By Mike Leone
July 13, 2019 FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Saint-Marcel-de-Richelieu, QC)...
The Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC RUSH Dirt Late Model Touring Series powered by
Pace Performance closed out the inaugural “Quebec Invasion” on Saturday evening
with an appearance at Le RPM Speedway.
For the second straight night in Quebec, the stands were packed this time
at the quarter-mile in not only the first ever RUSH appearance, but the first
time Late Models of any sort had competed at the track!
RUSH wants to thank the management and staff of both facilities for the
wonderful hospitality and professionalism exhibited in addition to putting up
the $4,000 to-win, $400 to-start purse each night along with the race teams
that all traveled between 5 and 11 hours to compete!
Each team received a $100 travel package from RUSH in addition to the
prize money and contingencies.
Over two years had passed since
Charlie Sandercock won his first career Sweeney RUSH Late Model Touring Series
victory back Merrittville Speedway before Friday’s night popular win in front of
a huge crowd at Autodrome Granby.
Sandercock’s third Tour victory didn’t wait long as the Canadian standout pilot
rode the cushion from the seventh starting spot to the lead on lap 17 and never
looked back in the 40-lap feature.
Sandercock’s impressive weekend sweep of the “Quebec Invasion” earned him $8,125
US, which equates to more than $10,600 Canadian!
“It was a super racey track,”
acknowledged the 32-year-old Trenton, Ontario racer.
“We did not start off the night the best, but my crew gave me a good car
at the end of the night. The fans
in Quebec are like no other when it comes to race fans.
I really appreciate them having us and hope they enjoyed the racing.
Thanks also to the RUSH staff for always going the extra mile for the
drivers.”
John Waters jumped into the
early lead at the start of the feature with Michael Duritsky, Jr., Austin King,
Kyle Sopaz, and Brad Rayner in tow.
While most cars were running the bottom, seventh Sandercock moved to the top and
passed Brandon Mowat for sixth on lap six and Rayner one lap later to crack the
top five. All eyes were on
Sandercock as he was riding the rim and quickly making progress.
On lap 11, Sandercock drove around Sopaz for fourth.
The event’s first caution was displayed when Michael Goudie spun with 15
laps scored.
With Waters choosing the inside
for the restart, that gave Sandercock the outside in row two and he certainly
used that to his advantage as he passed both King and Duritsky for second on lap
16 as he remained committed to the top.
Sandercock then quickly ran down Waters and made the winning pass off the
top of turn two on lap 17. Waters
stayed with Sandercock, but two laps later pushed across the track and came to
rest on the mound of dirt in turn two after the bolt in the lower control arm
broke.
Back under green, Sandercock,
who only qualified 11th fastest, pulled away from the field, while
the battle was on for second as Duritsky had his hands full with Sopaz and
eighth starting Phil Potts. Sopaz
was able to power around Duritsky off turn four to take second on lap 23, while
Potts made the identical move one lap later for third.
By now, Sandercock had opened up a straightaway lead before a caution for
Craig Graham’s spin with 28 laps scored.
One more caution for another
Goudie spin with three laps to go would be all that would slow Sandercock from
his third career Sweeney Tour win
in the Paul Crouter-owned,
Bellevue Fabricating/Deerhaven Farming & Garden/1000 Island RV-sponsored #57 as
he took the checkered flag first by 2.054 seconds.
Sandercock also received another Sunoco 5-Gallon Race Jug.
One night after a third place finish in his first ever RUSH Tour start, Sopaz
did one better coming home second to earn $2,000 and giving him more than $3,000
US earnings for the weekend! For
the second straight night, Potts made the podium as his two-race Quebec earnings
were also over $3,000. Potts raced
from 11th to second on Friday night, and eighth to third on Saturday
night. The trio of Canadian racers
swept the podium both nights!
Duritsky and Chad Homan had a great battle in the final laps as Duritsky
narrowly edged out Homan for fourth by just 0.080 of a second!
After breaking the transmission on Friday night that caused a DNF, Homan
made repairs and got off to a great start setting second fastest time in
qualifying, but his night soured when more mechanical gremlins in his heat race
forced him to start 14th in the feature.
Homan would battle his way up nine spots to earn the $100 Precise Racing
Products “Pedal Down” Hard Charger gift card.
Rayner was sixth. Steve Baldwin
barely edged out Brandon Mowat in a long battle for the seventh spot by just
0.082 of a second to receive the Dirt Defender “Defensive Drive of the Night”
contingency. Southwestern
Pennsylvania racers Braeden Dillinger and Ryan Frazee completed the top 10.
