TIM SHAFFER OUT-DUELS BROCK PINKEROUS & DAVE HESS JR FOR 2ND FLYNN'S TIRE/GUNTER'S HONEY TOUR VICTORY IN THE LAST 3 EVENTS AT PITTSBURGH; 47 HOVIS RUSH LATE MODELS FROM 7 STATES & CANADA TURN OUT FOR THE OPENER
By Mike Leone
April 20, 2024 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Imperial, PA)...The Hovis Auto & Truck Supply RUSH Dirt Late Model Flynn’s Tire/Gunter's Honey Touring Series was finally able to kickoff the 2024 season on Saturday night at Pittsburgh PA Motor Speedway after being flooded out the prior two Saturdays at Tyler County Speedway. The annual "Herb Scott Memorial" attracted an event record 47 cars from seven different states plus Ontario, Canada! It marked the first time in history that Pittsburgh opened the Touring season and was the third highest car count for an opener. The event was streamed live on The Cushion.
On September 29, 2023, National Sprint Car Hall of Famer Tim Shaffer scored a popular first career Flynn's Tire/Gunter's Honey Touring Series victory at his home track of Pittsburgh in night one of the "Bill Hendren Memorial" for $4,000. On Saturday night, Shaffer out-dueled phenom Brock Pinkerous and Super Late Model great Dave Hess, Jr's charge from 21st amongst the star-studded field for the victory in the $4,000 "Herb Scott Memorial". Shaffer also collected a spoiler kit from Ontime Body & Graphic, $100 Sunoco fuel card, Precise Racing Products 5-Gallon Race Jug, and a three-pack of premium Heritage Wine Cellars products.
"Boy I earned that one huh," expressed the 56-year-old Aliquippa, Pa. great. "These wins just keep getting better and better. Herb Scott won a lot of features and I have a long way to go to catch him, but my career went on the road and it became hard to win races. It's kind of back home racing now for me and it's a lot of fun. These are great racers to race with. We race each other hard and makes it a lot of fun when you can trust people around you. You have a great group of guys that race this Serie; everyone has respect for one another and that means a lot to me. I was really good early on the bottom, but I got loose and began to slip. My car actually got better to run the top so that's why I went up there."
Following his Sunoco Dash victory, Shaffer bolted into the lead at the start of the 30-lap feature, while Pinkerous went fourth to second with Jared Miley, Brandon Burgoon, and Daryl Charlier in tow. Kyle Lukon moved into the top five on lap two dropping Charlier back a spot. Pinkerous pulled alongside of Shaffer for the lead for the first time on lap seven, but Shaffer was able to maintain control of the top spot. Burgoon slipped under Miley for third on lap eight as the top five began to distance themselves from the field. Pinkerous put a slider on Shaffer on lap 14 to take over the lead.
Burgoon, who was the 2023 City Chevrolet Track Pack Champion at Pittsburgh, had his night come to an end early when he got into the fence with 15 laps completed. That moved Lukon into third over Miley and Cody Dawson. All eyes began to focus on Hess, who was making his way through the talent-laden field. Hess cracked the top five on the restart on lap 16 then took over fourth from Miley on lap 17 before Miley slowed to bring out the caution with 17 laps completed.
Shaffer was able to regain the lead when racing resumed on lap 18, while Hess and Logan Roberson were also able to pass Pinkerous for second and third before issues for Charlier brought out the final caution of the event before the final 12 laps went green-to-checkered. After a bad restart, Pinkerous charged forward getting by Roberson then him and Hess put on a tremendous battle swapping second back and forth from laps 22-24 before Pinkerous got by for good.
Shaffer had a half-straightaway lead when he caught lapped traffic on lap 27. The 2010 Knoxville Nationals winner wasn't fazed as he crossed the finish line first by 0.991 seconds in his Greater Pitt Auto Body/Kendrew's Lounge/Chambers Embroidery-sponsored #45. Shaffer celebrated his sixth career RUSH Late Model win at Pittsburgh in the Landrum Performance Springs Victory Lane.
