COLE PETRELLE STEALS HIS 1ST HOVIS RUSH LATE MODEL WIN OF 2022 AWAY FROM TIM SHAFFER AT PITTSBURGH; CAREER 1ST SHARON WIN FOR TONY TATGENHORST IN RUSH SPORTSMAN MODS
By Marcie Barlow
June 1, 2022 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Pulaski, PA)...After rain washed out the entire region on Friday, Mother Nature finally provided some excellent racing weather for the Memorial Day weekend. RUSH Late Model Flynn’s Tire Touring action saw Chad Homan score his first ever Series victory, while John Waters moved into sole position of second place on the Tour all-time win list with his victory at Bradford Speedway. A jubilant Tony Tatgenhorst celebrated the holiday with his career first Sharon Speedway win in the Hovis RUSH Sportsman Modifieds.
In weekly RUSH Late Model Series action at Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway, National Sprint Car Hall of Famer Tim Shaffer led 19 of the 20-lap feature event; however, West Virginia driver Cole Petrelle overtook Shaffer on the final circuit to score his first win of the 2022 season and second of his career at "Dirt's Monster Half-Mile". Petrelle became the fourth different winner in as many races as the Imperial, Pa. track. A disappointed Shaffer finished a career Late Model best second. Dave Goble recorded a career best third. Philip Bubeck was fourth for the fourth straight week! Bryan Hoffman completed the top five.
Winchester Speedway hosted its first RUSH Late Model event in nearly one month on Saturday evening as a strong field of 24 Mid-Atlantic competitors checked into the Virginia oval for the $1,000 to-win event. Pole sitter Kyle Hardy grabbed the lead at the green and went on to weather five cautions to pick up his first victory of the season at the oval. It was also Hardy’s third of the year in RUSH Late Model action for the defending National Weekly Series champion. Mike Franklin came home a season best second. Travis Campbell was third over Daniel Brown, Jr. Opening night winner, Tyler Hoy, completed the top five.
After seeing his brother Jason win two straight, Brian Knowles returned to victory lane at Woodhull Raceway for the second time on Saturday evening, while brother Jason was at Genesee competing in the Flynn's Tour event. Brian Knowles cruised to the win with former Woodhull Street Stock Champion, Brett Marlatt, earning the runner-up spot in just his seventh career Late Model race. Clayton Tarabori, Jim Buck and Joe Layfield rounded out the top five.
The RUSH Late Model Flynn’s Tire Touring Series returned to action Saturday as the rain cleared and it turned out to be a beautiful evening at Genesee Speedway for the 30-lap $300 to win main event. John Waters and Joe Martin led the 25-car field to the green after a Genesee record 36 cars signed in for competition. Martin used the top groove to take the lead and the duo quickly pulled away from the field. By lap five fourth place starter Chad Homan began to pressure Waters for the second spot and this allowed Martin to pull away. Homan slipped under Waters on lap nine and a caution on the next circuit erased Martin’s 2.5 second lead.
Homan used the top groove to power by Martin on the ensuing restart to lead lap 12. Martin pressured Homan for the lead but was not able to regain the top spot as the laps wound down. Waters, who had fallen back to fifth by lap 13, began to move forward and was pressuring Homan and Martin as the leaders entered lapped traffic on lap 24. The traffic helped Homan as he pulled away from his competitors and went on to score the victory by 1.196 seconds. It was Homan’s first ever Flynn’s Tire Touring Series win. Waters snuck by Martin on lap 25 to score a second place finish. Martin, Jeremy Wonderling and Tour points leader Logan Roberson rounded out the top five.
On Sunday evening the RUSH Late Model Flynn’s Tire Touring Series made their first trip in almost five years to Bradford (PA) Speedway. Competitors from five states and one Canadian Province were part of the Bradford record 31-car field that kept fans on the edge of their seats. John Waters passed Logan Roberson with two laps remaining in the A-Main to score a very popular victory.
