MAX BLAIR WINS SEASON’S 6TH SWEENEY RUSH LATE MODEL TOUR FEATURE SWEEPING BOTH EVENTS AT ERIEZ; 47 CARS PARTICIPATE IN $40,000 “MANUFACTURERS NIGHT” PRESENTED BY MSD

By Mike Leone

 

July 26, 2015            FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

(Erie, PA)…The Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC RUSH Racing Series returned to Eriez Speedway on Sunday evening for the second and final time this season for an Insinger Performance/Sunoco Race Fuels Northern Tour race.  The event was also the fourth annual “Manufacturers Night” presented by MSD and drew a season high 47 cars matching the record car count for the event from 2012 at Sharon Speedway.  All told, over $40,000 in cash and prizes were awarded.  In addition, to their cash payoff, every driver received at least two product prizes valued at a minimum of $250 with prizes ranging up to over $2,000.  A complete list of the prizes and winners will be posted in the near future. 

 

Most racers would tell you they’d rather be lucky than good, but Max Blair has figured out a way to be both on a consistent basis.  For the second Tour race at Eriez this season, Blair drew the pole position and led all 25 laps of the feature for the $1,500 win at his home track.  In addition, Blair drew the number one pill in the Manufacturers Night drawing to win the event’s biggest prize- the Yamaha Electric Start Generator and wheel kit from Alternative Power Sources valued at $2,200!  Blair then went out and won the Super Late Model feature to add another $1,500 to his winnings!

 

“We still got good finishes out of the last couple races, but not what we had hoped for,” stated the 25-year-old Centerville, Pa. winner after a fifth and sixth place finish in the last two Tour races at Humberstone and Lernerville Speedways.   “It sure feels good to get a win again.  It’s turned out to be an awesome night and capped it off with a Super Late Model win.  That yellow (caution on lap 15) didn’t hurt my feelings at all.  Those guys were really duking it out there in front of me.  I was worried about the restart with Damian (Bidwell).  We got snookered on one of those this year and lost a race with him, but if I have to lose there’s no one I’d rather lose to.  He’s real good at timing those starts, but I think we hit that one just right.”

 

Blair raced to the early lead over Damian Bidwell, who has been Blair’s thorn in the two recent Tour events at Wayne County Speedway.  Bryce Davis, fourth starting Randy Hall, and Eric Wilson filled the top five after the opening lap.  Seven starting Wayne Robertson, who was making his 2015 debut, moved into fifth on lap two past Wilson.  By lap four, Blair opened up some breathing room on Bidwell as the top five began to distance themselves from the field.

 

Non-stop green flag racing continued as the laps ticked off.  Blair had a half-straightaway lead when he caught the back end of the field on lap 11.  One lap later, Bidwell and Davis began to close in and was right on Blair on lap 13 in heavy traffic.  Blair got a big break when Wilson lost the handle in turn two bringing out the event’s first and only caution with 15 laps scored.

 

Blair chose the inside for the restart.  Bidwell stuck with Blair for over a lap.  On lap 17, Bidwell tried to keep his momentum going on the topside into turn one, but Davis was able to sneak under to grab second; meanwhile, eighth starting John Waters cracked the top five passing Robertson.  Waters continued to move forward taking fourth from Hall on lap 19.

 

As Blair continued to lead with Davis trying to track him down, eyes shifted to Dave Lyon, who was on the charge from the 13th starting spot.  Lyon put on Hoosier D55s and was moving to the front.  Lyon took fifth from Hall on lap 20 then stopped Waters forward progression with a pass for fourth on lap 21.  Lyon ran down Bidwell and passed him for third on the final lap. 

 

Back up front, Blair remained free of lapped traffic as Davis was unable to mount a serious challenge.  The victory was Blair’s third of the season in Northern Tour events and sixth overall in 13 Sweeney Tour races in 2015 in his R&J Poultry/Moody & Son Welding/Specialty Products/Genesis Shocks/Murphy’s Logging/C&J Dairy-sponsored #111.  The victory kept Blair atop all three Touring standings for the $10,000 sweep in addition to the $5,000 to-win Sweeney Weekly Series crown that’s he’s also leading.

