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Sweeney RUSH LM Tour & Mod 7/4/14 Lernerville results; McClellan & Conant win
CHAD MCCLELLAN OPENS "BILL EMIG MEMORIAL WEEKEND" BY BILSTEIN WITH HIS 1ST CAREER LERNERVILLE WIN IN SWEENEY RUSH LM TOUR; DAVE CONANT MAKES SUCCESSFUL SWEENEY RUSH SPORTSMAN MOD DEBUT
By Mike Leone
July 4, 2014 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Sarver, PA)…The Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC RUSH Racing Series was at Lernerville Speedway on Friday night for a RUSH doubleheader featuring the RUSH Late Models and RUSH Sportsman Modifieds. Highlighting the night was the kickoff to the "Bill Emig Memorial Wild Card Weekend" presented by Bilstein Shock Absorbers for the Late Models.
Chad McClellan opened up the season winning the Sweeney Tour Late Model event at Freedom Speedway then backed it up with a fine fifth place at his home track Roaring Knob Motorsports Complex to lead the points. Things went downhill for McClellan during the "Mid-Atlantic States Classic" with finishes of 20th and 24th at Potomac and Winchester Speedways June 20-21.
In the meantime, Rick Singleton got on a roll winning an unprecedented three straight Sweeney Tour events. But on Friday night, McClellan put a halt to Singleton's streak with an impressive performance in the 25-lap Bilstein Shock Absorbers feature for his first career Lernerville Speedway win. The victory was worth $1,500 plus an additional $100 for winning the "John Buzzard Memorial" K&N Filters Cold Air Induction Dash. McClellan also puts himself in prime position for capturing money in the $1,500 "Wild Card Weekend" point fund.
"This means a lot," acknowledged the 37-year-old Stoystown, PA driver. "I've been coming here for a long time. This is a great, great facility. I've run every division here- 410 Sprints, Big-Block Mods, Super Late Models and I've always been close to winning. I'm finally glad I got one here."
"I saw Rick (Singleton) up to second on the last caution, explained McClellan. "I was pretty decent up top, but I screwed up on the last restart and jumped the cushion. I had to settle down and hit my marks again. It was real tricky. The bottom was pretty slippy, but Rick is a heck of a good racer. If anyone is going to beat you it's probably going to be him."
Andrew Wylie used the outside to take the lead on the start from McClellan with Eric Wilson, Dennis Lunger, Jr., and Bobby Rohrer filling out the top five after the opening lap. Singleton started seventh and was in the top five after two laps. McClellan began to put the heat on Wylie on lap three. McClellan went to the outside and swept around Wylie in turn four to lead lap three. Singleton advanced to fourth driving by Rohrer down the backstretch on lap four.
No changes took places up front over the next several laps. With green flag conditions continuing, McClellan caught traffic on lap 11 as he had a half-straightaway lead on Wylie. Point leader Ryan Montgomery started back in 12th and became a factor when he began to pressure Rohrer for fifth on lap 13. The two raced side-by-side over the next four laps with Montgomery getting by on lap 16.
McClellan faced heavy lapped traffic on lap 18 as he was trying to work his way by a battle between Michael Lake, Cody Dawson, and Jamie Wrightsman. Singleton continued moving forward putting a slide job on Wilson in turn four for third on lap 19 before Wrightsman spun to bring out the first caution.
When racing resumed, Singleton performed another slide job in turn four- this time for second getting by Wylie on lap 20, while Montgomery moved ahead of Wilson for fourth. Montgomery then drove under Wylie in turn two on lap 22 to snag third. The event's final caution took place when Robby Marhefka flew off turn three into the fence. Marhefka was awarded The Brake Man's "Tough Brake of the Night".
Back under green it was three-wide for the lead in turns one and two and then again in turns three and four. McClellan barely maintained his lead, but it was Montgomery getting by Singleton for second. That moved earned him Driven Oil's "Slick Move of the Night".
