RUSSELL KING OUT-DUELS RYAN MONTGOMERY & MAX BLAIR AT EXPO TO BECOME THE 8^TH DIFFERENT SWEENEY RUSH L.M. TOUR WINNER IN 10 EVENTS!

By Mike Leone

July 14, 2013             FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Cortland, OH)…Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC RUSH Dirt Late Model Touring Series action raced on to Expo Speedway at the Trumbull County Fairgrounds on Sunday afternoon for race #10 of the 26 event slate.  The event was the make-up for Wednesday evening’s scheduled event that was postponed due to severe thunderstorms that rolled through Ohio and shutdown the Fair.  A big crowd turned out on a 90-degree afternoon for round #4 of the five-night “Cross the Borders” Speedweek.

Russell King traded the lead early on with Thursday’s McKean County Raceway Speedweek winner, Max Blair, then held off another hard charge by teenage sensation and Speedweek point leader Ryan Montgomery to become the eighth different Sweeney Tour winner in 10 races this season!  King’s $2,000 win was his second in three years at the Fair race, and was not only his first ever start in Bob Diver’s #23, but the first time out for the car.

“The car was just awesome,” expressed the 24-year-old Bristolville, Ohio racer.  “Every time we come here our cars seem to be pretty good.  I love to go fast and the track moved around.  I was surprised Max passed me on the outside.  I didn’t think that could be done so we had to get aggressive on some of those restarts.  Then I had my spotters tell me to move down because that Montgomery kid was coming.  Sometimes it’s better to be in second than in the lead, but it worked out tonight.  It’s awesome to win here- I just live a couple miles down the road.  I have to thank Bob Diver for letting me run this thing and everyone that helps out.”

Via his win in one of the season’s best K&N “Cold Air Induction” Dashes, King led the field to green for the 25-lap feature , but it was Blair, the 2009 and 2010 Fair race winner, powering to the lead over King and hometown racer Eric Wilson.  Fifth starting Montgomery advanced past Rick Singleton on the opening lap for fourth with Series point leader, Mike Pegher, Jr., following in fifth on lap two. 

Colton Flinner slowed to bring out the first caution with two laps completed and made one of two pit stops for the event.  For Flinner, he was making his third Speedweek start- all of which were his first appearances on the Sweeney Tour, and while none went as well as expected, Flinner was awarded The Brake Man “Tough Brake of the Night” award.

When racing resumed on lap three, Montgomery and Pegher were both able to get past Wilson for third and fourth then coming out of turn four, Blair slipped high allowing King to blast into the lead.  The event’s second and final caution was displayed when 2012 “Futures Cup” winner, Nico Dabecco, slowed to necessitate the stoppage with five laps scored.

The running order changed in hurry when green replaced yellow as Montgomery was able to make the move for second, while Pegher got shuffled back losing fourth to Singleton and fifth to Cody Dawson.  Pegher moved back into the top five by charging under and past Dawson in turn two on lap eight. 

On lap 11, Singleton and Pegher began to close in on Blair in the race for third as the top five of King, Montgomery, Blair, Singleton, and Pegher pulled away by lap 12.  At the halfway point, Montgomery turned up the heat on King trying to find a way by.  Pegher worked his way past Singleton in turns one and two for fourth on lap 14. 

By lap 18, Montgomery was all over King’s bumper trying to find a way by, but with five to go King opened up some breathing room and would go on to thrill his local fans with the victory in the Diver Steel City/King Sanitary/Race 1/Bodies by DeJulio/VP Fuel/Integra Shocks-sponsored #23 Rocket Chassis. 

Montgomery’s second place was his second straight runner-up finish and sixth top five of the season as he closes in on Series point leader Pegher and runner-up Singleton.  “This has happened two nights in a row where the guy that wins starts on the pole and we get to second,” explained the Fairmont City, West Virginia teen.  “He (King) ran a good race.  He moved down when he had to.  I was hoping he’d make a mistake, but every time he did I did too.  My car was better off (two) so that’s where I thought I could pass him, but it was pretty even so it was a good race.” 

Blair was third as he recorded his fourth top five finish in five Tour starts.  Pegher beat out Singleton for fourth as he increased his Series point lead to five over the former NFL player.  Dennis Lunger, Jr. came home sixth for his season’s best Tour finish despite a battered hand from an accident a week ago at Lernerville Speedway.  Chad Ruhlman was seventh to move into the top five in points. 

