VIRGINIA'S LOGAN ROBERSON MAKES WINNING DEBUT AT ERIEZ FENDING OFF DEFENDING HOVIS RUSH LATE MODEL FLYNN'S TIRE CHAMP KYLE HARDY FOR 3RD WIN IN 5 RACES

By Mike Leone

May 15, 2022               FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Erie, PA)...When fans and racers saw the weather forecast for this weekend's Hovis Auto & Truck Supply RUSH Dirt Late Model Series Flynn's Tire Touring Series events, most knew it was going to be a challenge to even get one show in; however, on Saturday night Stateline Speedway outlasted Mother Nature then the forecast changed with beautiful weather for Sunday at Eriez Speedway allowing both shows to be completed.  Sunday marked the first of two appearances of the 2022 season by the Flynn's Tire Tour at the Alexander Family's Erie, Pa. facility. 

In 2021, Virginia racer Kyle Hardy swept the "Battle of the Bay" Speedweek, finished a season worst 10th in his first appearance at Stateline then went on to win at Eriez in route to the Flynn's Tire Tour Championship.  This year, fellow Virginia racer Logan Roberson started the season off winning the 3C Graphix "Battle of the Bay" Championship.  And just like Hardy, finished 10th in his first Stateline appearance on Saturday night and followed it up on Sunday night picking up the $3,000 victory at Eriez!  Ironically, Roberson had to fend off his nemesis Hardy to win his third Flynn's Tire Tour event in five starts this season.  

"After last night's performance we kind of got down but kept working," acknowledged the 24-year-old Waynesboro, VA victor.  "Chip from CVR Race Cars is a lifesaver, and my crew never gives up on me.  When we're down it sucks, but they don't ever lose faith in me and it pays off.  It was a little sketchy tonight.  He (Hardy) was right on me.  I could see him, but thanks to him for driving me clean through lapped traffic; I appreciate that.  We race hard and we race tough.  Thank you to all you fans for coming out.  I think I have more fans up here than I do back home, but I appreciate you all coming out on a Sunday night."   

Roberson used the outside to power past pole-sitter Daryl Charlier at the start of the 30-lap feature, while Hardy passed Saturday night's winner, Joe Martin for third.  Roberson quickly pulled away from the pack on lap two, while it was three-wide for second as Charlier held the spot with Martin edging ahead of Hardy.  Hardy continued to battle Martin and worked back into third on lap five.  Two laps later, Hardy pulled alongside of Charlier in lapped traffic, but Charlier was able to hold on.

Roberson had a straightaway lead by the time he caught lapped traffic on lap seven; however, had a close call when Canadian Brandt Graham spun nearly right in front of him to bring out the caution with seven laps scored.  When racing resumed, Hardy dove under Charlier to take second.  Martin then went to work on Charlier.  The two raced side-by-side on lap 10 with Martin taking over the third spot on lap 11.

The event's second and final caution was displayed when Khole Wanzer broke an axle with 13 laps completed.  This put Roberson and Hardy side-by-side for the double file restart.  Roberson chose the outside and was able to use the momentum around the cushion in turns one and two to maintain the lead.  Tenth starting Jason Genco, the 2021 Eriez RUSH "Track Pack" Champion, was on the move as he cracked the top five on lap 18 getting by Cody Dawson. 

Roberson had stretched out his lead in the ensuing laps following the restart on lap 14; however, by lap 20 Hardy began to cut into Roberson's lead.  Roberson was in heavy lapped traffic on lap 23 allowing Hardy to temporarily get under Roberson in turn one, but Roberson fended him off to maintain the lead.  Hardy continued to hound Roberson, but on lap 24 Roberson made quite the move splitting a pair of lapped cars in turn one, which would end up sealing the victory.

Hardy stayed within striking distance over the final five laps, but Roberson took the checkered flag first by 0.568 seconds for his sixth career RUSH Tour win in his Gunter's Honey/Clary's Used Cars/RBS Auto/All About Wraps-sponsored #17.

