Sweeney RUSH LM No. Tour Bill Emig Memorial Tri-City 8/16/15 preview

$2000 TO-WIN “BILL EMIG MEMORIAL” UP NEXT FOR SWEENEY RUSH LATE MODEL INSINGER/SUNOCO NORTHERN TOUR SUNDAY AT TRI-CITY
By Mike Leone

August 13, 2015 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Franklin, PA)...After two weekends off, the Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC RUSH Dirt Late Model Series will head to Tri-City Raceway Park on Sunday (August 16) for the rescheduled “Bill Emig Memorial” in an Insinger Performance/Sunoco Race Fuels Northern Tour Series event. Race time is 6 p.m.

For the first time ever, Tri-City Raceway Park will host the annual “Bill Emig Memorial”, which was initially rained out on June 21. The event will be highlighted by a $2,000 to-win feature along with $100 Bobby Lake Motorsports “Shock the Clock” Qualifying, and $25 to-win heat races in addition to the $100 to-win K&N Cold Air Induction “John Buzzard Memorial” Dash. One driver could earn $2,225 with a clean sweep of the night! (Note: it appears Tri-City’s transponder system will not be functional. Drivers will be asked their option on manual one-lap timing and provided the majority is in favor, the qualifying format will be used.)

On July 26, racing returned to Tri-City for the first time in over four years and it was a very successful opener under the new ownership of Mark Tatalovic and management by his son Sam along with Chad Wagner. Tri-City has since held another event on Saturday, August 1 including a Sweeney RUSH Late Model Weekly Series event won by Max Blair over an impressive 25-car field.

“Bringing my dad's Memorial to Tri-City on Father's Day is really special and completes the circle of regional speedways where his cars competed throughout the years that have hosted the event,” explained RUSH Co-Director Vicki Emig. “I know if he was here today he would tell you that some of his greatest memories as a car owner were watching Lou Gentile battle against the V-8 powered semi-lates with the six-cylinder on the big half-mile against the likes of Lou Steadman, Les Myers, Mark Weaver and many more. His cars won numerous feature events and track championships at Tri-City in both the Semi-Late and Six-Cylinder Modified divisions with the highlight being 1978 Semi-Late Track Championship.”

Past “Bill Emig Memorial” winners in the Crate Late Models include Chad McClellan (Lernerville) & Rick Singleton (Sharon) in 2014, Mike Pegher, Jr. (Lernerville) & Ryan Montgomery (Sharon) in 2013, Max Blair (won bon events at Sharon) in 2012, and Max Blair (Lernerville) & Josh Holtgraver (Sharon) in 2011.

The Sweeney RUSH Series has completed 13 Tour events to date so far with five in the North and eight in the South. Max Blair of Centerville, Pa. leads the way with six victories as he leads the Northern and Bazell/Sunoco Southern Tour points as well as the combined points. He'll look to keep the lead in all three points in his bid for the $10,000 sweep. While Blair has more comfortable lead in the Southern and Combined points, his Insinger/Sunoco Northern Tour lead is just by 19 points over Bryce Davis, who has been consistent with five top 10s in as many races including a win at Freedom and runner-up finishes at the last two events. The other Northern Tour winner this year is John Waters, who won $2,000 at Humberstone back on July 19.

Sunday’s Dash will be the “John Buzzard Memorial” paying $100 in cash with runner-up receiving a $100 K&N certificate, third place a $50 K&N certificate, with fourth place receiving an extra $25 cash. The Dash will determine the first four starting spots in the feature. Buzzard was a former racer for the late Emig, who lost his life in an accident at Expo Speedway in 1975. Some of his greatest moments in racing came at Sharon on the blacktop as he was part of the famous weekly David and Goliath battles that pitted his Emig Ford six-cylinder against the V-8 powered Chevrolet of Jim Lewis out of Cleveland, Ohio. Their exciting duals resulted in Buzzard and Lewis being named co-champions of Sharon’s 1973 Stock Car Division.