Montgomery was right there in the final laps, but McClellan had the momentum off the topside of the turns and didn't make a mistake as he captured his fourth career Sweeney Tour win by a margin of just 0.948 of a second over Montgomery in his Fieg Brothers Coal Company/Mark Smith Shock Therapy, Onetime Body & Graphics-sponsored, Hendren Racing Engines, Lazer Chassis #119. It's been a good week for McClellan as he also captured the win in Wednesday's Sweeney Weekly Series event at Roaring Knob.
"I have to thank Mike (Leone) and Vicki (Emig) for putting this deal on- if it wasn't for all of their hard work none of us would be here racing and I really appreciate that," stated McClellan. "I have to thank my brother and all of my crew that help out. We had to change a power steering pump when we got here. We worked the last couple weeks trying to get this dialed back in after Winchester. Also have to thank all of my sponsors and the fans for coming out."
After a disappointing 14th place finish at Freedom, Montgomery has come back with four straight top four finishes to lead the Sweeney Tour points; however, the 2013 Series top winner with five victories is still looking for his first of 2014.
Singleton was third. While a lot of the attention was focused up front, Alan Dellinger raced from the 20th starting spot to finish fourth after getting by Wylie on lap 24 to earn the $100 Precise Racing Products "Pedal Down" Hard Charger gift card. Dellinger is one of several racers campaigning the $135 Bilstein "sealed" spec shocks and performed very well after suffering a flat tire in his heat race and had to transfer through the B main. Bilstein was on hand with their service truck as part of Bilstein presented weekend.
"I love racing here when it's shined off like that," acknowledged the 50-year-old Hermitage, PA veteran. "That was a lot of fun. I sit and watch all those guys sideways through the corners and think 'give me enough laps and they'll come back'. These shocks are great- they looked pretty good to me. I've had $2500 shocks per corner on Super Late Models and Big-Block Modifieds and you turn around put the hundred dollar ones on and they work just as good. We're trying to prove they'll work and hoping it will get turned around and make this crate racing a little cheaper."
Wilson, in his first year on the Tour, bettered his season's best eighth at the last event at Winchester with a solid fifth and earned the Accelerator-1 carb spacer kit from Crate Innovations. Wylie dropped to sixth over Lunger, Waters, 13th starting Josh Double, and Rohrer.
Cody Dawson was the last car on the lead lap in 18th and earned the Moroso Custom Fit Plug Wire Set compliments of Crate Innovations. W.L. Stile was the first non-qualifier and received an ARbodies nose kit for the "Nosed Out" Award valued at $250.
The Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC RUSH Sportsman Modifieds made their second appearance of the season at Lernerville and it was Dave Conant, Jr. holding off fellow New York racer and Series point leader Adam Hilton in a tremendous race-long side-by-side battle. Conant was making both his Series and Lernerville debuts and became the sixth different winner in eight races!
Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC RUSH Dirt Late Model Touring Series Race #5 (25 laps, $1,500 to-win): 1. CHAD MCCLELLAN (119) 2. Ryan Montgomery (12) 3. Rick Singleton (Enyeart 99*) 4. Alan Dellinger (Williams 8) 5. Eric Wilson (27W) 6. Andrew Wylie (84) 7. Dennis Lunger, Jr. (Schwartz 71L) 8. John Waters (LeBarron 11) 9. Josh Double (38) 10. Bobby Rohrer (11) 11. Josh Holtgraver (00) 12. Joe Martin (55) 13. Bobby Whitling (7W) 14. Jorden Peters (11P) 15. Chad Shearer (42c) 16. Jamie Wrightsman (21J) 17. Michael Lake (Yowler 27) 18. Cody Dawson (36) 19. Ben Bowie (17) 20. Russell Baird, Jr. (17) 21. John Imler (63) 22. Reese Masiello (22R) 23. Nico Dabecco (Karalagas F1) 24. Robby Marhefka (99FM) 25. Jason Rider (Wade 76). (Note: John Imler took a Tour provisional).
DNQ: W.L Stile (1W), Tommy Schirnhofer, Jr. (8), Mike Anderson (72), Jacob Hawkins (Haseleu RJ1), Clay Ruffo (14R).
