ALLEGHENY MOUNTAIN RACEWAY JOINS GROWING SWEENEY RUSH SERIES; LATE MODELS TO HEADLINE WEEKLY SUNDAY EVENING RACING
By Mike Leone
December 26, 2012 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Pulaski, PA)…With the new year dawning, Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC RUSH Dirt Late Model Series Directors Vicki Emig and Mike Leone continue to make forward momentum as the inaugural season closes to within three months. The Series is now pleased to announce Allegheny Mountain Raceway (A.M.R.) has joined RUSH as a weekly-sanctioned speedway in 2013! “Northcentral PA’s Sunday Evening Racing Hotspot” is located five miles south of Kane, Pa. in Lamont and will run the Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC RUSH Dirt Late Models on a weekly basis on Sunday evenings.
A.M.R. was built by former Stock Car racer Harry Spaulding near his home in the Allegheny National Forest on Gunsmoke Road in the village of Lamont at the elevation of 2,100’. The track’s first race was held on May 26, 2001. Spaulding, a former member of the U.S. Army, grew up racing in Wisconsin before moving to Pennsylvania. Spaulding, who turned 72 years of age on Christmas Eve, operates the speedway with his wife Sandy and their nine children.
The Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC RUSH Late Models will now headline the racing action on Sunday evenings at A.M.R. and will be joined by the Street Stocks, Pure Stocks, Chargers, and Mini Stocks. A.M.R. will unofficially kickoff their season with a car show on Saturday, April 27 at the NAPA Auto Parts in Kane at 9 a.m. followed by a test and tune at noon. Approximately 14 events will be planned with the season opener on Sunday, May 5. Gates open at 3 p.m. with racing at 5.
“I’ve been watching the Crate Late Models the last several years and their growth in the Northeast,” explained Spaulding. “I recently held our annual drivers meeting and several Crate Late Model racers attended and expressed their interest in running at A.M.R. With Bradford and McKean signing on with RUSH, I felt the time was right for adding the class at A.M.R. I think it’ll bring some excitement and notoriety from RUSH, and attract new fans to A.M.R.”
“We really have to thank Harry and his wife Sandy for believing in the RUSH concept and giving Crate Late Model racing a shot at A.M.R.,” stated Emig. “He recently contacted us; and a phone call and a meeting later and the relationship was forged! This will give racers another option in the region to race at and the ability to accumulate points towards the various championships. The class will be an exciting addition to A.M.R. and bring in people that may have never been to the track before.”
Interested persons are urged to attend the RUSH Series informational meeting to be held on Friday, January 4 at 7 p.m. at Rock’n Ricks at 543 Spittler Lane, Limestone, NY. Racers also will have the ability to complete their RUSH membership forms to become charter members and save 10% off their annual fees for life.
A.M.R’s weekly RUSH member racers will now be able to take part in all of the Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC RUSH Late Model programs. Drivers will be able to accumulate their best 15 finishes throughout the season as part of the $25,000+ Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC “Weekly Series Championship” that will pay $5,000 to-win down 30 positions.
Come July, the top 10 RUSH Weekly members in A.M.R. points will move on to the $10,000+ Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC “Summer Chase”. Drivers can race as many times as they want during July and August at not only A.M.R., but any RUSH-sanctioned event. Drivers’ average points (minimum eight events) will determine the $3,000 champion that will pay down 10 positions.
Any RUSH member under the age of 18 will be eligible for the $3,000 “Futures Cup” program. Those 18 and 19 cannot have more than one full season of competition in Crate Late Models or any other higher division. These racers can compete at A.M.R. and at any other RUSH-sanctioned event to accumulate points. Drivers’ Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC “Weekly Series” points will be added to three stand-alone “Futures Cup” events that will be announced.
RUSH member drivers will also be able to count their events at A.M.R. toward eligibility in a large season ending event with details to be announced.
A.M.R. becomes the seventh speedway under the Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC RUSH Dirt Late Model Series Weekly banner joining the New Bradford (PA) Speedway, McKean County Raceway (East Smethport, PA), Pittsburgh’s PA Motor Speedway (Imperial, PA), Roaring Knob Motorsports Complex (Markleysburg, PA), Sharon Speedway (Hartford, OH), and “The Rock” - Allegany County Speedway (Cumberland, MD). Negotiations are still underway with additional speedways in the Northeast.
Allegheny Mountain Raceway is a slightly-banked 1/4-mile on the inside and a 1/3-mile on the outside, and is located just minutes from Route 66 off Highland Rd. at 505 Gunsmoke Rd., Kane, PA 16735. For more information, check out their website at www.amraceway.com, call 814-598-9077, or e-mail to [email protected].
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.