Roberson, who scored the win in the Sunoco Dash, started on the pole and quickly took command when the green flagged waved. By lap seven Roberson had a 2.079 second lead over Brady Wonderling, Dusty Waters, Jason Knowles and Joe Martin. Waters, who started seventh, battled into the top five by lap 11 and then got by Martin on the 13th circuit. A caution just one lap later provided Waters with the break he needed to complete his charge to the front; Waters overtook his brother Dusty on lap 15 and then blew under Wonderling for the second position on lap 16. Three cautions on laps 17 and 18 slowed the field and gave Waters the opportunity needed to challenge Roberson. The duo battled side-by-side through lap 28 when Waters was able to make the winning pass in turns one and two to score the thrilling win. The victory was Waters’ 11th of his career in Tour competition. Wonderling snuck by Roberson to score the second place with Roberson, Martin and Jeremy Wonderling completing the top five.
The Hovis RUSH Pro Mods were also in action on Sunday for Bradford's season opener. Despite originally not even being on the schedule, the 15 Pro Mods in competition was the second highest car count for the division at the track since the division was added in 2017 and the highest since July 7, 2019 when 16 were on hand. Steve Dixon, a seven-time 2021 RUSH Pro Mod winner at Bradford, started the season off on the right foot taking the victory over Al Brewer, Critter Hemphill, Dennis Lunger, Jr., and Tyler Oakes.
Tyler County Speedway hosted a Sunday evening racing card that saw veteran Kyle Thomas score his second divisional win of the year in RUSH Late Model action. Donnie Dotson, AJ Spagnuolo, Paul Wilmoth Jr., and Lucas McDonald finished second through fifth.
The lone Hovis RUSH Sportsman Modified event took place at Sharon Speedway Saturday night. Chelsie Kriegisch and Rob Kristyak led the 22-car field to the green with Kristyak leading the first two laps. Tony Tatgenhorst, who started third, led laps three through six with Kristyak gaining the top spot back on the seventh circuit. Tatgenhorst would wrestle the top spot from Kristyak on the ninth circuit and go on to lead the remainder of the 20-lap feature. It was also Tatgenhorst’s first ever victory at Sharon and was worth $700 for the defending Touring Series Champion. At the checkered flag Tatgenhorst, who also has two career wins at Pittsburgh, tallied a 3.214 second win over second place finisher Ben Easler. Kristyak held on to third with Justin Shea and Ayden Cipriano in fourth and fifth respectively.
Cody Rickard was the victor in RUSH Stock Car action at Eriez Speedway for the second straight race.
Mother Nature was victorious at the Friday night venues of Raceway 7, Dog Hollow Speedway and The Hill Speedway. In addition, the "Gary Montgomery Memorial", which was to kick off the Flynn’s Tire Touring Series weekend at Outlaw Speedway was rained out for the second straight year and lost for the third straight after the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled the 2020 show. That event will not be rescheduled; however, track promoter Tyler Siri has already indictated the event will return in 2023. The Equipment Rental Options RUSH Sprint Car event scheduled for Friday at Sharon Speedway was also cancelled due to the weather.
RUSH Late Model competitors at Potomac Speedway, Delaware International Speedway, Skyline Speedway and Eriez Speedway were off this past weekend.
The Hovis RUSH Sportsman Modifieds will return to Sharon Speedway this Saturday night for their only race of the weekend.
The Equipment Rental Options RUSH Sprint cars have two days of racing action scheduled. They will compete at Sharon Speedway on Saturday night for the first time this season (presented by Terry Bowser Excavating) and then close out the weekend at Tri-City Raceway Park for the track's season opener on Sunday.
Weekly Hovis Auto and Truck Supply RUSH Late Model racing is scheduled this Friday at Raceway 7, The Hill Speedway along with $1,000 to-win specials at Dog Hollow and Georgetown Speedways. Saturday racing venues for the RUSH Late Model competitors include Genesee Speedway, Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway, Winchester Speedway ($1,000 to-win), Woodhull Raceway, Skyline Raceway and Stateline Speedway. Sunday RUSH Late Model action includes both Eriez Speedway and Bradford Speedway.
Potomac Speedway is scheduled to be dark this Friday as well as Delaware International Speedway. Tyler County Speedway will not be in action on Saturday.
The RUSH Pro Mods return to Stateline and Bradford Speedways this Saturday and Sunday, while the RUSH Stock Cars will be at Dog Hollow, Stateline, and Eriez Speedways.
The RUSH Karting Series also suffered a rain out on Saturday at Stateline, but good weather is predicted this Saturday.
The temperatures are heating up and so is the RUSH racing action as we kick off the month of June. See you at the track!
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 Racing Series website is www.rushracingseries.com. Like our Facebook page and Twitter pages by searching for each individual RUSH Series.
###