"To race six or seven times a year and have as good of a team as I have is very hard to have," explained Shaffer. "I'm very fortunate enough to have them. I'm finally learning how to drive these things and set them up. It gets fun when you're able to win on top of it and especially here at home. We'll keep plugging away. I'm not sure how many I'll be able to run this year, but I'm going to try and be as competitive as I can be."
Pinkerous matched his career best finish from Bradford Speedway on May 28, 2023 with another runner-up, but this one was worth $2,000. "We raced Tim Shaffer, Dave Hess, and all the boys up front really good," stated the Ellenville, NY driver. "Tim messed up going into (turns) one and two and we raced door-to-door and was lucky enough to get by him. I chose the outside on that one restart and just blew it over my head, about hit the wall, and fell back to fourth or fifth. I had a good recovery and raced hard with Dave. Congrats to Tim on the win. He's really good at this track. Him and Dave are legends around this area. It's really cool to battle with them; they raced me clean and I raced them clean. Even though we didn't win tonight, this is for my uncle tonight who passed away about a month ago. I hope he's watching over us tonight, and I really love you uncle Chris."
Hess made his first ever RUSH Late Model Flynn's Tire/Gunter's Honey Touring Series start at Eriez Speedway on August 27, 2023 and finished fifth driving for John Lacki. On Saturday, Hess debuted a new ride for Alex Anderson and came home third for $1,000. Hess also earned the $50 Precise Racing Products "Pedal Down" Hard Charger gift card for advancing 18 positions.
"We were really good on those restarts," explained the 39-year-old Waterford, Pa. driver. "A little tweak to the car and maybe a gear change and we could have had something for the leaders. Once those two (Shaffer and Pinkerous) got rolling, they were a little better than I was. I think Brock had the car to beat; not sure what happened on that one restart. Once he got back by me he put a straightaway on me. He's pretty impressive for a young man and is definitely going to be one to watch out for. The way this night started I never thought in a million years I would be standing here on the podium- that's a hell of a bounce back. For the first night out in this car I think we're going to have a good piece. Thank you to Alex Anderson, my sponsors, the fans for sticking this out, and Pittsburgh for getting us on the race track."
After a violet flip in night one of the "Bill Hendren Memorial" at Pittsburgh that ended his 2023 season, Lukon returned to the seat and had a solid fourth place. Roberson, the 2022 Flynn's Tire/Gunter's Honey Touring Series Champion, went 19th to 5th.
Joe Martin, who has finished runner-up in points each of the last four seasons, rebounded from a disappointing qualifying effort to make the feature then raced from 16th to 6th on his birthday. Cody Dawson was seventh. Four-time and defending Series Champion, Jeremy Wonderling, advanced two spots to finish eighth. After bringing out the caution with 18 laps completed, Charlier charged back through the field in the last 12 laps to finish ninth. Justin Chance brought home the second Phil Lukon #184 entry in 10th.
Kyle Zimmerman led all 10 caution-free laps of the D&V Jewelers Non-Qualifier. The 41-year-old Albion, Pa. veteran earned $200 aboard the Kuhnle Brothers/Sunnyside Farm Transit/Doc Howard's Distillery-sponsored Jonathan Stockdale-owned #31 as he became the amazing 75th different winner in 91 non-qualifier races run all-time. Zimmerman also received a $50 certificate from Holley Performance Group for being the first feature non-qualifier. Zach Gunn stayed with Zimmerman the entire duration, but the PPMS regular had to settle for second. Tommy Schirnhofer, Jr. was third over Tour regular Austin Hauser. Hobby Stock graduate, Matt Benard, completed the top five in his first ever RUSH Late Model race.
Brandon Burgoon set fast time overall against the 47-car field in FK Rod Ends "Shock the Clock" Qualifying with a lap of 18.889 to earn $100. Picking up $25 FK Rod Ends heat race wins were Burgoon, Miley, Shaffer, Lukon, Charlier, and Pinkerous. The trio of last chance B mains were won by Roberson, Chance, and Hess.
Shaffer won the Sunoco Dash for a $100 Sunoco fuel card; also winning $100 Sunoco fuel cards were Jeremy Wonderling and Hauser, while the $50 fuel cards were won by Brad Mesler, Michael Reft, Ben Easler, and Jacob Billyk, Jr. Speaking of Mesler, the 3C Graphix Rookie-of-the-Year candidate had a rough start to his season with a violet end over end flip during his heat race in his first ever Pittsburgh start. He was okay.