Harry Halliday finished 11th and received a $150 spoiler kit
from Ontime Body & Graphic. Brian
Knowles was certainly looking forward to racing the ¼-mile, but rear end
problems forced him to start and park the feature, and was selected as the TBM
Brakes “Tough Brake of the Night”.
Waters established a new track record with a lap of 14.385 in $100 FK Rod Ends
“Shock the Clock” qualifying then went off to win heat race one for another $25.
Sopaz won the $25 FK Rod Ends second heat race, while Waters also won the
dash that earned him the feature pole position.
The Sweeney Tour heads to the
“Monster Half-Mile” this Saturday night (July 20) for the first of three
appearances of the season. It’s the
rescheduled “Manufacturers Night” presented by MSD Performance that was rained
out on June 29. The Marquee Event
will pay $2,000 to-win, $225 to-start with over $30,000 of valuable product
giveaways being awarded to competing racers.
Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC RUSH Late Model Touring Series Race #11 (40
laps, $2,000 to-win): 1. CHARLIE SANDERCOCK (Crouter 57)
2. Kyle Sopaz (12) 3. Phil
Potts (29) 4. Michael Duritsky, Jr.
(90J) 5. Chad Homan (91)
6. Brad Rayner (55) 7. Steve
Baldwin (5) 8. Brandon Mowat (46)
9. Braeden Dillinger (14)
10. Ryan Frazee (11F) 11. Harry
Halliday (13Two) 12. Chris Fleming
(10) 13. Craig Graham (98)
14. Austin King (89) 15.
Michael Goudie (38) 16. John Waters
(LeBarron 11) 17. Brian Knowles
(7).
Car Count: 17
Margin of Victory:
2.054 seconds
Feature Lap Leaders: John
Waters (1-16), Charlie Sandercock (17-40)
Precise Racing Products “Pedal Down Hard Charger”:
Chad Homan (+9)
Dirt Defender “Defensive Drive of the Night”:
Steve Baldwin
TBM Brakes “Tough Brake of the Night":
Brian Knowles
Sunoco 5-Gallon Race Jugs:
Charlie Sandercock
Ontime Body & Graphic “Spoiler Alert”:
Harry Halliday
FK Rod Ends “Shock the Clock” Qualifying
($100 for fast time): 1. John Waters 14.385 (NTR)
2. Chad Homan 14.498 3.
Austin King 14.510 4. Kyle Sopaz
14.527 5. Brad Rayner 14.532
6. Brandon Mowat 14.639 7.
Chris Fleming 14.750 8. Michael
Duritsky, Jr. 14.776 9. Braeden
Dillinger 14.916 10. Phil Potts
14.936 11. Charlie Sandercock
14.982 12. Ryan Frazee 15.141
13. Harry Halliday 15.293
14. Steve Baldwin 15.345 15.
Michael Goudie 15.796 16. Craig
Graham NT 17. Brian Knowles NT.
FK Rod Ends Heat 1 (8
laps, $25 to-win) 1. Waters 2. King
3. Rayner 4. Sandercock
5. Fleming 6. Dillinger
7. Halliday 8. Goudie
9. Knowles-DNS.
FK Rod Ends Heat 2 (8
laps, $25 to-win) 1. Sopaz 2.
Duritsky 3. Mowat
4. Potts 5. Baldwin
6. Frazee 7. Homan
8. Graham-DNS.
Dash (4
laps): 1. Waters 2. Duritsky
3. King 4. Sopaz.
RUSH Racing Series is brought to
you by Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC & Pace Performance along with the support of
Hoosier Tire, Bilstein Shocks, Sunoco Race Fuels, Bazell Race Fuels, Insinger
Performance, MSD Performance, Holley Performance Products, Hovis Auto & Truck
Supply, FK Rod Ends, Wehrs Machine & Racing Products, Schoenfeld Headers, Jones
Racing Products, TBM Brakes, Performance Bodies & Parts, Racing Electronics,
Dirt Defender, Wrisco Industries, Frankland Racing Supply, Landrum Performance
Spring, Ontime Body & Graphic, Trailer-Alarms.com, Bonnell's Rod Shop, Sherwood
Wheels, Alternative Power Sources, Precise Racing Products, Lincoln Electric,
Velocita-USA, Classic Ink USA, CrateInsider.com, and Valley Fashions.
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
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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