RUSH LM Tour PPMS Jook George 8/10/19 preview; $10,010 to-win, $500 to-start minimum

RICHEST RACE IN RUSH HISTORY COMING TO PITTSBURGH SATURDAY; "JOOK GEORGE STEEL CITY CLASSIC" PRESENTED BY ZARIN TO PAY A MINIMUM $10,010 TO-WIN, $500 TO-START FOR SWEENEY RUSH LATE MODEL TOUR; $1000 BONUS IF WINNER CONTRIBUTED TO THE EVENT
By Mike Leone

August 7, 2019 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Imperial, PA)…This Saturday night (August 10), Pittsburgh's PA Motor Speedway will host the richest event in the history of RUSH and the richest crate engine event ever run in the Northeast. The "Jook George Steel City Classic" presented by Zarin Truck & Automotive and coordinated by Branden Lockwich will pay a record $10,010 to-win and a minimum $500 to-start for the Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC RUSH Dirt Late Model Touring Series! In addition, if the winner financially contributed to the event, he or she will receive a $1,000 bonus compliments of Miley Motor Sports and Lockwich! Warm-ups being at 6 p.m. on Saturday night. The event carries a rain date of August 11 with one hour earlier starting times although clear conditions are forecasted for Saturday.

Starting in 2015, Lockwich took up the effort to make the "Jook George Steel City Classic" the biggest race in the tri-state area for the RUSH Late Models. The event has grown in stature every year. In 2017, the event was under the Sweeney Tour banner for the first time and drew 43 cars with Mike Pegher, Jr. capturing the $4,010 win. Last year, Jacob Hawkins scored the event's richest payday, worth $5,010, that attracted an event record 51 cars.

Thanks to Zarin Truck & Automotive coming aboard along with both the George Family and Miley Motor Sports increasing their contributions even more, and so many others stepping up to make this an unbelievable payout of what is expected to be over $42,000 for just a one-day show! The entire purse as of August 6 is posted below, and will still increase.

"On behalf of the Jook George family, we wanted to do something extra special this year since it's the 30th anniversary for what used to be called the 'Fall Classic' at Pittsburgh's Pennsylvania Motor Speedway," expressed Dana George. "Jook and his #10 race team looked forward to this race every year so we have contributed additional funds so that the first place prize money will be a grand total of $10,010! Good luck to all of the competitors in making this a race to remember!"

Miley Motor Sports and Lockwich then came up with the idea to award the 50-lap feature winner an additional $1,000 bonus if he financially contributed to the event. Any driver that still would like to contribute a minimum of $50 to expand the purse and be eligible for the bonus can contact Branden on Facebook or at 412-639-3723.

The fastest overall in "Shock the Clock" qualifying will receive $200 with $100 from FK Rod Ends and another $100 "In loving memory of Tanya Lee Flinner from John, Taylor, and Pap Flinner". FK Rod Ends heat races will pay $25 to-win. The "John Beatty Memorial" Dash will be run to determine the beginning of the feature line-up that will pay a record $404 to-win with $100 for second, $50 for third, and $25 for fourth through sixth!
The Zarin Truck & Auto "$500 Club" drawings will take place during the drivers meeting. The top 15 in PPMS track points will be eligible to win the five $100 drawings. The possibility exists for one driver to leave Pittsburgh on August 10 with $11,739 in earnings!

"Miley Motor Sports is ecstatic about the 30th edition of the RUSH Dirt Late Model Series 'Jook George Classic', which is set up to be the biggest and best ever to honor our great friend of racing, Jook George," expressed PPMS promoter Matt Miley. "We can’t thank Brandon, the RUSH Team, and all who have contributed enough. It’s a win, win, win, win- racers, fans, sponsors, and the Speedway."

"This is the type of thing that energizes Miley Motor Sports to keep Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway alive," continued Miley. "It’s been a long ride, 31 consecutive seasons! Age and what comes with it take a toll on us. We simply can’t do everything ourselves. Younger folks who love the sport stepping up and making some of our best events is unbelievably refreshing. It energizes an old ownership team. A very sincere Thank You from all of us at Miley Motor Sports!"

"It's really amazing how this event has grown and how so many people have gotten behind it to make this all possible," expressed RUSH Director Vicki Emig. "Branden has led the efforts of transforming this from a special weekly event to a record breaking major Touring Series show. We can't thank the George Family, Miley Motor Sports, Branden and so many others for their amazing contributions and allow us to present this as RUSH Late Model Touring Series event with it now being the second $10,000+ to win show of the season. To think that one driver has the ability to win well over $11,000 is pretty incredible."

