$10,000 TO-WIN "BILL EMIG MEMORIAL" AT LERNERVILLE LAUNCHES STELLAR SCHEDULE OF
PACE RUSH LATE MODEL FLYNN'S TIRE/BORN2RUN TOUR EVENTS HONORING HALL OF FAME
RACING ICONS
By Mike Leone
June 15, 2021 FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
(Pulaski, PA)...The Pace Performance RUSH Dirt Late Model Series
together with Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC is gearing up for several major
Flynn's Tire/Born2Run Lubricants Touring Series events
honoring hall
of fame racing icons over the remainder of the 2021 season.
Up first is the "Bill Emig Memorial" presented by Hovis Auto & Truck
Supply coming to Lernerville Speedway June 24-26.
Other future events include the "Jim Burns Tribute", "Herb Scott
Memorial", "Bill Forney Memorial", "Jook George Steel City Classic", and the
"Bill Hendren Memorial".
For the
third straight year, the "Bill Emig Memorial" will be part of the
"Firecracker 100", a crown jewel in Super Late Model racing, sanctioned by the
World of Outlaws. Once again,
$10,000 will be on the line for the RUSH Late Models marking it the richest Tour
event of the season. It is
anticipated that Saturday's show will again be the highest fan attended event
for Chevrolet Performance Crate Late Model racing in the nation.
While each night will include a
complete show for the World of Outlaws, Thursday night (June 24) will see
practice and FK Rod Ends "Shock the Clock" Qualifying for the RUSH Late Models,
Friday night will include FK Rod Ends heat races and the Sunoco Dash, while
Saturday night will include the last chance B mains, 50-lap feature, and the
non-qualifier. Max Blair has been
victorious each of the last two years.
Additional information on the event can be found here:
https://rushlatemodels.com/FirecrackerInfo2021.pdf
"On a personal note I honestly can't describe what it
means to have the 'Bill Emig Memorial' at Lernerville where the inaugural event
took place in 1991," added Emig. "To have
this event pay $10,000 to win, of course makes it even more meaningful.
As a car owner, my dad had a very long and storied history at Lernerville
and I know he would be so proud to see that his love of racing and legacy
continues on through this historic event.
I also have to thank longtime friend and business associate, Cliff Hovis,
for bringing Hovis Auto & Truck Supply on as a major event sponsor."
One week later, the Tour is right back in action with
a pair of events in western Pennsylvania including the first ever visit to Dog
Hollow Speedway on Friday, July 2 in the "Jim
Burns Tribute/David & James Burns Memorial" paying $3,000 to-win.
The richest RUSH Late Model race in the history of Dog Hollow will pay
tribute to an area legend and his two late sons.
Jim was a top runner in the old Modified Coupe, Hardtop, Super and Late
Model divisions picking up many wins on the Jennerstown and Latrobe circuit, and
was inducted into the Jennerstown Speedway Hall of Fame.
The following night (July3), Pittsburgh's PA Motor
Speedway will honor another local icon in Herb Scott.
Scott is one of the
most well-known and respected drivers who ever raced in western Pa.
Ten times during his hall of fame career, Scott won the track
championship at Heidelberg (1956-1960, 1962-1965, and 1967). His
first win came in his first year of racing at New Kensington Speedway in 1948. His
500th win came at Lernerville, and his final feature win came at Schmucker’s
Speedway in September of 1979. He would
win a total of 520 career features!
The COVID-19
pandemic cancelled what was to be the inaugural "Bill Forney Memorial" at Sharon
Speedway last year; however, the event will take place this year on July 17 at
Sharon. The event started at $2,199
to-win, but has increased due to contributions in memory of Bill Forney and is
already expected to pay $3,199. The
event will also include a Canfield/Sharon Speedways driver reunion (1949-1973)
as those racers will receive free admission and a complimentary dinner in
addition to being recognized throughout the night.
Forney, one of, if not the greatest racer to ever wheel a Late Model in the region, passed away on August 10, 2019 at the age of 92. Forney's racing prowess earned him the Late Model track championship at Sharon in 1964, and an unprecedented seven championships at Canfield (1959-1960, '61, '63, '65-66, '68) - a track that had a national reputation for tough as nails competition. All totaled, Forney had hundreds of feature wins, many at these two tracks in his candy striped #199.