The Flynn’s Tire/Gunter's Honey Touring Series will return to action on Saturday, May 4 with the season's only appearance at Winchester Speedway in Winchester, Virginia for a $5,000 to-win event.
Hovis Auto & Truck Supply RUSH Late Model "Herb Scott Memorial" Flynn’s Tire/Gunter's Honey Touring Series Race #1 (30 laps, $4,000 to-win): 1. TIM SHAFFER (45) 2. Brock Pinkerous (555) 3. Dave Hess, Jr. (Anderson 44) 4. Kyle Lukon (184) 5. Logan Roberson (17) 6. Joe Martin (Snyder 10s) 7. Cody Dawson (36) 8. Jeremy Wonderling (3J) 9. Daryl Charlier (Dobnak 42) 10. Justin Chance (Lukon 184C) 11. Jim Rasey (Wrightsman 21J) 12. Cole Petrelle (184) 13. Tom Klein (77) 14. Charlie Sandercock (57) 15. Colby Beighey (36) 16. Mike Wonderling (18) 17. Ryan Hare (29) 18. Brian Huchko (60H) 19. Michael Reft (9R) 20. Zach Kane (25) 21. Kassidy Kamicker (72B) 22. Jared Miley (Deller 75) 23. Brandon Burgoon (Chernik/Bentz 60) 24. A.J. Miller (14AJ) 25. Jacob Gunn (14G). (Note: Mike Wonderling took a Tour provisional.)
D&V Jewelers Non-Qualifier (10 laps, $200 to-win): 1. Kyle Zimmerman (Stockdale 31) 2. Zach Gunn (17G) 3. Tommy Schirnhofer, Jr. (8s) 4. Austin Hauser (51) 5. Matt Benard (15) 6. Ben Easler (02) 7. Jacob Billyk, Jr. (4JR) 8. Brian McDonald (151KB) 9. Zach Herring (15) 10. Michael Stephens (38). DNS: Dan Angelicchio (14), Frank Magill IV (05), Austin Allen (32), Scott Stein (09), Zack Carley (2), Lincoln Smith (31), Cody Koteles (Chernik 5x), Damian Bidwell (1/2-Pint), Mike Laughard (38L), Brodie Oravetz (91B), Brad Mesler (Sturdevant 87s), Ashton Briggs (11a).
Car Count: 47
Feature Margin of Victory:
0.991 seconds
Feature Lap Leaders: Tim Shaffer (1-13, 17-30) & Brock Pinkerous (14-16)
Ontime Body & Graphic “Spoiler Alert” Spoiler Kit: Tim Shaffer
Heritage Wine Cellars 3-Pack of Premium Products: Tim Shaffer, Brock Pinkerous, Dave Hess, Jr.
Holley Performance Group “Nosed Out”: Kyle Zimmerman
Landrum Performance Springs BOGO Certificates: Charlie Sandercock, Mike Laughard, Jim Rasey, Ashton Briggs, Kyle Zimmerman
Precise Racing Products “Pedal Down” Hard Charger: Dave Hess, Jr. (+18)
Precise Racing Products 5-Gallon Race Jug: Tim Shaffer
Sunoco Fuel Card Winners: Jeremy Wonderling ($100), Austin Hauser ($100), Brad Mesler ($50), Michael Reft ($50), Ben Easler ($50), Jacob Billyk, Jr. ($50)
FK Rod Ends “Shock the Clock” Flight A Qualifying (Track record 18.332 by Michael Norris on 9/29/23) ($100 for fast time): 1. 60-Brandon Burgoon, 00:18.889[17]; 2. 75-Jared Miley, 00:19.107[20]; 3. 09-Scott Stein, 00:19.209[18]; 4. 184C-Justin Chance, 00:19.247[3]; 5. 25-Zachary Kane, 00:19.278[6]; 6. 45-Tim Shaffer, 00:19.315[7]; 7. 36-Cody Dawson, 00:19.369[10]; 8. 60H-Brian Huchko, 00:19.387[1]; 9. 57-Charlie Sandercock, 00:19.472[8]; 10. 38L-Mike Laughard, 00:19.492[21]; 11. 36B-Colby Beighey, 00:19.530[22]; 12. 29-Ryan Hare, 00:19.554[14]; 13. 1/2PT-Damian Bidwell, 00:19.701[12]; 14. 8S-Tommy Schirnhofer Jr, 00:19.711[2]; 15. 184P-Cole Petrelle, 00:19.825[11]; 16. 51-Austin Hauser, 00:19.851[4]; 17. 15B-Matthew Benard, 00:19.866[13]; 18. 87S-Brad Mesler, 00:19.888[19]; 19. 17R-Logan Roberson, 00:20.058[9]; 20. 18-Mike Wonderling, 00:20.186[23]; 21. 5X-Cody Koteles, 00:20.425[24]; 22. 4JR-Jacob Billyk Jr, 00:20.621[5]; 23. 151KB-Brian McDonald, 00:21.268[15]; 24. 05-Frank Magill DSQ [16].
