HOVIS RUSH LATE MODEL FLYNN'S TIRE/GUNTER'S HONEY TOUR WEEKEND DOUBLEHEADER IN WESTERN PA ON TAP; FRIDAY AT MCKEAN FOR THE 1ST TIME IN NEARLY 6 YEARS FOLLOWED BY MARION CENTER ON SATURDAY

By Mike Leone

June 5, 2024               FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Pulaski, PA)...The Hovis Auto & Truck Supply RUSH Dirt Late Model Flynn's Tire/Gunter's Honey Touring Series is set for a western Pennsylvania doubleheader this weekend.  Friday night (June 7) will mark the return to McKean County Raceway in East Smethport, Pa. for the first time in nearly six years followed on Saturday (June 8) by the first of two appearances at Marion Center (PA) Raceway.  Both events will pay $3,000 to-win with racing getting underway at 7 p.m.

For the first time since September 29, 2018, the Flynn's Tire/Gunter's Honey Touring Series will return to McKean County Raceway this Friday night to open the two-race weekend for the Series.  Last summer, Kurt and Bonnie Stebbins, who also promote Genesee Speedway, took over the lease of the McKean County Fairgrounds for racing and have featured the RUSH Late Models and RUSH Pro Mods in weekly competition.  McKean's season got underway last Friday night with Jeremy Wonderling winning the $1,000 City Chevrolet Weekly Series event for the RUSH Late Models.

The Flynn's Tire/Gunter's Honey Tour has completed 13 events all-time between 2013-2018 at McKean with seven different winners.  The Tour's all-time winner, Max Blair, leads the way with five victories followed by 2017 champion, Bryce Davis, with three.  Single victories have gone to Mike Pegher, Jr., Chad McClellan, Joe Martin, Wonderling, and John Waters.    

Action shifts 100 miles south on Saturday for the first of two appearances in 2024 by the Flynn's Tire/Gunter's Honey Touring Series at Marion Center Raceway.  Last year in the first ever Tour event at the historic speedway, Jeremy Wonderling passed home track favorite Joe Martin on the final lap to win a thriller in front of a packed grandstands!   The Tour will return to Marion Center on Saturday, August 10 for the Snyder/Martz Memorial.  

"This will be a great weekend for our racers with two events within 100 miles of each other," stated RUSH Director Vicki Emig.  "Kurt and Bonnie Stebbins are big supporters of RUSH and we're looking forward to returning to MCR on Friday night.  Last year our Tour race at Marion Center was one of the most exciting races of the year and we're thrilled to be returning their twice in 2024.  Also on Saturday our RUSH Sprint Cars will be part of the show making for a great RUSH doubleheader!"

Fourteen-year-old Brock Pinkerous leads the Flynn's Tire/Gunter's Honey Touring Series points into this weekend's events.  Pinkerous is fresh off his first career Tour win, which came at Tri-City Raceway Park on May 24.  Ironically that was the first Tour race at Tri-City in nearly six years and was Pinkerous' first ever visit to the Franklin, Pa. half-mile oval.  Pinkerous is the only driver on the Tour to finish on the podium in all three events this season.

Four-time Flynn's Tire/Gunter's Honey Tour Champion, Jeremy Wonderling, is currently second in points as he trails Pinkerous by 10.  Jared Miley, who leads the 3C Graphix Rookie-of-the-Year points, is third just one behind Wonderling.  Joe Martin sits fourth up four points on two other 3C Graphix Rookie-of-the-Year candidates in Tim Shaffer and Daryl Charlier.  Completing the top 10 in points are Damian Bidwell, Mike Wonderling, Jim Rasey, and Austin Allen.

$100 "Shock the Clock" Qualifying and $25 to-win heat races will take place each night and be presented by FK Rod Ends.  The Sunoco Dash will set the beginning rows of the feature lineup each night and will award the winner a $100 Sunoco fuel gift card.  The "Fill'er up with Sunoco Bucks" program will include an additional $400 of Sunoco fuel card giveaways each night; two $100 random draws for drivers in the top 15 of Tour points and another four $50 random draws for all other competitors. 

Each night, the podium finishers will each receive a three-pack of Heritage Wine Cellars premier products.  Precise Racing Products will award a $50 gift card for the "Pedal Down" Hard Charger that passes the most cars in the feature each night.   Ontime Body & Graphic's "Spoiler Alert" will award a spoiler kit to the fourth place finisher on night one and the fifth place finisher on night two.  The first feature non-qualifier each night will receive a $50 certificate from Holley Performance brands.  There will also be five BOGO Landrum Performance Springs certificates given away through drawings each night.  Forty lucky fans will receive a bottle of Dusted Steak Seasoning each night.

Feature Payoff Each Night: 1. $3,000  2. $1,500  3. $800  4. $650  5. $600  6. $500  7. $475  8. $450  9. $425  10. $400  11. $325  12. $300 13. $275  14. $270  15. $265  16. $260  17. $255  18-24. $250.

Non-Qualifier Payoff Each Night: 1. $200 2. $190 3. $185 4. $180 5. $175 6. $170 7. $165 8. $160 9. $155 10-24. $150.  Tow $125.

The AMB/MyLaps transponders will be used each night; rentals will be available each night for $25.  The driver radio channel will be 454.000. 

All events will also count towards the RUSH City Chevrolet National Weekly Series Championships and 3C Graphix "Futures Cup" for those eligible racers.  In addition at McKean, points will also be awarded for the City Chevrolet "Track Pack" that features a $2,500 per track point fund for the top six racers in RUSH member points at year's end with $1,000 going to the champion.

McKean County Raceway is a 1/3-mile dirt track located at the McKean County Fairgrounds at 7172 PA-46, Smethport, PA 16749.  For more information on McKean County Raceway, check out their website at mckeancounty-raceway.com, like them on Facebook page www.facebook.com/McKeanCountyRacewayMCR, and follow them on Twitter @McKeanCoRaceway.

Marion Center Raceway is a 1/4-mile dirt track located at 484 Potts Road, Marion Center, PA 15759, and is in its third year of ownership by Randy Reitz.  For more information, check out https://marioncenterraceway.com and like them on Facebook by searching Marion Center Raceway.

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 Billy's Garage.

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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