Defending Series Champion, Jeremy Wonderling, leads the Sweeney Tour to Pittsburgh. After a pair of fourth place finishes in last year's Tour events at PPMS, Wonderling was leading the feature on July 20 during "Manufacturers Night" only to suffer engine woes that shrunk his lead over Michael Duritsky, Jr. to 28.

Duritsky already has a win this year at PPMS in Sweeney Weekly Series competition and finished sixth on July 20. Kyle Lukon, who owns 35 career wins at PPMS including the July 20 win, is third in points with Braeden Dillinger and Ryan Frazee rounding out the top five. Logan Zarin, Bill Kessler, Jason Genco, Max Blair, Kyle Murray, Brian Knowles, and Sam Pennacchio complete the top 12 points paying positions.

The Sweeney Tour has completed 12 events this season with Blair leading the way with five victories. Wonderling won his three races in consecutive events in New York. Charlie Sander(not a nice word)(not a nice word)(not a nice word)(not a nice word) swept the "Quebec Invasion" events at Autodrome Granby and Le RPM Speedway. Logan Roberson won the Winchester portion of the "Battle of the Bay" Speedweek presented by Wehrs Machine, and Lukon captured his first Tour victory in six years at the last event.

Pittsburgh meanwhile has had seven different winners in eight events to date in 2019 with John Mollick being the only repeat winner. Past PPMS Sweeney RUSH Tour winners include Ryan Montgomery (3), Daryl Charlier (2), Lukon (2), Colton Flinner, Mollick, Mike Pegher, Jr., and Jacob Hawkins. The Tour will return to PPMS for the "Bill Hendren Memorial" on October 4-5 paying a minimum of $4,000 to-win.

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 Late Model Series Officials will also determine the Dirt Defender "Defensive Drive" to the driver that best defended his position throughout the event, and will receive a $40 product package. The feature winner will receive a Sunoco 5-Gallon Race Jug. Ontime Body & Graphic's "Spoiler Alert" will award a $150 spoiler to the 13th place finisher on Saturday.

50-lap Feature Payoff (as of 8/6/19): 1. $10,010* 2. $5,000 3. $2,500 4. $2,000 5. $1,500 6. $1,300 7. $1,100 8. $1,000 9. $900 10. $800 11. $700 12. $650 13. $625 14. $600 15. $580 16. $550 17. $540 18. $530 19. $520 20. $510 21-26. $500. (*If the feature winner contributed financially to the event, he will receive a $1,000 bonus compliments of Miley Motor Sports & Branden Lockwich)

Non-Qualifier Payoff (as of 8/6/19): 1. $400 2. $225 3. $200 4. $195 5. $190 6. $185 7. $180 8. $175 9. $170 10. $165 11-24. $160. Tow $125.

"John Beatty Memorial" Dash Payoff: 1. $404 2. $100 3. $50 4-6. $25.

2019 Sweeney RUSH Late Model Touring Series points (only Tour members receive points): 1. Jeremy Wonderling 978 2. Michael Duritsky, Jr. 950 3. Kyle Lukon 946 4. Braeden Dillinger 917 5. Ryan Frazee 879 6. Logan Zarin 834 7. Bill Kessler 825 8. Jason Genco 787 9. Max Blair 766 10. Kyle Murray 685 11. Brian Knowles 579 12. Sam Pennacchio 537 13. Darrell Bossard 498 14. Chad Sines 492 15. J.J. Mazur 472 16. John Waters 446 17. Ross Robinson 368 18. Jared Kane & Jamie Wrightsman 366 20. Scott Gunn 320 21. Logan Roberson 286 22. Dale Hollidge & Matt Latta 254 24. Jason Knowles 244 25. Trever Feathers 243 26. Cody Dawson 233 27. Paul Norman 217 28. Cory Sines 215 29. Dale McDonald, Jr. 210 30. Jon Rivers 171 31. Beamer Guzzardi 80 32. John Mollick 73 33. Al Shawver, Jr. 70.

The pits will be open all afternoon on Saturday. Registration and pre-race tech will begin by 3 p.m. with the drivers meeting scheduled for 5:35 p.m., warm-ups at 6 followed by qualifying and then racing at 7. You do not have to be a member of RUSH to compete only to receive Weekly and/or Tour points. The entry fee for the event is $100. AMB/MyLaps transponders will be used. Driver radio will be channel 454.000.

Pittsburgh’s PA Motor Speedway is a ½-mile dirt track with a GPS address of 170 Kelso Rd, Imperial PA 15126, which is located just off the Noblestown exit on Routes 22/30. For more information, check out their website at www.ppms.com or call 412-279-7223. The track number on race day is 724-695-3363 or 724-695-0393. As for their social media outlets, you can like their page on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/PittsburghsP...aMotorSpeedway or follow them on Twitter @PAMotorSpeedway.