Matt Latta came home seventh ahead of Joe Martin, who earned the $100 Precise Racing Products “Pedal Down” Hard Charger gift card for the second time in three races.  Rookie Late Model racer, Jamie Wrightsman, who lives across the street from the Speedway, turned in his first Tour top 10 finish.

King and Wilson won the heat races.  King’s victory in the K&N Dash made for the 10^th different winner in as many races this season!  King earned the $100 K&N certificate with Blair receiving a $50 K&N certificate for second.  Wilson and Singleton picked up an additional $25 cash for their third and fourth place finishes respectively.

“We really have to thank the competitors and all the fans for coming out and supporting this event and the effort put in by Fair staff,” acknowledged RUSH Co-Director Vicki Emig.  “Expo is always a challenging event and though there were some concerns about the early 2 PM start time, Bud Rogers did a tremendous job preparing the track.  The Fairgrounds received four inches of rain on Wednesday and they turned around and had an event on Thursday.  Rogers and the track crew worked from before sunup on Sunday getting the track in what most said was the best surface the track has been in years.  It was a quick turnaround from a late Saturday night at Pittsburgh for many of our racers after a season high 40 cars.  We would have easily had a full field or more from what were expecting to participate on Wednesday.”

Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC RUSH Dirt Late Model Touring Series Race #10 (25 laps, $2,000 to-win): 1. RUSSELL KING (Diver 23)  2. Ryan Montgomery (12)  3. Max Blair (111)  4. Mike Pegher, Jr. (Geisler 1c)  5. Rick Singleton (Enyeart 99*)  6. Dennis Lunger, Jr. (Schwartz 71L)  7. Chad Ruhlman (Suppa 4s)  8. Matt Latta (21)  9. Joe Martin (55)  10. Jamie Wrightsman (21J)  11. Matt Glanden (01)  12. Cody Dawson (36)  13. Colton Flinner (75)  14. Brad Blackshear (19)  15. Eric Wilson (27W)  16. Nico Dabecco (Karalagas 15D).

Feature lap Leaders: Blair (1-2), King (3-25)
Precise Racing Products “Pedal Down Hard Charger”: Joe Martin (+4)

The Brake Man “Tough Brake of the Night: Colton Flinner

Heat 1 (8 laps) 1. King  2. Blair  3. Montgomery  4. Flinner  5. Dawson  6. Latta  7. Martin  8. Dabecco.

Heat 2 (8 laps): 1. Wilson  2. Singleton  3. Pegher  4. Lunger  5. Ruhlman  6. Glanden  7. Wrightsman  8. Blackshear.

K&N “Cold Air Induction” Dash (4 laps/$100 K&N certificate to-win): 1. Russell King  2. Max Blair  3. Eric Wilson  4. Rick Singleton.   

The next event for the Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC Touring Series will be Saturday (July 20) at for the $2,000 to-win Sharon Speedway Sweeney Tour event that includes the Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC/Pace Performance GM 604 engine giveaway replacing the originally scheduled America’s Motorsports Park event.  It’ll also be the final night of the “Cross the Borders” Speedweek.

Montgomery has an 11-point lead on Blair for the $1,000 to-win Speedweek crown.  Singleton, Pegher, Martin, Ruhlman, Glanden, Justin Tatlow, Butch Lambert, and Latta complete the top 10 points paying positions.  A total of 75 different cars have competed after four of the five nights!

Also note: the April 20 rained out $2,000 to-win Roaring Knob Motorsports Complex Sweeney Tour event that was originally rescheduled to Sunday, July 28 has been moved to Friday, July 26 due to a change in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series schedule.

2013 RUSH marketing partners include Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC, Pace Performance, RainEater Wiper Blades, Hoosier Tire, Sunoco Race Fuels, Bazell Race Fuels, Precise Racing Products, ARbodies, The Brake Man, K&N Filters, Lincoln Electric, TurboStart, K1 RaceGear, Beyea Headers, FK Rod Ends, Bobby Lake Motorsports, Wrisco Industries, High Gear Speed Shop, Utsinger’s Towing, 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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