Hardy settled for his second $1,500 runner-up finish of the year as he has four top fives in his four Flynn's Tire Tour starts on the season.  "I had a real good night and I can't wait to get the rest of the year going," stated the 28-year-old Stephens City, Virginia standout.  "It was a good race with Logan (Roberson).  He has himself a real good car.  We got it close and was inching on him in the feature.  I'm not going to say I was better (than him), but I had a real good car there at the end.  I like the lapped traffic as it mixes it up a little bit, but tonight I wanted the clean air to get to him.  I was better without having to pass cars, but I was still fine with passing them.  Once he got past them, I could go right past them fine.  I just needed to draw better for the dash, but we had the fastest lap in the dash so I'm happy about that."  

Martin, who finished second in the 2021 Tour points, was third for his third straight podium finish after struggling the first two nights of the "Battle of the Bay" Speedweek to maintain second place in points.  Genco passed Charlier on lap 25 to finish fourth.  Charlier dropped to fifth at the finish in his first Eriez start since July 26, 2015 when he finished 13th in the "Manufacturers Night" Tour event.  Charlier also received a spoiler kit from Ontime Body & Graphic. 

Dawson made the eight-hour trip up from Laurel, Delaware on Sunday in his first start at Eriez since 2014 and finished a solid a sixth.  Jeremy Wonderling struggled early in the night, but was able to advance from 12th to seventh in the feature, while brother Brady Wonderling came home eighth.  After a third place on Saturday at Stateline, Chub Frank could only manage a ninth at Eriez.  Joe Long made his first Tour start of the season and completed the top 10.

Tour newcomer Breyton Santee just missed out on his third straight top 10 by finishing 11th, which came after starting 23rd to earn the $50 Precise Racing Products "Pedal Down" Hard Charger gift card.  Matt Latta pulled off with three laps to go while running 10th and was selected as the TBM Brakes "Tough Brake of the Night" recipient. 

Roberson went out last and set fast time in FK Rod Ends "Shock the Clock" Qualifying with a lap of 16.656 to earn $100.  Picking up $25 FK Rod Ends heat race wins were Roberson, Martin, and Long.  Charlier won his first $100 Sunoco Dash to become the fifth different winner in five races!  Tour regulars Ashton Briggs and Roberson were the lucky recipients of the $100 Sunoco gift card drawings, while the four $50 Sunoco gift cards were won by Wanzer, Darrin Waldron, David Parker, and Long.

The Flynn’s Tire Touring Series will return to action over Memorial Day weekend with a trio of $3,000 to-win events; Friday night (May 27) at Outlaw Speedway in Dundee, NY for the "Gary Montgomery Memorial" followed by Saturday night (May 28) at Genesee Speedway in Batavia, NY and closing out at Bradford (PA) Speedway on Sunday night (May 29).  The Bradford show will be the first Platinum Event of the year meaning Tour members can utilize the race to replace a missed Marquee Event or throw out their worse Marquee Event finish.

Hovis Auto & Truck Supply RUSH Late Model Flynn’s Tire Touring Series Race #5 (30 laps, $3,000 to-win): 1. LOGAN ROBERSON (17)  2. Kyle Hardy (99)  3. Joe Martin (Snyder 10s)  4. Jason Genco (Craig/Badgley 29J)  5. Daryl Charlier (3RK)  6. Cody Dawson (36)  7. Jeremy Wonderling (3J)  8. Brady Wonderling (z1)  9. Chub Frank (1*)  10. Joe Long (71)  11. Breyton Santee (9)  12. Andy Boozel (Briggs 99B)  13. Andy Michael (17x)  14. Dennis Lunger, Jr. (71L)  15. Craig Graham (98)  16. Ashton Briggs (11A)  17. Brandt Graham (14)  18. Jim Rasey (Wrightsman 21J)  19. Darrin Waldron (97)  20. Jonathan Stockdale (31)  21. Gary Youngs (y26)  22. Matt Latta (21)  23. David Parker (2)  24. Khole Wanzer (01W).

Car Count: 24

Feature Margin of Victory: 0.568 seconds.

Feature Lap Leaders: Logan Roberson (1-30)

Ontime Body & Graphic “Spoiler Alert” Spoiler Kit: Daryl Charlier.

