KYLE THOMAS DEFENDS HOME TURF AT TYLER COUNTY WITH HIS 1ST CAREER HOVIS RUSH LATE MODEL FLYNN’S TIRE/GUNTER’S HONEY TOUR VICTORY WORTH $4000

By Mike Leone

 

July 3, 2025               FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

(Middlebourne, WV)...After five consecutive Flynn’s Tire/Gunter’s Honey Touring Series rainouts at Tyler County Speedway and six straight in the state of West Virginia dating back to the beginning of the 2024 season, the Hovis Auto & Truck Supply RUSH Dirt Late Model Series presented by Born2Run Lubricants finally was graced with sunshine and no threat of rain on Thursday night at “America’s Baddest Bullring”.  Race #5 of the weather-plagued 2025 season kicked off a two-race Independence Day holiday swing through the Mountaineer State, and was also the first of a trifecta of Dave Poske’s Performance Parts Mid-Ohio Valley Series of events in three nights.

 

Making his first Flynn’s Tire/Gunter’s Honey Tour start in two years, Kyle Thomas successfully defended his home turf scoring a popular first career RUSH Tour victory in front of a large legion of his fans at Tyler County Speedway.  It was a near perfect night for Thomas, as with the exception of winning the Sunoco Dash, he set fast time in FK Rod Ends qualifying, won his heat race and led all 30 laps of the feature event.  Thomas becomes the 48th different driver to win a RUSH Tour event in 202 races completed all-time with his $4,000 triumph.

 

“This means a lot to finally get one of these,” expressed the emotional 39-year-old Pennsboro, WV standout.  “I won FASTRAK Tour races years ago, but never a RUSH one.  I came from like 12th to 2nd at the last one here and Jeremy (Wonderling) and I put on a hell of a show at that one too.  Those cautions were a killer with the double-file restarts, but it put on a good show.  Jeremy and I got together that one time when I hit that hole on the restart and my apologies to him.  I have to thank Tyler County Speedway and RUSH for putting this on, all of my sponsors, Brad at Race-1, and my family.” 

 

Following the Dave Poske’s Performance Parts “Feel the RUSH” Four-Wide Salute, Thomas used the outside to power into the lead past pole-sitter Garret Paugh as Paugh and A.J. Spagnuolo settled into second and third.  Austin Allen started fourth and was running fifth when he slowed with a flat tire to bring out the caution with one-lap scored.  When racing resumed on lap two, fifth starting Jeremy Wonderling took over third from Spagnuolo.  Wonderling then went after Paugh and slipped under the home state racer for second on lap three with Spagnuolo following in third. 

 

Over the ensuing laps, the battle was on for fourth and fifth with a myriad of drivers taking over the positions including Ben Easler, 10th starting George Casto III, Jason Knowles, and Zack Carley.  Lapped traffic came into play for the first time of the event on lap 23 as Thomas had built up a lead of 2.422 seconds.  A caution for John Johnson, who was making his Flynn’s Tire/Gunter’s Honey Tour debut, set up a five-lap dash to the checkered.

 

When green replaced yellow for the final time, Thomas continued to use the momentum off the topside to maintain the lead, while 11th starting Knowles continued his progression to the front of the pack taking third from Spagnuolo.  Wonderling, who won two of the three Flynn’s Tire/Gunter’s Honey Touring Series events contested at Tyler County, had nothing for Thomas on this night as he took the checkered flag first by 1.902 seconds.  Thomas became the fourth different Tour winner in five races completed in 2025 aboard the Hyre’s Well & Pump Service/Dodd’s Sporting Goods/Barnes Trucking/Small Town Realty-sponsored #57.

 

Though he continues to search for his first win of 2025, it was another good points night for Wonderling in second worth $2,000 as the Empire State driver is in search of his unprecedented fifth title.  “He had a better car than I did and didn’t have to play his games on the restarts like he did,” stated the 45-year-old Wellsville, NY driver.  “From where we started the night off to where we ended it- that’s pretty good.  We sucked pretty bad in time trials, but we have some work to do before Ohio Valley tomorrow night and we’ll see what we can do there.”

