CHAD CARLSON REMAINS HOT IN SWEENEY RUSH PRO MODS SWEEPING THE WEEKEND; 1ST CAREER RUSH LATE MODEL WIN FOR COLIN CASALE; 1ST OF 2018 FOR PENNACCHIO AT HUMBERSTONE; 3 STRAIGHT WINS FOR WOLBERT IN RUSH SPORTSMAN MODS

By Jim Zufall & Mike Leone

August 23, 2018                     FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Pulaski, PA)...The weekend started off more than a little damp as rain washed out the annual McKean County Fair race on Thursday night for the Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC RUSH Dirt Late Model Touring Series in East Smethport, Pa.  That was followed up by a rainy day for the Friday night tracks of the Sweeney Late Model Weekly Series family of speedways.  While Potomac Speedway in southern Maryland was already scheduled to be off due to a Motocross event, the northern tracks of Raceway 7, Lernerville and Outlaw Speedways all fell to rain.

Saturday morning, the management teams of Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway and Jennerstown Speedway made the early call to cancel, mostly due to wet grounds and the treat of more to come.

Dry conditions allowed racing for a number of other tracks in the RUSH family however.  Starting in Fulton, New York where Kevan Cook pulled away from leader Max Hill on lap three to take over a lead he would not relinquish over the rest of the 20-lap RUSH Late Model event. Cook was holding a three second lead ahead of a great battle between Jason Parkhurst and Dale Caswell.  The caution-free race finished up with Cook dominating for his season's fifth win.  Parkhurst, Caswell, Chris Fleming and Sean Beardsley finished second through fifth.  Racing action returns to Fulton this Saturday.

Further to the southeast, Stateline Speedway was back to racing after a week off and had a solid field of 23 RUSH Late Models on hand.  Max Blair won for the fourth time in five tries.  Jason Genco was second for the second straight race.  Scott Gurdak recorded his fourth straight podium finish in third at the Busti, NY track.  Darrell Bossard was fourth for the third straight week coming across ahead of a season's best Stateline finish by Ward Schell.

In the RUSH Pro Mods, Chad Carlson won for the third time in four weeks taking the win over Dennis Lunger, Jr., Scott Gurdak, Justin Carlson, and Adam Ashcroft.   Stateline will be off this Saturday night then return for Season Championship Night on September 1.

Colin Casale picked up his first career victory in the RUSH Late Models on Saturday night at Dog Hollow Speedway.  Casale led all 20 laps over Joe Moyer, Devin Brannon, Michael Ott and Clate Copeman to become the eighth different winner in 12 races part of the track's inaugural season under the RUSH banner.  The Strongstown, Pennsylvania oval will close out the championship battles this Saturday with Joe Moyer holding a substantial lead over Mike Laughard.

Another strong field of 28 RUSH Sportsman Modifieds filled the pits of Sharon Speedway on Saturday night where a last chance B main was run for the third straight week.  Chas Wolbert, had to start from the 12th starting position due to his two consecutive wins.  Despite being a straightaway back of leader Josh Deems with eight laps to go, Wolbert proved why he has now notched four feature wins and three in a row by passing Josh Deems for the lead with five to go at the Hartford, Ohio oval and pulled away to win by more than four seconds.

“This is crazy to win three-in-a-row. I’ve never dreamed about this in my life,” stated the 24-year old in victory lane." Deems held on for second with Darin Gallagher, Jeremy Weaver and Kole Holden making up the top five.  Racing for the Sportsman Modifieds returns this Saturday when it will be “Manufacturers Night” presented by MSD Performance with more than $20,000 in product giveaways for their Bicknell Racing Products Touring Series event.

The wildly popular RUSH “Manufacturers Night” presented by MSD Performance for the Late Models was held on Sunday at Tri City Raceway Park near Franklin, Pennsylvania. Tri-City held just five events this season in a specials-only format, and the RUSH banner was a huge part of their 2018 season. With Old Bradford Speedway and Eriez Speedway’s giving their RUSH Late Model divisions a night off in deference to the Tri City RUSH Tour event, the car count on Sunday rivaled some of the season’s biggest with 45 checked into the pits.

Mike Pegher Jr. won his heat earning him a spot in the dash, which he won and put him on the pole for the 30-lap main event.  Other than a couple late race cautions, Pegher dominated the feature to become the 10th different winner in 14 races.  Pegher's ninth career Sweeney Tour win was worth $2,000 win and came over fifth starting Damian Bidwell, who has been hot of late.  Brady Wonderling, Christian Schneider and Jason Genco made up the top five.

Sunday night at Port Colborne, Ontario’s Humberstone Speedway, Sam Pennacchio and Stan Zanchin paced the field for the 20-lap RUSH Late Model feature. Pennacchio jumped out to an early lead that he would never relinquish. Chad Homan may have been Pennacchio’s only competition.  Homan finally caught Pennacchio in lapped traffic on the 15th circuit, but Pennacchio would hold him off on his way to claiming his first victory of 2018 as he became the sixth different winner of the season.  Homan held on for second with Jeff Dayman, Zanchin and Colton Ledingham making up the top five.  The RUSH Late Models will return to action at Humberstone this Sunday as part of the "Pete Cosco Memorial".

