HOVIS RUSH LATE MODEL FLYNN'S TIRE/GUNTER'S HONEY TOUR SET FOR A DOUBLEHEADER
WEEKEND WITH RESCHEDULED EVENTS SATURDAY AT STATELINE FOR "BILL LAW MEMORIAL" &
SUNDAY AT ERIEZ
By Mike Leone
June 25, 2024 FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
(Pulaski, PA)...After a successful
"Bill Emig Memorial" presented by Sunoco Race Fuels along with support from
Joseph J. Olivia Attorney at Law last weekend at Lernerville, the Hovis Auto &
Truck Supply RUSH Dirt Late Model Flynn's Tire/Gunter's Honey Touring Series
will head north for a rescheduled doubleheader weekend at Stateline and Eriez
Speedways. Stateline, in Busti, NY, will host action on Saturday night
(June 29) at 7 p.m. followed 50 miles west at Eriez, in Erie, Pa., on Sunday
evening (June 30) at 6:30 p.m. Both races, which were initially scheduled
for May 11-12, will pay $3,000 to-win.
The "Bill Law
Memorial" returns to Stateline for the seventh time on Saturday night. In
2011, Law was diagnosed with small cell lung cancer and passed away in July
2012. Law's involvement in racing began in the late 1970s as he loved
having muscle cars and going to the drag strip in his high school days. Even
though he never actually raced, he stood behind racing 100%. In the early
1980s, Law and Leon Szweda put an asphalt car together and raced at New York's
Holland Speedway.
Law's taste for racing moved to the dirt tracks in the mid 1980s as he helped
Tom Taber for several years. He met a lot of great people that he became very
good friends with; one was Bob "The Bird" Baldwin. The Law Family traveled with
him and his family racing from Pennsylvania to West Virginia to Maryland.
As Bill's son Jon was getting older, they got involved in Go-Kart racing as the
family would travel all over New York and Pennsylvania. Bill was still involved
in auto racing as they would race Go-Karts during the day and sell parts and
fuel at night at the races. As Jon got older, Bill bought him an IMCA
Modified. A few seasons later, Jon and Bill bought a Limited Late Model.
That lasted a couple years until Jon was starting his own family and got away
from the racing scene.
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. Bill's grandson, Kyle Murray, has raced RUSH
Late Models over the years. With the Scott Family owning Stateline, it's
fitting the "Bill Law Memorial" takes place at their track as Jean and Jim
Scott's son David and grandson Kyle drove for Law.
The 2017 event was
the first ever Tour event at Stateline in the 10-year history of Crate Late
Models in the Northeast as a big crowd watched a thriller as Jeremy Wonderling
held off standout and track dominator Max Blair for the victory. The 2018
event was just as good as Damian Bidwell made a late race pass of Scott Gurdak
for his first Tour win in more than three years. In 2019, Wonderling again
held off Blair after withstanding a mid-race rain delay. The COVID-19
pandemic cancelled the 2020 event. Wonderling was victorious again in 2021
topping a Stateline record 43-car field. Joe Martin won his first career
Stateline race in 2022 after waiting out an hour and a half rain delay.
Last year, Wonderling won the event for the fourth time in six years this time
over a 42-car field!
Meanwhile, there have been 13 RUSH Tour events completed all-time at Eriez.
Max Blair has seven victories, while his father Rob has one in a substitution
role for Max. Kyle Hardy swept both events in 2021 in route to the
championship. In 2022, Logan Roberson won the May event for his first Eriez
win, while Josh Ferry scored an upset career first Touring Series victory in
July on "Manufacturers Night" presented by MSD Performance. Last year,
Wonderling won the spring race finally getting his first Tour win at Eriez,
while Blair topped a huge field of 52 cars at "Manufacturers Night" event in the
summer.
Stateline has completed five City Chevrolet Weekly Series events thus far in
2024 with an average car count of 22 per night.
Randy Hall and Jason Genco each have a pair of victories, while Dave
Parker has also been victorious.
Eriez meanwhile has completed three City Chevrolet Weekly Series events this
season with three different winners including Andy Michael, Genco, and Parker.
"This is a nice,
annual weekend for our northern RUSH Late Model teams to be able compete in two
$3,000 to-win Tour events and also for our traveling teams as the two tracks are
just 50 miles apart," stated RUSH Director Vicki Emig. "We have to thank the
Scott Family for their continued support of RUSH and the Alexander Family for
continuing Sunday night RUSH racing that the Rohrers had done so successfully
over the years. We're thankful that the Law Family has allowed us the
opportunity to continue be able to have the 'Bill Law Memorial' as a Tour event,
and we look forward to honoring Bill on Saturday night.
We also have to thank all parties for cooperating to reschedule this
two-night weekend that was lost to rain seven weeks ago."
Fourteen-year-old Brock Pinkerous leads the Flynn's Tire/Gunter's Honey Tour as
the points leader heading into Stateline, which is the site of his first career
Late Model victory that occurred last year in a City Chevrolet Weekly Series
event. After four podiums including
a career first Tour victory at Tri-City to start off the season, Pinkerous has
finished seventh in the last two events to hold a slim five-point lead over
defending and four-time Series Champion, Jeremy Wonderling.
Wonderling is the only repeat winner on the Tour this season as there
have been five different winners in the first six events.
Joe Martin, who is still in search of his first win of the season, is third in
points as he trails Wonderling by nine for the position he's finished in each of
the past four seasons. Jared Miley
is fourth in points and leads the $3,000 to-win 3C Graphix Rookie-of-the-Year
points by nine over fifth place points man, Daryl Charlier.
Sixth through 10th in points are Jim Rasey, Damian Bidwell, Austin Allen,
Mike Wonderling, and Kyle Zimmerman.
$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.
Dave Hess, Jr., who is fresh off his
first career Flynn's Tire/Gunter's Honey Touring Series victory in the $20,000
to-win "Bill Emig Memorial" on Saturday at Lernerville, is expected to be in
competition both nights.
The podium finishers each night 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 seventh place finisher
on night one and the eighth 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
For Saturday at Stateline, pit gates open at 4 p.m. (access prior). Drivers
meeting will be at 6:15 p.m. Driver radio channel is different at
Stateline as 469.500 is used. For Sunday at Eriez, pit gates open at 3:30
p.m. (access prior). Drivers meeting will be at 5:45 p.m. Driver radio channel
is 454.000.
Both events will also count towards the RUSH City Chevrolet National Weekly
Series Championships and 3C Graphix "Futures Cup" for those eligible racers.
In addition, 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.
Following this weekend, it'll be a quick turnaround for a West Virginia
doubleheader over the Independence Day holiday presented by Dave Poske's
Performance Parts. After losing the
scheduled Flynn's Tire/Guntrer's Honey Touring Series opener on April 6 and
April 13, Thursday the 4th will be the first appearance of the season at Tyler
County Speedway in Middlebourne followed by the first ever RUSH-sanctioned event
at Ohio Valley Speedway in Washington on Friday night.
Both events will pay $4,000 to-win.
Stateline Speedway
is located nine miles southwest of Jamestown, NY, south of Busti, NY at 4150
Kortwright Rd., Jamestown, NY 14701. For more information, check out their
website at www.newstatelinespeedway.com.
Like their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/newstatelinespeedwaybustiny.
Eriez Speedway is
a 3/8-mile track located outside of Erie, Pa. in Hammett at 9821 Sampson Rd.,
Erie, PA 16509. For more information, like their page on Facebook at www.facebook.com/eriezspeedway.
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, Joseph J. Olivia Attorney at Law, 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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