During this period was a rivalry rarely matched in the annals of stock car racing history lore- the legendary Bill Forney/Jim Bickerstaff battles. The two drivers were the undisputed leaders of their craft, and their weekly donnybrooks on the quarter-mile bullrings attracted fans by the throngs. Forney was inducted into the inaugural Twin State Auto Racing Club's Hall of Fame in 2010, and is also a member of the Cloverleaf Speedway (Cleveland) Hall of Fame.
Following the "Bill Forney Memorial", will be the
prestigious "Jook George Steel City Classic" presented by Zarin Truck & Auto on
August 7 at Pittsburgh's PA Motor Speedway.
Starting in 2015, Branden Lockwich took up the effort to make the
"Jook George Steel City Classic" the biggest race in the tri-state area for the
RUSH Late Models. The event has continued to grow in stature.
William Thomas "Jook" George had a brief driving career himself, but as he
turned to car owner he chose and had for most of his racing career the #10 and
that was in honor of his racing hero, Lou Blaney, who drove his car on a couple
occasions. Other highlights of his career was being nominated as the
Sportsman of the Year at PPMS, being nominated into the Pittsburgh Circle Track
Hall of Fame, winning the track championship at PPMS in 1990 with John Beatty
behind the wheel, and winning the Fall Classic in 1993 with Bill Yakin, also at
PPMS. His most dominant stretch as a car owner came in the late ‘70s when
Earl Teeters was his driver.
Rounding out the memorial portion of the 2021 season for the Flynn's
Tire/Born2Run Lubricants Tour will be the two-day 11th annual "Bill Hendren
Memorial" presented by FK Rod Ends in
conjunction with Pro Fabrication on October 1 and 2 at Pittsburgh.
Last year's event expanded to two completed shows with $3,100 to-win,
$275 to-start each night plus the "One to Remember" Non-Winners race presented
by Pace Performance on Friday night.
Saturday's show is run with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series "Pittsburgher
100".
In 2005, Bill Hendren, the patriarch of the Hendren family and founder of
Hendren Racing Engines, had the foresight to begin 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.
We would also be
remiss if we didn't mention the RUSH Late Model Tour shows that honor Bill Law
and Gary Montgomery annually. This
year's "Bill Law Memorial" took place on May 15 at Stateline Speedway and
attracted a record 43 cars won by Jeremy Wonderling for the third time in four
years.
Law was the first person to have a Crate
Late Model in the region when the class debuted in 2007 in the Northeast.
Law had several drivers over the years behind the wheel of his #14
including Baldwin, Ward Schell, Rich Gardner, Jon Law, Curt VanPelt, David Scott, and Kyle
Scott. Today, Bill's grandson, Kyle
Murray, is in his fifth year of RUSH Late Model competition with five career
wins in Weekly Series action.
The "Gary
Montgomery Memorial" unfortunately was rained out this year at Outlaw Speedway
on May 28. The event honors a man
that was synonymous with racing all over the Upstate New York State Region.
After a long and courageous battle with cancer, Montgomery passed away in
November 2016. Montgomery had a very
big presence wherever he went either as a top notch announcer, track manager, or
series promoter. Montgomery was Glenn Donnelly’s confidant at the DIRT
Motorsports Organization and later went on to promote his own series, the BRP
Can AM 360 Late Models, which is where many of today's top New York RUSH Late
Model racers got their start.
RUSH Racing Series is brought to you by Pace Performance together with Sweeney
Chevrolet Buick GMC 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, Born2Run Lubricants,
Flynn's Tire & Auto Service, FK Rod Ends, 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, Zarin Truck & Automotive, Sherwood Wheels,
Alternative Power Sources, Precise Racing Products, Stop-Fyre, Lincoln Electric,
Velocita-USA, Waterstone Mortgage Hermitage, CrateInsider.com, and Wedge
Motorsports.
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.
The RUSH Late Model website is www.rushlatemodels.com. Like our Facebook page
at www.facebook.com/rushlatemodels and follow us on Twitter @RUSHLM.
###