SWEENEY RUSH LATE
MODEL TOUR PART OF "PITTSBURGHER" WEEKEND AT PPMS; $2500 TO-WIN "BILL HENDREN
MEMORIAL" TO FEATURE AN ADDITIONAL $3000+ IN CASH BONUSES
By Mike Leone
October 4, 2017
FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
(Imperial, PA)...The Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC RUSH Dirt Late Model Touring Series
powered by Pace Performance is in the midst of three straight weekends to close
out the 2017 season. After last
Saturday's "Fall Classic" at McKean County Raceway, the Series heads south this
weekend to Pittsburgh's Pennsylvania Motor Speedway as part of the "Monster
Half-Mile's" 29th annual "Pittsburgher 100" weekend with the Lucas Oil Late
Model Dirt Series. The Sweeney
Marquee Tour event will be the "Bill Hendren Memorial" with qualifying and heat
races on Friday night (October 6) followed by the remainder of the program on
Saturday night.
This
year marks the fifth time that the Hendren Family has presented the "Bill
Hendren Memorial" in the Northeast, and second straight at Pittsburgh as part of
the "Pittsburgher". Not only will
drivers be competing in the $2,500 to-win, $250 to-start feature, but also the
Hendren Family has posted an additional $3,000 in cash bonuses that will be
awarded over the 30-lap feature on Saturday night!
The complete list is posted below.
In addition and like in the past, the top three feature finishers will
received beautiful, custom laser etched plaques by Steve himself and presented
by CrateInsider.com.
In 2005, Bill Hendren, the patriarch of the Hendren family
and founder of Hendren Racing Engines, had the foresight to began building his
affiliation with crate racing. As many of his open engine customers looked
to crate racing as an opportunity to continue racing Bill began offering free
advice via the well know 4M.net message board. As the concept grew
throughout the country, his generosity and expertise was rewarded as many of
those who had utilized his knowledge in the beginning utilized him as their
engine rebuilder as their needs arose. Bill
passed away on March 19, 2011, but his legacy and dedication to crate
racing lives on through his sons, Steve and Mike, as the Hendrens are recognized
throughout the entire country as a leader in this specialized form of racing as
they continue to operate Hendren Racing Engines.
"It truly is an honor that
Steve and his family continue to align not only his father's memorial event with
us, but also presents the RUSH Engine Rebuilder of the Year award," explained
RUSH Director Vicki Emig. "Over the
years, the Hendrens have brought over $48,000 in cash and contingencies to these
RUSH events and we know how much the racers annually appreciate his efforts.
We're also really looking forward to being part of the Pittsburgher and
it's always a great opportunity for our racers to be able to race on the same
stage as Lucas Oil. We have to thank
the Miley Family for their continued support of RUSH."
With just two Sweeney Tour
events remaining this season, Bryce Davis and John Waters enter the weekend tied
for the point lead. Both drivers
have two wins and two runner-up finishes.
Waters, who is in search of his second straight championship, was
victorious at Genesee and McKean, while Davis won at Outlaw and Old Bradford.
Davis has 10 top five finishes compared to Waters' nine; however, Waters
has recorded each of those in the last 10 events.
After a fast start, Jeremy
Wonderling has slipped from being right in the championship hunt due to four
13th or worse finishes in the last seven events, but remains in third place.
Brothers Jason and Brian Knowles are fourth and fifth as Jason has just a
two-point advantage on Brian. The
much-improved second year racer, Brian Swank, is sixth as he's recorded three
top eight finishes in the last six events.
Completing the top 12 in the points-paying positions are Pegher, J.J.
Mazur, Tony White, Kyle Murray, Jamie Wrightsman, and Eric Wilson.
Pittsburgh has completed 17
feature events with nine different winners in 2017 under the RUSH banner.
Daryl Charlier and John Mollick led the way with four wins apiece.
Ben Policz and Mike Pegher, Jr. were the only other repeat winners with a
pair of wins each as Pegher's came over a 43-car field for the "Jook George
Steel City Classic" Tour event.
Steve Beatty, Justin Lamb, Michael Reft, Kyle Lee, and Eric Wilson all captured
a victory.
FK
Rod Ends "Shock the Clock Qualifying and Beat the Heat" will be utilized on
Friday night meaning the fastest
qualifier will receive $100 and all heat race winners will earn $25. The
K&N “Cold Air Induction” Dash will be run on Saturday paying a $100 K&N
certificate to win, $50 K&N certificate for second with $25 cash for third and
fourth place. The K&N Dash will also set the beginning of the 30-lap
feature lineup for the top two finishers in the heat races if there are less
than five heats or for the heat winners if there are five or more heats.
Precise Racing Products will award a $100 gift card for the "Pedal Down" Hard
Charger that passes the most cars in the feature.
The TBM Brakes “Tough Brake of the Night” will award three
bottles of Xtreme6 Racing Brake Fluid valued at approximately $45 along with a
certificate for a discount off any TBM Brakes purchase.