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.

RUSH Officials will choose the "Maxima Performance" Award for a driver that exhibits a performance worthy of such. 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 will receive a $25 gift certificate from CrateInsider.com.

Tri-City 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.

Tri-City 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.

Insinger/Sunoco Northern Late Model Tour Points (Drivers must be Touring member to receive points): 1. Max Blair 488 2. Bryce Davis 469 3. Jason Knowles 444 4. Randy Hall 441 5. John Waters 439 6. Brian Knowles 428 7. Eric Wilson 407 8. Ward Schell 316 9. T.J. Downs 303 10. Dennis Lunger, Jr. 190 11. Kyle Zimmerman 179 12. Chad Wright 176 13. Joe Martin 164 14. Jeff Dayman 163 15. Doug Gavette 158 16. W.L. Stile 154 17. Phil Potts 98 18. Adam Sixt 84 19. Matt Harvey 73 20. Jon Rivers 72 21. Michael Mitchell, Jamie Brown, Clay Ruffo & Andrew Wylie 70.

Combined Northern/Southern Late Model Tour Points (Drivers must be Touring member to receive points): 1. Max Blair 1242 2. Jason Knowles 1130 3. John Waters 1111 4. Brian Knowles 1105 5. Eric Wilson 1091 6. Steve Lowery 628 7. Randy Hall 530 8. Kyle Lukon 491 9. W.L. Stile 471 10. Bryce Davis 469 11. Michael Lake 410 12. Rob Marhefka 384 13. Joe Martin 326 14. Doug Gavette & Ward Schell 316 16. Clay Ruffo 315 17. T.J. Downs 303 18. Michael Duritsky, Jr. 282 19. Rick Singleton 273 20. Ryan Montgomery 268 21. Kyle Zimmerman 267 22. Troy Shields 230 23. Reese Masiello 228 24. Dennis Lunger, Jr. 190 25. Ryan Markham 180 26. Chad Wright 176 27. Chad McClellan 174 28. Jeff Dayman 163 29. Russell Baird, Jr. & Andrew Wylie 151 31. Phil Potts 98 32. Adam Sixt 84 33. Matt Harvey 73 34. Nolan Dalton & Jon Rivers 72 36. Cody Dawson 71 37. Michael Mitchell, Jamie Brown & Josh Holtgraver 70.

You do not have to a member of RUSH to compete. RACEceivers will be mandatory. There will be a $100 entry fee. Pit passes are $30 for Tri-City and $35 for Wayne County. Pits open at 3 p.m. with a drivers meeting at 5, warm-ups at 5:20 followed by qualifying and racing at 6. Tri-City will also hold an $800 to-win Sweeney Weekly Series race on Saturday night.

Tri-City Raceway Park is a ½-mile dirt track located at 3430 Route 417, Franklin, PA 16323. For more information, check out their website at www.tricityracewaypark.com or call 814-676-2894 on race day. Like their Facebook by searching Tri-City Raceway Park and follow them on Twitter @TriCityRaceway.

RUSH Late Model marketing partners include Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC, Pace Performance, Hoosier Tire, Bilstein Shocks, Sunoco Race Fuels, Bazell Race Fuels, Insinger Performance, MSD Performance, Maxima Racing Oil, Jones Racing Products, Alternative Power Sources, Precise Racing Products, ARbodies, TBM Brakes, K&N Filters, Lincoln Electric, Beyea Headers, FK Rod Ends, Bobby Lake Motorsports, Velocita-USA, High Gear Speed Shop, CrateInsider.com, B.R.A.K.E.S., RockAuto.com, and Valley Fashions.

E-mail can be sent to the RUSH Racing Series at info@rushracingseries.com and snail mail to 4368 Route 422, Pulaski, PA 16143. Office phone is 724-964-9300 and fax is 724-964-0604. The RUSH Racing Series website is www.rushracingseries.com. Like our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/rushlatemodels and follow us on Twitter @RUSHLM.

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