 

Davis backed up his runner-up finish last Sunday at Humberstone with another strong showing to hold down the second spot in the Insinger/Sunoco Northern Tour points.  For his efforts, Davis earned the Maxima Racing Oils “Maximum Performance” Award. 

 

“After the heat race we were worried about our chances for the feature, but we made some changes and it worked,” explained the 24-year-old Hornell, New York driver.  “Damian got in there hot and slid up and I figured I’d take a shot at it.  I have to thank my whole family, Close Racing Supply, and everyone that does so much for me during the week.”

 

Lyon edged out Bidwell for third and picked up the $100 Precise Racing Products “Pedal Down” Hard Charger gift card.  “We’ve had a good car all year, but always seem to manage to start in the back,” explained the Corry, Pa. veteran.  “Tonight we just needed to start closer to the front.  My car was coming to me toward the end.  I was being patient and took them when I could.  I have thank my crew and especially my uncle Gary; if it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t be able to do this.”

 

Waters recorded his third straight top five Tour finish with his brand new car.  After moving into fourth and fifth, Hall and Robertson dropped to sixth and seventh respectively.  Chad Wright moved up to eighth at the finish.  Jason Knowles had another run forward finishing ninth after starting 15th.  Mike Knight completed the top 10.  Wilson was the final car on the lead lap in 22nd and received a $25 gift certificate from CrateInsider.com. 

 

Jim Johnson ended the night winning the 10-lap non-qualifier event.  The Batavia, New York driver led from green-to-checkered and earned $150 for his efforts in his Johnson’s Automotive-sponsored #93J.  Fifth starting Bobby Pifer III worked his way to the runner-up spot getting by Jamie Brown on lap nine.  Dusty Waters improved from sixth to third as Brown and Khole Wanzer completed the top five.  Twelve of the 21 scheduled starters took the green flag in a race that was slowed for only one caution.

 

T.J. Downs was awarded the TBM Brakes “Tough Brake of the Night” honors after contact with the wall in warmups ended his night. 

 

Heat winners were Robertson, Wilson, Bidwell, Blair, and Waters.  Eric Andrus won the first last chance B main, while Kyle Zimmerman raced from sixth to win the second B main.  Zimmerman then improved from 22nd to 15th in the feature.  Chad Wright became the 11th different K&N “Cold Air Induction” Dash winner in 11 races this year an earned a $100 K&N certificate.  Ryan Scott in his Tour debut was second and received a $50 K&N certificate, while Lyon, Matt Latta, and Jason Knowles picked up an extra $25 for finishing third through fifth.     

 

The next Sweeney Tour event will be on Sunday, August 16 for the rescheduled “Bill Emig Memorial” at Tri-City Raceway Park in Franklin, Pa.  This will be an Insinger/Sunoco Northern Tour event paying $2,000 to-win with Bobby Lake Motorsports “Shock the Clock” qualifying.  Race time is 6 p.m.

 

Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC RUSH Dirt Late Model Insinger Performance/Sunoco Race Fuels Northern Touring Series Race #5 (25 laps, $1,500 to-win): 1. Max Blair (111)  2. Bryce Davis (94)  3. Dave Lyon (14L)  4. Damian Bidwell (17HP)  5. John Waters (LeBarron 11)  6. Randy Hall (Suppa 4s)  7. Wayne Robertson (20)  8. Chad Wright (6)  9. Jason Knowles (4)  10. Mike Knight (Harvey 55)  11. Matt Latta (Bidwell B1D)  12. Jason Genco (Badgley 29J)  13. Daryl Charlier (12)  14. Ryan Scott (0)  15. Kyle Zimmerman (z17)  16. Brian Knowles (4)  17. Jeremy Wonderling (3J)  18. Wyatt Scott (X3)  19. Eric Andrus (54)  20. Mike Wonderling (74)  21. Chris Ottaway (9)  22. Eric Wilson (27W)  23. Scott Gurdak (5G)  24. Kyle Scott (3JR)  25. Bruce Hordusky, Jr. (3)  26. Ward Schell (Suppa 4s).  (Note: Ward Schell took a Series provisional and Kyle Scott took a Track provisional.)

