Dalton 72 37. Cody Dawson 71 38. Michael Mitchell, Josh Holtgraver & Will Thomas III 70.
You do not have to a member of RUSH to compete. The red AMB transponders will be used. RACEceivers will be mandatory. The entry fee for the Late Models is $100. The entry fee for the Sportsman Modifieds is $35.
On Thursday, pits open at 3 p.m. with practice beginning at 5. On Friday, pits open at 3 p.m. with heat races at 7:05. On Saturday, pits open at noon with the remainder of the program getting underway at 6 p.m. Three-day member pit passes are $55 or $65 for non-members. Two-day member pit passes are $50 or $60 for non-members.