Also on Sunday, Old Bradford Speedway was in action albeit without the RUSH Late Models; however, the RUSH Pro Mods competed in their ninth event of the season.  Fresh off his win on Saturday night at Stateline, Chad Carlson won his second of the season at Bradford.  Amazingly, all five of Carlson's 2018 wins have come since July 16!  Billy Deming was a career best second.  Nate Hartzell had his best finish in third since his runner-up at the opener back on May 20.  Steve Dixon and Critter Hemphill were fourth and fifth.  The RUSH Pro Mods will join the Super Late Model special this Sunday night. 

Eriez Speedway had the World of Outlaws Late Models on Sunday.  They will be off this Sunday with the next racing action at scheduled for September 2 in the final night of points.

Outlaw Speedway, Potomac Speedway, and Raceway 7 all return to racing this Friday night for the RUSH Late Models.  Raceway 7 will have a $1,200 to-win special "topless" event that will also see heat race winners and the dash winner earn $100.

Lernerville Speedway rolls into its final night of racing this Friday with a very tight point battle for the RUSH Pro Stock division between multi-time champion Corey McPherson and Tyler Dietz.  McPherson holds a slim seven-point lead going into Friday.

Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway will get back to racing this Saturday when the RUSH Late Models will be part of the Sprint Car show that will also include the second appearance by the RUSH Sprint Cars.

McKean County Family Raceway was off last Saturday due to the fair, which followed their ran out on Thursday.  MCFR will have a weekly program this Saturday night featuring the RUSH Late Models.

Winchester Speedway will also hold their last point events of the 2018 campaign, where Mike Franklin holds a 91-point lead over Levi Crowl in the RUSH Late Model division.

After Saturday’s rainout, Delaware International Speedway will return to racing on September 1st.

Genesee Speedway returns Saturday after a scheduled week off with the "Terry Pangrazio Memorial" for the RUSH Late Models.

All three RUSH Asphalt Racing Series divisions will be in competition again this Saturday night at Jennerstown Speedway in Somerset County, Pennsylvania.

 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 Performance, Holley Performance Products, Earl's Performance Plumbing, Quick Fuel Technology, FK Rod Ends, Schoenfeld Headers, Jones Racing Products, Racing Electronics, Dirt Defender, Dynamic Drivelines, Wrisco Industries, Frankland Racing Supply, Alternative Power Sources, Precise Racing Products, TBM Brakes, K&N Filters, Lincoln Electric, Pancho's Racing Products, Velocita-USA, Classic Ink USA,  Landrum Performance Spring, Schwartzmiller Ground Maintenance, Close Racing Supply, CrateInsider.com, RockAuto.com, and Valley Fashions.

RUSH Sportsman Modified marketing partners include Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC, Pace Performance, Hoosier Tire, Bicknell Racing Products, Bilstein Shocks, Sunoco Race Fuels, Bazell Race Fuels, Insinger Performance, MSD Performance, Holley Performance Products, Earl's Performance Plumbing, Quick Fuel Technology, FK Rod Ends, Sherwood Racing Wheels, Schoenfeld Headers, Jones Racing Products, Racing Electronics, Dirt Defender, Dynamic Drivelines, Wrisco Industries, Frankland Racing Supply, Alternative Power Sources, Precise Racing Products, TBM Brakes, K&N Filters, Lincoln Electric, Velocita-USA, Classic Ink USA, Schwartzmiller Ground Maintenance, CrateInsider.com, RockAuto.com, Valley Fashions, Dirt Late Model Magazine, and Three Rivers Karting.

RUSH Sprint Car marketing partners include Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC, Pace Performance, Hoosier Tire, Bonnell's Rod Shop, Bilstein Shocks, Insinger Performance, MSD Performance, Holley Performance Products, Racing Electronics, Dirt Defender, Frankland Racing Supply, Earl's Performance Plumbing, FK Rod Ends, Schoenfeld Headers, Jones Racing Products, Precise Racing Products, TBM Brakes, K&N Filters, Lincoln Electric, Velocita-USA, Classic Ink USA, Landrum Performance Spring, Pancho's Racing Products, RockAuto.com, and Valley Fashions.

RUSH Pro Mod and Pro Stock marketing partners include Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC, Pace Performance, Hoosier Tire, Bilstein Shocks, Sunoco Race Fuels, Bazell Race Fuels, Insinger Performance, MSD Performance, Holley Performance Products, Earl's Performance Plumbing, Quick Fuel Technology, FK Rod Ends, Schoenfeld Headers, Jones Racing Products, Racing Electronics, Dirt Defender, Dynamic Drivelines, Wrisco Industries, Frankland Racing Supply, Wrisco. Precise Racing Products, TBM Brakes, K&N Filters, Lincoln Electric, Velocita-USA, Classic Ink USA, 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.

###