 

After a career best tying runner-up finish on May 25 at Tri-City Raceway Park from more than 10 years ago at McKean County Raceway, Knowles crossed the finish line in third for $1,000 for his second podium finish of the season and joined Thomas and Wonderling by receiving a Heritage Wine Cellars trio of premium product.  “This was a great run,” acknowledged the 43-year-old Addison, NY driver.  “I was lucky because under caution my steering was acting funny, but once we got rolling, I was able to get it.  This place is a lot of fun.  I was only here once before and broke in the heat race so I’m just glad we got to run the whole thing.”

 

West Virginia’s Spagnuolo had an excellent fourth place finish for a career best with the Tour.  Pennsylvania’s Ben Easler, who had just two top 10 finishes in his 3C Graphix rookie season, turned in a career best fifth as he’s already exceeded his top 10 finishes from one year ago with three in just the first five races!  Easler also received a spoiler kit from Ontime Body & Graphic.  Virginia’s Kyle Hardy represented the fourth different state in the top six as he rebounded from his 13th starting spot.  Completing the top 10 were Zack Carley, Kolbe Kimbrew, Daryl Charlier, and 18th starting Logan Reed.  Jim Cochran earned the $50 Precise Racing Products “Pedal Down” Hard Charger gift card for going 23rd to 13th. 

 

Thomas set fast time overall in FK Rod Ends “Shock the Clock” Qualifying to earn $100 with a lap of 13.637 as all other drivers were more than three tenths of a second slower.  Winning the $25 FK Rod Ends heat races were Thomas, Paugh, and Spagnuolo.  Paugh received a $100 Sunoco fuel card for winning the Sunoco Dash.  Also winning $100 fuel cards in the random drawings were Tour racers Wonderling and Demetrios Drellos, while the $50 fuel cards went to Kimbrew, John Boring, Jim Cochran and Casto.

 

Landrum Performance Springs, which will award the $5,000 Loyalty Bonus to an eligible Flynn’s Tire/Gunter’s Honey Touring Series regular at the season ending event, distributed BOGO certificates on Thursday night, which were captured by Ryan Hare, Thomas, Robbie Scott, Allen, and Spagnuolo.

 

The Flynn’s Tire/Gunter's Honey Touring Series will return to action on Friday night (July 4) with the first ever appearance at Ohio Valley Speedway in Washington, WV for another $4,000 to-win event also part of the Dave Poske’s Performance Parts Mid-Ohio Valley Series.  Warmups begin at 7:10 p.m. followed by qualifying and racing.

 

Hovis Auto & Truck Supply RUSH Late Model Flynn’s Tire/Gunter's Honey Touring Series Race #5 (30 laps, $4,000 to-win): 1. KYLE THOMAS (57)  2. Jeremy Wonderling (3J)  3. Jason Knowles (4)  4. A.J. Spagnuolo (5A)  5. Ben Easler (02)  6. Kyle Hardy (99)  7. Zack Carley (2)  8. Kolbe Kimbrew (151)  9. Daryl Charlier (Dobnak 42)  10. Logan Reed (37)  11. Bud Watson (225)  12. Greg Carrico (Hurley 39)  13. Jim Cochran (93)  14. Santino Loretta (36s)  15. John Boring (58B)  16. John Johnson (32J)  17. Ryan Hare (29)  18. George Casto III (19c)  19. Demetrios Drellos (111)  20. Garret Paugh (03)  21. Mike Wonderling (18)  22. Austin Hauser (51)  23. Robbie Scott (Gibson x14)  24. Blake Runyon (20)  25. Austin Allen (Mullen 32).

 

Car Count: 25
Feature Margin of Victory: 1.902 seconds
Feature Lap Leaders: Kyle Thomas (1-30)

Heritage Wine Cellars 3-Pack of Premium Products: Kyle Thomas, Jeremy Wonderling, Jason Knowles

Landrum Performance Springs BOGO Certificates: Ryan Hare, Kyle Thomas, Robbie Scott, Austin Allen & A.J. Spagnuolo

Ontime Body & Graphic “Spoiler Alert” Spoiler Kit: Ben Easler

Precise Racing Products “Pedal Down” Hard Charger: Jim Cochran (+10)

Sunoco Fuel Card Winners: Jeremy Wonderling ($100), Demetrios Drellos ($100), Kolbe Kimbrew ($50), John Boring ($50), Jim Cochran ($50) & George Casto III ($50).