FK Rod Ends “Shock the Clock” Flight B Qualifying (Track record 18.332 by Michael Norris on 9/29/23): 1. 14AJ-AJ Miller, 00:19.253[3]; 2. 3J-Jeremy Wonderling, 00:19.310[15]; 3. 555-Brock Pinkerous, 00:19.363[16]; 4. 2C-Zack Carley, 00:19.374[9]; 5. 42-Daryl Charlier, 00:19.377[14]; 6. 72B-Kassidy Kamicker, 00:19.389[17]; 7. 184-Kyle Lukon, 00:19.428[19]; 8. 38-Michael Stephens, 00:19.444[13]; 9. 32A-Austin Allen, 00:19.447[11]; 10. 77-Tom Klein, 00:19.637[2]; 11. 21J-Jim Rasey, 00:19.665[6]; 12. 14G-Jake Gunn, 00:19.787[4]; 13. 9R-Mike Reft, 00:19.793[5]; 14. 10S-Joe Martin, 00:19.813[23]; 15. 31S-Lincoln Smith, 00:19.947[8]; 16. 15Z-Zachary Herring, 00:20.151[21]; 17. 14A-Dan Angelicchio, 00:20.277[22]; 18. 44-Dave Hess Jr, 00:20.285[1]; 19. 17G-Zach Gunn, 00:20.413[10]; 20. 91B-Brodie Oravetz, 00:20.615[20]; 21. 02-Benjamin Easler, 00:20.729[7]; 22. 31-Kyle Zimmerman, 00:21.649[18]; 23. 11A-Ashton Briggs, 00:21.965[12].
FK Rod Ends Heat 1 (8 laps, Top 3 transfer to A, $25 to-win): 1. 60-Brandon Burgoon[1]; 2. 36-Cody Dawson[3]; 3. 184C-Justin Chance[2]; 4. 1/2PT-Damian Bidwell[5]; 5. 17R-Logan Roberson[7]; 6. 51-Austin Hauser[6]; 7. 4JR-Jacob Billyk Jr[8]; 8. 38L-Mike Laughard[4].
FK Rod Ends Heat 2 (8 laps, Top 3 transfer to A, $25 to-win): 1. 75-Jared Miley[1]; 2. 25-Zachary Kane[2]; 3. 36B-Colby Beighey[4]; 4. 60H-Brian Huchko[3]; 5. 8S-Tommy Schirnhofer Jr[5]; 6. 18-Mike Wonderling[7]; 7. 15B-Matthew Benard[6]; 8. 151KB-Brian McDonald[8].
FK Rod Ends Heat 3 (8 laps, Top 3 transfer to A, $25 to-win): 1. 45-Tim Shaffer[2]; 2. 57-Charlie Sandercock[3]; 3. 29-Ryan Hare[4]; 4. 184P-Cole Petrelle[5]; 5. 5X-Cody Koteles[7]; 6. 09-Scott Stein[1]; 7. 05-Frank Magill[8]; 8. 87S-Brad Mesler[6].