Precise Racing Products “Pedal Down” Hard Charger: Breyton Santee (+12)

Precise Racing Products 5-Gallon Race Jug: Logan Roberson

Sunoco Fuel Card Winners: Logan Roberson ($100), Ashton Briggs ($100), Khole Wanzer ($50), Darrin Waldron ($50), David Parker ($50), Joe Long ($50)

TBM Brakes “Tough Brake of the Night”: Matt Latta

FK Rod Ends “Shock the Clock” Qualifying ($100 for fast time) (Track record 15.655 by Max Blair 6/10/18): 1. 17R-Logan Roberson, 00:16.656[24]; 2. 99-Kyle Hardy, 00:16.748[11]; 3. 71-Joe Long, 00:16.819[22]; 4. 36-Cody Dawson, 00:16.830[2]; 5. 10S-Joe Martin, 00:16.863[14]; 6. 3RK-Daryl Charlier, 00:16.889[13]; 7. 29J-Jason Genco, 00:16.928[23]; 8. 31-Jonathan Stockdale, 00:16.939[5]; 9. 99B-Andy Boozel, 00:17.039[7]; 10. Z1-Brady Wonderling, 00:17.102[21]; 11. 21L-Matt Latta, 00:17.174[17]; 12. 1*-Chub Frank, 00:17.193[15]; 13. Y26-Gary Youngs, 00:17.216[9]; 14. 98-Craig Graham, 00:17.240[8]; 15. 3J-Jeremy Wonderling, 00:17.242[12]; 16. 17X-Andy Michael, 00:17.258[19]; 17. 9S-Breyton Santee, 00:17.297[16]; 18. 71L-Dennis Lunger Jr, 00:17.350[10]; 19. 11A-Ashton Briggs, 00:17.389[18]; 20. 2-David Parker, 00:17.405[6]; 21. 21J-Jim Rasey, 00:17.445[20]; 22. 01W-Khole Wanzer, 00:17.497[1]; 23. 14-Brandt Graham, 00:17.885[3]; 24. 97-Darrin Waldron, 00:18.375[4].

FK Rod Ends Heat 1 (8 laps, $25 to-win): 1. 17R-Logan Roberson[1]; 2. 36-Cody Dawson[2]; 3. Z1-Brady Wonderling[4]; 4. 29J-Jason Genco[3]; 5. 17X-Andy Michael[6]; 6. 11A-Ashton Briggs[7]; 7. 01W-Khole Wanzer[8]; 8. Y26-Gary Youngs[5].

FK Rod Ends Heat 2 (8 laps, $25 to-win): 1. 10S-Joe Martin[2]; 2. 99-Kyle Hardy[1]; 3. 21L-Matt Latta[4]; 4. 31-Jonathan Stockdale[3]; 5. 2-David Parker[7]; 6. 14-Brandt Graham[8]; 7. 98-Craig Graham[5]; 8. 9S-Breyton Santee[6].

FK Rod Ends Heat 3 (8 laps, $25 to-win): 1. 71-Joe Long[1]; 2. 3RK-Daryl Charlier[2]; 3. 1*-Chub Frank[4]; 4. 3J-Jeremy Wonderling[5]; 5. 71L-Dennis Lunger Jr[6]; 6. 97-Darrin Waldron[8]; 7. 99B-Andy Boozel[3]; 8. (DNS) 21J-Jim Rasey.

Sunoco Dash (6 laps, $100 Sunoco fuel card to-win): 1. 3RK-Daryl Charlier[1]; 2. 17R-Logan Roberson[4]; 3. 10S-Joe Martin[2]; 4. 99-Kyle Hardy[6]; 5. 71-Joe Long[3]; 6. 36-Cody Dawson[5].

The RUSH Racing Series is brought to you by Hovis Auto & Truck Supply together with Born2Run Lubricants along with the support of Hoosier Tire, Bilstein Shocks, Sunoco Race Fuels, Bazell Race Fuels, Insinger Performance, MSD Performance, Holley Performance Products, FK Rod Ends, Schoenfeld Headers, Jones Racing Products, TBM Brakes, Performance Bodies & Parts, Racing Electronics, Wrisco Industries, Frankland Racing Supply, Landrum Performance Spring, Ontime Body & Graphic, Sherwood Wheels, Alternative Power Sources, Precise Racing Products, Lincoln Electric, Velocita-USA, Waterstone Mortgage Hermitage, Wedge Motorsports, 3C Graphix, D&V Jewelers, DrumPreserve, CrateInsider.com, Terry Bowser Excavating, and Stop-Fyre.

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

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