RUSH Officials will choose the "Maxima Performance" Award for a driver that
exhibits a performance worthy of such. The winner will receive a free case of
either Maxima Semi-Syn High Performance Racing Oil or Maxima Performance Racing
Oil of your choice. In addition, the winner will receive one can of SC-1
clear coat, one 16-oz bottle of Maxima Cool-Aide concentrate, one 32-oz quart of
Maxima PSF power steering fluid, and a Maxima t-shirt. The value of this
prize package is $170! Also, CrateInsider.com will award a $25 gift certificate
to the driver that finishes last on the lead lap at the finish.
Feature payoff :
1. $2,500 2. $1,200 3. $700 4.
$600 5. $500 6. $450 7. $425 8. $400 9. $350
10. $325 11. $300 12. $280 13. $275 14. $270 15.
$265 16. $260 17. $255 18-24 (25-26). $250.
Non-Qualifier payoff: 1. $200 2. $150
3. $140 4. $135 5. $130 6. $125 7. $120 8. $115
9. $110 10-24. $105. Tow $100.
Feature Lap Prizes
1. Race 1
- $100 to the 18th place car
2. Crate
Insider - $100 to the 20th place car
3. Tod
Burns (Sub-Surface Of Indiana) - $100 to the 14th place car
4. Maria
Melillo (FK Rod Ends) - $100 to the 4th place car
5. Crate
Insider - $100 to the 17th place car
6. South
Eastern Crate Association (SECA) - $100 to the 10th place car
7. On Time
Body & Graphics - $100 to the 13th
place car
8.
Jennerstown Engine Technologies - $100 to the 15th place car
9. Maria
Melillo (FK Rod Ends) - $100 to the 9th place car
10. RUSH
Racing Series - $100 to the last place car on the track
11. Hendren
Racing Engines - $100 to the 7th place car
12. Pace
Performance - $100 to the 12th place car
13. Maria
Melillo (FK Rod Ends) - $100 to the 10th place car
14. Pace
Performance - $100 to the 14th place car
15. Crate
Racin’ USA / NeSmith Racing Series - $100 to the 6th place car
16. Pace
Performance - $100 to the 9th place car
17. Don
Ramon’s Mexican Restaurant - $100 to the 3rd place car
18. Pace
Performance - $100 to the 8th place car
19. 955
Automotive - $100 to the 5th place car
20. Pace
Performance - $100 to the 7th place car
21. Pace
Performance - $100 to the 10th place car
22. Tod
Burns (Sub-Surface Of Indiana) - $100 to the 3rd place car
23. Maria
Melillo (FK Rod Ends) - $100 to the 4th place car
24.
Dirtwrap - $100 to the 8th place car
25. Pace
Performance - $100 to the 6th place car
26. Pace
Performance - $100 to the 11th place car
27. Crate
Racin’ USA/NeSmith Racing Series - $100 to the 7th
place car
28. Maria
Melillo (FK Rod Ends) - $100 to the 9th place car
29. Hendren
Racing Engines - $100 to the 2nd
place car
30. Ingram
Racing Engines - $100 to the last car on the lead lap
2017 Sweeney Late Model
Touring Series Points (Adjusted on
Marquee/Platinum; only Tour members receive points): 1. Bryce Davis & John
Waters 866 3. Jeremy Wonderling 833 4. Jason Knowles 787 5.
Brian Knowles 785 6. Brian Swank 746 7. Mike Pegher, Jr. 688
8. J.J. Mazur 680 9. Tony White 539 10. Kyle Murray 492 11.
Jamie Wrightsman 472 12. Eric Wilson 447 13. Bruce Hordusky, Jr. 386
14. Bill Kessler 372 15. Matt Latta 330 16. Chad Wright 320 17. Max
Blair 298 18. D.J. Krug 220 19. Jon Rivers 171
20. Greg Beach 159 21. Hunter
Hulley 144 22. Kyle Zimmerman 90 23. John Mollick 89 24. Jamie
Brown & Carl Shetler 81 26. Jared Kane & Mike Franklin 70.
You do not have to a member of RUSH to compete. The AMB/MyLaps transponders are required. RACEceivers are always mandatory. The entry fee is $100. Pit passes are $30 Friday or $75 for a two-day pass. Pits will open at 2 p.m. on Friday and will be open all day on Saturday. Drivers meeting is at 5:30 p.m. on Friday with pill cutoff at 5:45. Warm-ups are 6 p.m. both days. In the event of rain on Friday, provisions have been made to run the entire show Saturday. A Sunday rain date is also available.
Pittsburgh’s PA Motor Speedway is a ˝-mile dirt track with
a GPS address of 170 Kelso Rd, Imperial PA 15126,
which is located just off the Noblestown exit on Routes 22/30. For more
information, check out their website at
www.ppms.com or call 412-279-7223. The track
number on race day is 724-695-3363 or 724-695-0393. As for their social
media outlets, you can like their page on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/PittsburghsPennsylvaniaMotorSpeedway
or follow them on Twitter @PAMotorSpeedway.
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, Maxima Racing
Oil, Schoenfeld Headers, Jones Racing Products, Alternative Power Sources,
Precise Racing Products, ARbodies, TBM Brakes, K&N Filters, Lincoln Electric,
Velocita-USA, Classic Ink USA, Rocket Chassis, Landrum Performance Spring,
CrateInsider.com, 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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