Car Count: 30
Feature Lap Leaders: Andrew Wylie (1-2), Chad McClellan (3-30)
Margin of Victory: 0.948
Precise Racing Products “Pedal Down Hard Chargerâ€: Alan Dellinger (+16)
The Brake Man “Tough Brake of the Night: Robby Marhefka
Driven Oil "Slick Move of the Night": Ryan Montgomery
Crate Innovations "Performance Plus" Accelerator-1 Carb Spacer Kit Giveaway: Eric Wilson
Crate Innovations "Ignite" Moroso Custom Fit Plug Wire Set: Cody Dawson
ARbodies "Nosed Out" Nose Kit: W.L. Stile
Heat 1 (10 laps, Top 6 transfer): 1. Singleton 2. McClellan 3. Rohrer 4. Dabecco 5. Double 6. Dawson 7. Masiello 8. Baird 9. Dellinger 10. Shearer.
Heat 2 (10 laps, Top 6 transfer): 1. Waters 2. Wilson 3. Marhefka 4. Holtgraver 5. Wrightsman 6. Lake 7. Hawkins 8. Rider 9. Schirnhofer 10. Martin.
Heat 3 (10 laps, Top 6 transfer): 1. Lunger 2. Wylie 3. Whitling 4. Montgomery 5. Bowie 6. Peters 7. Anderson 8. Imler 9. Stile 10. Ruffo.
Last Chance B Main (10 laps, Top 6 transfer): 1. Martin 2. Dellinger 3. Baird 4. Rider 5. Shearer 6. Masiello 7. Stile 8. Imler 9. Schirnhofer 10. Anderson 11. Hawkins-DSQ (light) 12. Ruffo-DNS.
"John Buzzard Memorial" K&N “Cold Air Induction†Dash (4 laps, $100 to-win): 1. Chad McClellan 2. Andrew Wylie 3. Eric Wilson 4. Bobby Rohrer.
Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC RUSH Sportsman Modifieds (15 laps): 1. DAVE CONANT, JR. (62) 2. Adam Hilton (3A) 3. Rocky Kugel (1) 4. Jeremy Paup (X) 5. Jamie Duncan (18) 6. Jeremy Zufall (20) 7. Ken Moy, Jr. (34) 8. Will Schaffer (4) 9. Brian Wrights (Tutak 71) 10. Adam Siegel (91).
By Mike Leone
July 4, 2014 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Sarver, PA)…The Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC RUSH Racing Series was at Lernerville Speedway on Friday night for a RUSH doubleheader featuring the RUSH Late Models and RUSH Sportsman Modifieds. Highlighting the night was the kickoff to the "Bill Emig Memorial Wild Card Weekend" presented by Bilstein Shock Absorbers for the Late Models.
Chad McClellan opened up the season winning the Sweeney Tour Late Model event at Freedom Speedway then backed it up with a fine fifth place at his home track Roaring Knob Motorsports Complex to lead the points. Things went downhill for McClellan during the "Mid-Atlantic States Classic" with finishes of 20th and 24th at Potomac and Winchester Speedways June 20-21.
In the meantime, Rick Singleton got on a roll winning an unprecedented three straight Sweeney Tour events. But on Friday night, McClellan put a halt to Singleton's streak with an impressive performance in the 25-lap Bilstein Shock Absorbers feature for his first career Lernerville Speedway win. The victory was worth $1,500 plus an additional $100 for winning the "John Buzzard Memorial" K&N Filters Cold Air Induction Dash. McClellan also puts himself in prime position for capturing money in the $1,500 "Wild Card Weekend" point fund.
"This means a lot," acknowledged the 37-year-old Stoystown, PA driver. "I've been coming here for a long time. This is a great, great facility. I've run every division here- 410 Sprints, Big-Block Mods, Super Late Models and I've always been close to winning. I'm finally glad I got one here."
"I saw Rick (Singleton) up to second on the last caution, explained McClellan. "I was pretty decent up top, but I screwed up on the last restart and jumped the cushion. I had to settle down and hit my marks again. It was real tricky. The bottom was pretty slippy, but Rick is a heck of a good racer. If anyone is going to beat you it's probably going to be him."