FK Rod Ends Heat 4 (8 laps, Top 3 transfer to A, $25 to-win): 1. 184-Kyle Lukon[3]; 2. 14AJ-AJ Miller[1]; 3. 9R-Mike Reft[5]; 4. 77-Tom Klein[4]; 5. 2C-Zack Carley[2]; 6. 31-Kyle Zimmerman[8]; 7. 17G-Zach Gunn[7]; 8. 15Z-Zachary Herring[6].
FK Rod Ends Heat 5 (8 laps, Top 3 transfer to A, $25 to-win): 1. 42-Daryl Charlier[2]; 2. 3J-Jeremy Wonderling[1]; 3. 10S-Joe Martin[5]; 4. 21J-Jim Rasey[4]; 5. 14A-Dan Angelicchio[6]; 6. 38-Michael Stephens[3]; 7. 91B-Brodie Oravetz[7]; DNS: 11A-Ashton Briggs.
FK Rod Ends Heat 6 (8 laps, Top 3 transfer to A, $25 to-win): 1. 555-Brock Pinkerous[1]; 2. 14G-Jake Gunn[4]; 3. 72B-Kassidy Kamicker[2]; 4. 44-Dave Hess Jr[6]; 5. 32A-Austin Allen[3]; 6. 31S-Lincoln Smith[5]; 7. 02-Benjamin Easler[7].
Last Chance B Main 1 (10 laps, Top 2 transfer to A): 1. 17R-Logan Roberson[3]; 2. 60H-Brian Huchko[2]; 3. 31-Kyle Zimmerman[6]; 4. 8S-Tommy Schirnhofer Jr[4]; 5. 51-Austin Hauser[5]; 6. 15B-Matthew Benard[9]; 7. 151KB-Brian McDonald[11]; 8. 1/2PT-Damian Bidwell[1]; 9. 4JR-Jacob Billyk Jr[8]; 10. 18-Mike Wonderling[7]; DNS: 38L-Mike Laughard.
Last Chance B Main 2 (10 laps, Top 2 transfer to A): 1. 184P-Cole Petrelle[1]; 2. 77-Tom Klein[2]; 3. 17G-Zach Gunn[7]; 4. 05-Frank Magill[6]; 5. 09-Scott Stein[5]; 6. 2C-Zack Carley[4]; 7. 5X-Cody Koteles[3]; 8. 15Z-Zachary Herring[9]; DNS: 87S-Brad Mesler.
Last Chance B Main 3 (10 laps, Top 2 transfer to A): 1. 44-Dave Hess Jr[2]; 2. 21J-Jim Rasey[1]; 3. 14A-Dan Angelicchio[3]; 4. 32A-Austin Allen[4]; 5. 02-Benjamin Easler[8]; 6. 31S-Lincoln Smith[6]; DNS: 38-Michael Stephens, 91B-Brodie Oravetz, 11A-Ashton Briggs.
Sunoco Dash (6 laps, $100 Sunoco fuel card to win): 1. 45-Tim Shaffer[2]; 2. 60-Brandon Burgoon[3]; 3. 75-Jared Miley[4]; 4. 555-Brock Pinkerous[6]; 5. 184-Kyle Lukon[5]; 6. 42-Daryl Charlier[1].
The RUSH Racing Series is brought to you by Hovis Auto & Truck Supply together with Born2Run Lubricants along with the support of Hoosier Tire, Rick Hendrick City Chevrolet, Sunoco Race Fuels, Bazell Race Fuels, Insinger Performance, Flynn's Tire, Gunter's Honey, Sunbelt Rentals, MSD Performance, Holley Performance Products, FK Rod Ends, Schoenfeld Headers, Jones Racing Products, Landrum Performance Springs, 3C Graphix, Dave Poske's Performance Parts, Velocita-USA, Wieland Metal Services, Frankland Racing Supply, Dusted Steak Seasoning, Ontime Body & Graphic, Sherwood Wheels, D&V Jewelers, Dusted, Heritage Wine Cellars, Precise Racing Products, Wedge Motorsports, Racing Electronics, and Terry Bowser Excavating.
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 X (formerly known as Twitter) @RUSHLM.
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