WAYNE COUNTY VETERAN
CHARLIE DUNCAN SET TO EXCEL IN SWEENEY RUSH LATE MODEL TOURING COMPETITION
By Doug Kennedy
April 11, 2016
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Pulaski, PA)...This
Saturday night at Sharon Speedway, Charlie Duncan will lead the Sweeney RUSH
Late Model Touring Series make-up feature to green as a tune-up for his first
run at the Touring Series Championship, which will actually begin the following
Friday night at Sharon. The veteran
51-year-old race car driver has seen it all. After
racing Super Late Models for the majority of his career, Duncan decided in 2015 to switch over to a
Crate Late Model and compete at his home track of Wayne County Speedway in their
first year under the RUSH banner.
All he accomplished was five wins, 13 top fives and the track championship.
Wayne County Speedway track promoter, Jason Flory, knew that
getting Duncan
to compete in the crates would be a boost for that division.
“Charlie’s been instrumental in getting the crate thing off the ground,”
said Flory, a former driver himself.
“He’s been around Wayne County
forever and I’ve known him for 20 some years.”
“When Jason (Flory) decided he was going to have the crates
at Wayne
County, that’s when I wanted to race them,” said
Duncan. “It’s
more driver and set-up than the motor you have. I
like the back and forth style of racing and the competition.
The costs of open motors are out of hand.
They need to put a limit on the cubic inch displacement.
That should have happened years ago.”
This season,
Duncan
will compete full-time in the Sweeney RUSH Touring Series.
In his only Touring Series starts, Duncan had three top five finishes in three starts last
year, all at Wayne
County.
He was also able to capture the pole at Sharon Speedway for the
"Apple Festival Nationals" that was twice rained/snowed out and will be made up
on Saturday night (April 16).
Last season Duncan
finished seventh in the Pace Performance "Summer Chase" points and 12th
in the Sweeney Weekly Series to earn $1,045.
Duncan, who is known by many as “Bucket Head”, began his
racing career in 1995 when he bought a Pro Stock.
Prior to that, he served as a mechanic for Super Late Model standouts
John Mason, Don Gross, and Brad Malcuit.
While working for Gross, the pair traveled for about a five-year period
while Don competed in the STARS Late Model Series.
Charlie also followed the career of his father, Richard,
who was a racer in an open wheel car from the mid ‘50’s through 1969.
Growing up in Millersburg, Ohio,
Duncan and his family were just over the hill from Hilltop Speedway.
Charlie would go to virtually every race, ones that included his step
brother, Rick.
In 1994, while working for Malcuit, Duncan bought a Bullitt Chassis that Brad had
built and with the help of Jeff, Craig, and Scooter Drown, the car was ready for
competition in 1995. That season
turned out to be quite productive for
Duncan
as he won seven features and was the runner-up in points at both Lakeville
Speedway and Wayne County Speedway.
That would be the only season that Duncan raced a Pro Stock.
The following year, he was approached by Dave Simmons to drive his Super
Late Model. Simmons was in earnest
as he sent Duncan
to Donnie Moran’s driving school.
For the next two seasons, he drove for Simmons, winning some features along the
way. In 1998, Duncan left the Simmons ride and raced his own
equipment for the next nine seasons.
That lasted until 2007, when Charlie decided to take a
two-year hiatus from racing. Then in
2009, Leroy Hall, the owner of Mansfield,
Ohio-based Hall’s Auto Sales and the Car Connection asked
Duncan
to drive his Late Model.
“I’ve known him for about 17 years,” said Hall.
“He actually drove for me a few times 15 years ago.”
All the pair has done since ’09 is win three championships
at Lakeville, two at Hilltop, and one at Wayne County,
which was in a crate. Besides the
Crate that Duncan
runs, Hall also owns a Super Late Model piloted by Doug Drown.
The relationship between Duncan and the
Drown family of Wooster, Ohio goes back to better than two decades.
“When the crates came along at
Wayne
County, I really wanted to run them,”
said Duncan.
“We had a Super Late car and another Rocket Chassis with no motor.
Leroy and I really wanted to do this crate deal.
We didn’t have the manpower for two Late Model cars so I thought why not
put Doug in the super and I would drive the crate.
We share information on what we can do.
We ran the same Rocket Chassis last year.”
“Last year we stayed at home,” said Hall.
“This year he (Duncan) wanted to do some traveling and I agreed with him.
As long as he drives the racecar and the trailer, I’ll just go along for
the ride.”
With regards to crate versus open motor, Duncan said, “They’re putting out 900
horsepower and spending $48,000 to $50,000 on a motor.
What weekend racer can afford it?
But there’s guys out there who will keep on doing it.
I like how the RUSH deal is policed and the way it is teched.
It is a good deal for me.”
Somewhat surprisingly,
Duncan
prefers the new equipment to the old.
“I really like the new stuff.”
“At first, I wasn’t sure about it, but I knew there had to
be rules and somebody to police it.
I like the way Vicki (Emig) and Mike (Leone) show up, promote it, and make sure
things run smoothly. I can’t say
anything bad about the series at all.”
“The thing for me isn’t the money because Leroy has the
money,” said Duncan.
“It is my preference of what I wanted to do in racing.
I couldn’t go and run the big races with the Super Late Model.
The crates have put me back to racing against the competition and making
me competitive again. Last year when
I went to Sharon, there was a
feeling when I pulled in there that the drivers knew who I was.
I like the feeling that I might be one of the ones to beat.”
Last year was
Duncan’s first year in a crate and he was somewhat
skeptical on his first night out.
“My car just wasn’t right. I didn’t
have the power that I was used to with the Late Model.
I went back to the drawing board and talked with my son, Cody, who works
for Rocket Chassis, and we changed some front end things and the springs and the
car ran a lot better.”
Two races later,
Duncan
was in the winner’s circle. In all,
2015 turned out to be a very good season for Charlie as he won those five
features and that Wayne County Championship. He
also talked about a race he won at Hilltop with a crate engine competing against
a field of Super Late Models. “That
made me feel good and made a lot of people think,” said Duncan.
Besides the RUSH Touring Series, Duncan
plans on running a full schedule at
Wayne
County. “If everything
goes right, we’ll only miss one race at Wayne County.”
He is clearly anticipating his opener at Sharon on April 16th.
“I want to see how that first night goes.
I’m on the pole and then the next week, we’ll start the Touring Series at
Sharon
and that will show how we stand up against the competition and what we need to
do.”
“I think I’m a good championship racer and I’ve always
wanted to do a traveling series and I’m really looking forward to it.”
“I expect him to contend for the championship this year,”
said Flory. “Charlie has good
equipment and Leroy is one of the best car owners in the business.
He will go on the road and win and come here to
Wayne County and win.”
As for the racing philosophy of Charlie Duncan, he has said
on numerous occasions, “The thrill of racing is racing.”
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, Maxima
Racing Oil, Jones Racing Products, Alternative Power Sources, Precise Racing
Products, ARbodies, TBM Brakes, K&N Filters, Lincoln Electric, FK Rod Ends,
Velocita-USA, Classic Ink USA, Rocket Chassis, Bobby Lake Motorsports High Gear
Speed Shop, CrateInsider.com, B.R.A.K.E.S., 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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