Andrew Wylie used the outside to take the lead on the start from McClellan with Eric Wilson, Dennis Lunger, Jr., and Bobby Rohrer filling out the top five after the opening lap. Singleton started seventh and was in the top five after two laps. McClellan began to put the heat on Wylie on lap three. McClellan went to the outside and swept around Wylie in turn four to lead lap three. Singleton advanced to fourth driving by Rohrer down the backstretch on lap four.
No changes took places up front over the next several laps. With green flag conditions continuing, McClellan caught traffic on lap 11 as he had a half-straightaway lead on Wylie. Point leader Ryan Montgomery started back in 12th and became a factor when he began to pressure Rohrer for fifth on lap 13. The two raced side-by-side over the next four laps with Montgomery getting by on lap 16.
McClellan faced heavy lapped traffic on lap 18 as he was trying to work his way by a battle between Michael Lake, Cody Dawson, and Jamie Wrightsman. Singleton continued moving forward putting a slide job on Wilson in turn four for third on lap 19 before Wrightsman spun to bring out the first caution.
When racing resumed, Singleton performed another slide job in turn four- this time for second getting by Wylie on lap 20, while Montgomery moved ahead of Wilson for fourth. Montgomery then drove under Wylie in turn two on lap 22 to snag third. The event's final caution took place when Robby Marhefka flew off turn three into the fence. Marhefka was awarded The Brake Man's "Tough Brake of the Night".
Back under green it was three-wide for the lead in turns one and two and then again in turns three and four. McClellan barely maintained his lead, but it was Montgomery getting by Singleton for second. That moved earned him Driven Oil's "Slick Move of the Night".
Montgomery was right there in the final laps, but McClellan had the momentum off the topside of the turns and didn't make a mistake as he captured his fourth career Sweeney Tour win by a margin of just 0.948 of a second over Montgomery in his Fieg Brothers Coal Company/Mark Smith Shock Therapy, Onetime Body & Graphics-sponsored, Hendren Racing Engines, Lazer Chassis #119. It's been a good week for McClellan as he also captured the win in Wednesday's Sweeney Weekly Series event at Roaring Knob.
"I have to thank Mike (Leone) and Vicki (Emig) for putting this deal on- if it wasn't for all of their hard work none of us would be here racing and I really appreciate that," stated McClellan. "I have to thank my brother and all of my crew that help out. We had to change a power steering pump when we got here. We worked the last couple weeks trying to get this dialed back in after Winchester. Also have to thank all of my sponsors and the fans for coming out."
After a disappointing 14th place finish at Freedom, Montgomery has come back with four straight top four finishes to lead the Sweeney Tour points; however, the 2013 Series top winner with five victories is still looking for his first of 2014.
Singleton was third. While a lot of the attention was focused up front, Alan Dellinger raced from the 20th starting spot to finish fourth after getting by Wylie on lap 24 to earn the $100 Precise Racing Products "Pedal Down" Hard Charger gift card. Dellinger is one of several racers campaigning the $135 Bilstein "sealed" spec shocks and performed very well after suffering a flat tire in his heat race and had to transfer through the B main. Bilstein was on hand with their service truck as part of Bilstein presented weekend.
"I love racing here when it's shined off like that," acknowledged the 50-year-old Hermitage, PA veteran. "That was a lot of fun. I sit and watch all those guys sideways through the corners and think 'give me enough laps and they'll come back'. These shocks are great- they looked pretty good to me. I've had $2500 shocks per corner on Super Late Models and Big-Block Modifieds and you turn around put the hundred dollar ones on and they work just as good. We're trying to prove they'll work and hoping it will get turned around and make this crate racing a little cheaper."
Wilson, in his first year on the Tour, bettered his season's best eighth at the last event at Winchester with a solid fifth and earned the Accelerator-1 carb spacer kit from Crate Innovations. Wylie dropped to sixth over Lunger, Waters, 13th starting Josh Double, and Rohrer.
Cody Dawson was the last car on the lead lap in 18th and earned the Moroso Custom Fit Plug Wire Set compliments of Crate Innovations. W.L. Stile was the first non-qualifier and received an ARbodies nose kit for the "Nosed Out" Award valued at $250.
The Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC RUSH Sportsman Modifieds made their second appearance of the season at Lernerville and it was Dave Conant, Jr. holding off fellow New York racer and Series point leader Adam Hilton in a tremendous race-long side-by-side battle. Conant was making both his Series and Lernerville debuts and became the sixth different winner in eight races!
Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC RUSH Dirt Late Model Touring Series Race #5 (25 laps, $1,500 to-win): 1. CHAD MCCLELLAN (119) 2. Ryan Montgomery (12) 3. Rick Singleton (Enyeart 99*) 4. Alan Dellinger (Williams 8) 5. Eric Wilson (27W) 6. Andrew Wylie (84) 7. Dennis Lunger, Jr. (Schwartz 71L) 8. John Waters (LeBarron 11) 9. Josh Double (38) 10. Bobby Rohrer (11) 11. Josh Holtgraver (00) 12. Joe Martin (55) 13. Bobby Whitling (7W) 14. Jorden Peters (11P) 15. Chad Shearer (42c) 16. Jamie Wrightsman (21J) 17. Michael Lake (Yowler 27) 18. Cody Dawson (36) 19. Ben Bowie (17) 20. Russell Baird, Jr. (17) 21. John Imler (63) 22. Reese Masiello (22R) 23. Nico Dabecco (Karalagas F1) 24. Robby Marhefka (99FM) 25. Jason Rider (Wade 76). (Note: John Imler took a Tour provisional).
DNQ: W.L Stile (1W), Tommy Schirnhofer, Jr. (8), Mike Anderson (72), Jacob Hawkins (Haseleu RJ1), Clay Ruffo (14R).
Car Count: 30
Feature Lap Leaders: Andrew Wylie (1-2), Chad McClellan (3-30)
Margin of Victory: 0.948
Precise Racing Products “Pedal Down Hard Chargerâ€: Alan Dellinger (+16)
The Brake Man “Tough Brake of the Night: Robby Marhefka
Driven Oil "Slick Move of the Night": Ryan Montgomery
Crate Innovations "Performance Plus" Accelerator-1 Carb Spacer Kit Giveaway: Eric Wilson
Crate Innovations "Ignite" Moroso Custom Fit Plug Wire Set: Cody Dawson
ARbodies "Nosed Out" Nose Kit: W.L. Stile
Heat 1 (10 laps, Top 6 transfer): 1. Singleton 2. McClellan 3. Rohrer 4. Dabecco 5. Double 6. Dawson 7. Masiello 8. Baird 9. Dellinger 10. Shearer.
Heat 2 (10 laps, Top 6 transfer): 1. Waters 2. Wilson 3. Marhefka 4. Holtgraver 5. Wrightsman 6. Lake 7. Hawkins 8. Rider 9. Schirnhofer 10. Martin.
Heat 3 (10 laps, Top 6 transfer): 1. Lunger 2. Wylie 3. Whitling 4. Montgomery 5. Bowie 6. Peters 7. Anderson 8. Imler 9. Stile 10. Ruffo.
Last Chance B Main (10 laps, Top 6 transfer): 1. Martin 2. Dellinger 3. Baird 4. Rider 5. Shearer 6. Masiello 7. Stile 8. Imler 9. Schirnhofer 10. Anderson 11. Hawkins-DSQ (light) 12. Ruffo-DNS.
"John Buzzard Memorial" K&N “Cold Air Induction†Dash (4 laps, $100 to-win): 1. Chad McClellan 2. Andrew Wylie 3. Eric Wilson 4. Bobby Rohrer.
Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC RUSH Sportsman Modifieds (15 laps): 1. DAVE CONANT, JR. (62) 2. Adam Hilton (3A) 3. Rocky Kugel (1) 4. Jeremy Paup (X) 5. Jamie Duncan (18) 6. Jeremy Zufall (20) 7. Ken Moy, Jr. (34) 8. Will Schaffer (4) 9. Brian Wrights (Tutak 71) 10. Adam Siegel (91).