Can-Am's Sweeney RUSH LM Series sanctioning continues growth in NY & Canada

CAN-AM MOTORSPORTS PARK SANCTIONING WITH SWEENEY RUSH SOLIDIFIES NY & ONTARIO, CANADA CRATE LM RACING UNDER 1 BANNER
By Mike Leone

February 27, 2015 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(LaFargeville, NY)...Can-Am Motorsports Park Owner Tiger Chapman and Manager Chip Bur(not a nice word)(not a nice word)(not a nice word)(not a nice word) confirmed on Thursday that they have made a decision to sanction their Crate Late Model division as a Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC RUSH Dirt Late Model Weekly Series track in 2015! The LaFargeville, New York facility will run the RUSH Late Models on Friday nights for the upcoming season.

The move to RUSH by Can-Am solidifies Crate Late Model racing in the New York and Ontario, Canada region under one banner. Can-Am will fit nicely as it's located between new Saturday night RUSH-sanctioned speedways, Fulton (NY) and Brighton (ON) along with the previously sanctioned Humberstone Speedway in Port Colborne, Ontario on Sunday evenings!

Also, earlier in the week, Stateline Speedway promoter Bill Catania announced his Saturday night Busti, New York track would be sanctioned by RUSH. This is all in addition to weekly Friday night track, Freedom Motorsports Park, in Delevan, NY plus the single events at New York's Brewerton Speedway and Ontario's Merrittville Speedway .

"Can-Am is another great addition to RUSH," expressed Series Co-Director Vicki Emig. "The growth in the far Northeast portion of our Region has been tremendous this offseason. Humberstone and Freedom gave us a great base and when Brighton made the decision to sanction, it's helped these additional speedways come under our umbrella. It's going to be great for all of the speedways and racers to be on the same rules and will give racers more opportunity to compete for all of our great programs. We had a prior relationship with Tiger and Chip at Can-Am and we're grateful they've chosen us to sanction their Crate Late Models with us in 2015 and beyond."

RUSH member racers will be able to participate at Can-Am in 2015 and be eligible for all of the programs including the Sweeney Weekly Series Championship, the Pace Performance Summer Chase, along with the Bilstein Bandits and the “Futures Cup” for those eligible racers. While membership is not mandatory to compete in any RUSH-sanctioned event, membership will again include a $100,000 excess participant accident policy which is over and above drivers’ health insurance and speedways’ participant accident policy.

"We're really looking forward to sanctioning our Crate Late Model division under the RUSH banner in 2015," stated Bur(not a nice word)(not a nice word)(not a nice word)(not a nice word). "Both Tiger and I have been paying close attention throughout the winter to the decisions of many of our sister tracks here in New York and Ontario to sanction with RUSH. To have Can-Am be part of RUSH and know that our racers can now take part in their numerous valuable and exciting programs while at the same time help bring unity in our region to Crate Late Model racers is extremely satisfying to us."

Charlie Sander(not a nice word)(not a nice word)(not a nice word)(not a nice word) is the defending track champion at both Can-Am and Brighton Speedways. Sander(not a nice word)(not a nice word)(not a nice word)(not a nice word) made an impressive RUSH debut last October at the Sweeney Tour event at McKean County Raceway where he set fast time in Bobby Lake Motorsports "Shock the Clock" Qualifying and finished fifth in the 50-lap $3,000 to-win feature.

Sander(not a nice word)(not a nice word)(not a nice word)(not a nice word)'s five wins at Can-Am allowed him to win the title by 14 over two-time winner Phil Potts. Billy Eisele, Mike Trapp, Caley Weese, one-time winner David McDonald, Jordan Keruskie, Greg Belyea, Elmer Stevenson, and Dale Caswell completed the top 10 in points.

Can-Am was built in 1974 by Leslie Brown. Early in 1975, a group of Watertown NY investors purchased the track, that consisted of Bob Thurston Sr., Douglas Atkinson, and Thomas Coughlin. This partnership lasted for several seasons. In 1981, Thurston bought out Atkinson and Coughlin, and became the sole owner.

The Thurston family continued to own the track during the glory years of the 80s and 90s. Thurston was responsible for bringing Can-Am under the DIRTcar racing banner during the winter of 1982-83. In the summer of 2000, John Wight purchased the track, and introduced the Big Block Modifieds as the top class at the speedway. Wight would eventually sell the track to Charlie and Billy Caprara from the F.X. Caprara car companies late in the 2003 season.

Caprara’s ownership of the Can-Am would see several changes to the speedway. The Capraras also operated Thunder Alley Speed Park, which is just a few miles down the road from Can-Am. The Capraras continued to own Can-Am through the end of the 2009 season. Just a couple of months into the off season, the track was sold time to long time racer, and Rochester businessman, Tiger Chapman, who continues to own the Speedway through the beginning of the 2015 season.

Can-Am Motorsports Park is located 90 miles north of Syracuse and less than 20 miles south of the Canadian border at 21047 NYS Route 411, LaFargeville, NY 13656. For more information, check out their new website at www.canammotorsportspark.com. Be sure to "like" their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/canammotorsports and follow them on Twitter @CanSpeedway.

RUSH Late Model marketing partners include Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC, Pace Performance, Hoosier Tire, Bilstein Shocks, Sunoco Race Fuels, MSD Ignition, Maxima Racing Oil, Jones Racing Products, Alternative Power Sources, Precise Racing Products, ARbodies, The Brake Man, K&N Filters, Lincoln Electric, TurboStart, Beyea Headers, FK Rod Ends, Bobby Lake Motorsports, Crate Innovations Inc., Moroso Performance Products, 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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