 

Non-Qualifier (10 laps, $150 to-win): 1. Jim Johnson (93J)  2. Bobby Pifer III (6P)  3. Dusty Waters (14W)  4. Jamie Brown (135)  5. Khole Wanzer (01W)  6. Tony White (27)  7. Nathan Earle (17E)  8. Rueben Schwartz (71LS)  9. Steve LeBarron (29)  10. Chad Schauers (28C)  11. Brad Mesler (24B)  12. Joe Long (71)  13. Clay Ruffo (14R)-DNS  14. Mike Lozowski (41)-DNS  15. W.L. Stile (1W)-DNS  16. Alan Dellinger (Williams 8)-DNS  17. Doug Ricotta (01)-DNS  18. Joe Martin (55)-DNS  19. Andrew Wylie (84)-DNS  20. Lon Emerick (3)-DNS  21. T.J. Downs (1)-DNS.

 

Car Count: 47
Feature Lap Leaders:
Max Blair (1-25)

Precise Racing Products “Pedal Down Hard Charger”: Dave Lyon (+10)

Maxima Oil “Maximum Performance”: Bryce Davis

TBM Brakes “Tough Brake of the Night": T.J. Downs

CrateInsider.com "Last Car on Lead Lap": Eric Wilson

 

Heat 1 (10 laps, Top 4 transfer to A): 1. Robertson  2. Knight  3. Wright  4. J. Wonderling  5. Andrus  6. K. Scott  7. Brown  8. Dellinger  9. Pifer  10. Wylie.

 

Heat 2 (10 laps, Top 4 transfer to A): 1. Wilson  2. Hordusky  3. R. Scott  4. W. Scott  5. Long  6. Lozowski  7. Zimmerman  8. D. Waters  9. Ottaway  10. Emerick.

 

Heat 3 10 laps, Top 4 transfer to A): 1. Bidwell  2. Davis  3. Lyon  4. Genco  5. Wanzer  6. Ruffo  7. Earle  8. White  9. Downs-DNS.

 

Heat 4 (10 laps, Top 4 transfer to A): 1. Blair  2. Charlier  3. J. Knowles  4. M. Wonderling  5. Schell  6. LeBarron  7. Stile  8. Ricotta  9. Martin.

 

Heat 5 (10 laps, Top 4 transfer to A): 1. J. Waters  2. Hall  3. Latta  4. Gurdak  5. Mesler  6. Johnson  7. B. Knowles  8. Schauers  9. Schwartz. 

Last Chance B Main 1 (10 laps, Top 2 transfer to A): 1.Andrus  2. B. Knowles  3. Brown  4. Wanzer  5. Pifer  6. D. Waters  7. LeBarron  8. Mesler  9. Earle  10. Schwartz  11. Lozowski  12. Ricotta-DNS  13. Wylie-DNS  14. Downs-DNS.

 

Last Chance B Main 2 (10 laps, Top 2 transfer to A): 1. Zimmerman  2. Ottaway  3. Johnson  4. Schauers  5. K. Scott  6. Long  7. White  8. Schell  9. Ruffo  10. Stile-DNS  11. Dellinger-DNS  12. Martin-DNS  13. Emerick-DNS.

 

K&N "Cold Air Induction" Dash (4 laps): 1. Chad Wright  2. Ryan Scott  3. Dave Lyon  4. Matt Latta  5. Jason Knowles.

 

RUSH Late Model marketing partners include Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC, Pace Performance, Hoosier Tire, Bilstein Shocks, Sunoco Race Fuels, Bazell Race Fuels, Insinger Performance, MSD Ignition, Maxima Racing Oil, Jones Racing Products, Alternative Power Sources, Precise Racing Products, ARbodies, TBM Brakes, K&N Filters, Lincoln Electric, TurboStart, Beyea Headers, FK Rod Ends, Bobby Lake Motorsports, Crate Innovations Inc., Velocita-USA, High Gear Speed Shop, CrateInsider.com, B.R.A.K.E.S., RockAuto.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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