 

FK Rod Ends “Shock the Clock” Qualifying ($100 for fast time): 1. 57T-Kyle Thomas, 00:13.637[11]; 2. 42-Daryl Charlier, 00:13.930[21]; 3. 111D-Demetrios Drellos, 00:13.942[25]; 4. 99-Kyle Hardy, 00:13.943[18]; 5. 03-Garret Paugh, 00:14.044[3]; 6. 151-Kolbe Kimbrew, 00:14.078[2]; 7. 02-Ben Easler, 00:14.162[9]; 8. 225-Bud Watson, 00:14.177[24]; 9. 5A-AJ Spagnuolo, 00:14.209[19]; 10. 29-Ryan Hare, 00:14.227[5]; 11. 2C-Zack Carley, 00:14.251[7]; 12. 18-Mike Wonderling, 00:14.273[17]; 13. X14-Robbie Scott, 00:14.287[12]; 14. 51-Austin Hauser, 00:14.355[15]; 15. 32A-Austin Allen, 00:14.374[13]; 16. 3J-Jeremy Wonderling, 00:14.391[10]; 17. 4-Jason Knowles, 00:14.400[20]; 18. 37-Logan Reed, 00:14.414[4]; 19. 19C-George Casto III, 00:14.451[23]; 20. 93-Jim Cochran, 00:14.464[16]; 21. 39-Gregory Carrico, 00:14.559[22]; 22. 32J-John Johnson, 00:14.685[1]; 23. 36S-Santino Loretta, 00:14.726[14]; 24. 58B-John Boring, 00:15.173[6]; 25. 20R-Blake Runyon, 00:15.349[8].

 

FK Rod Ends Heat 1 (8 laps, $25 to-win): 1. 57T-Kyle Thomas[1]; 2. 3J-Jeremy Wonderling[6]; 3. 02-Ben Easler[3]; 4. 19C-George Casto III[7]; 5. 99-Kyle Hardy[2]; 6. 29-Ryan Hare[4]; 7. X14-Robbie Scott[5]; 8. 20R-Blake Runyon[9]; 9. 32J-John Johnson[8].

 

FK Rod Ends Heat 2 (8 laps, $25 to-win): 1. 03-Garret Paugh[2]; 2. 42-Daryl Charlier[1]; 3. 2C-Zack Carley[4]; 4. 4-Jason Knowles[6]; 5. 51-Austin Hauser[5]; 6. 225-Bud Watson[3]; 7. 36S-Santino Loretta[8]; 8. 93-Jim Cochran[7]

 

FK Rod Ends Heat 3 (8 laps, $25 to-win): 1. 5A-AJ Spagnuolo[3]; 2. 32A-Austin Allen[5]; 3. 151-Kolbe Kimbrew[2]; 4. 111D-Demetrios Drellos[1]; 5. 18-Mike Wonderling[4]; 6. 37-Logan Reed[6]; 7. 39-Gregory Carrico[7]; 8. 58B-John Boring[8]

 

Sunoco Dash (6 laps, $100 Sunoco fuel card to win): 1. 03-Garret Paugh[2]; 2. 57T-Kyle Thomas[1]; 3. 5A-AJ Spagnuolo[4]; 4. 32A-Austin Allen[3]; 5. 3J-Jeremy Wonderling[6]; 6. 42-Daryl Charlier[5]

 

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, MSD Performance, Holley Performance Products, FK Rod Ends, Billy's Garage, Joseph J. Oliva Attorney at Law, Schoenfeld Headers, Jones Racing Products, Landrum Performance Springs, Russ King Racing, 3C Graphix, Dave Poske's Performance Parts, Velocita-USA, Wieland Metal Services, Frankland Racing Supply, Seal-Tite Paving & Excavating, Dusted Steak Seasoning, Ontime Body & Graphic, D&V Jewelers, AERO Race Wheels, Heritage Wine Cellars, Precise Racing Products, Racing Electronics, Design Creations, and Competition Crate Parts.

 

E-mail can be sent to the RUSH Racing Series at [email protected] and 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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