CAREER 1ST PACE RUSH LATE MODEL WINS FOR SCOTT SWEENEY JR (WINCHESTER) & JARED KEENEY (HILL); CLAYTON DEEMS UPSETS RUSH SPORTSMAN MOD FIELD AT SHARON FOR 1ST CAREER WIN WHILE KYLE MARTELL WINS AT RACEWAY 7 FOR HIS 1ST OF 2021

By Marcie Barlow

August 13, 2021                     FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Pulaski, PA)...It was another action packed weekend of Pace Performance RUSH Racing Series together with Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC action in the Northeast.  All of the RUSH Series were in action with the exception of the Sprint Cars, who had the weekend off.  Michael Norris scored more than $7,000 by winning his second consecutive Jook George Steel Classic in RUSH Late Model Touring Series action.  In addition, Scott Sweeney, Jr. (Winchester Speedway) and Jared Keeney (Hill Speedway) tallied their career first RUSH Late Model wins,  Clayton Deems also celebrated his first RUSH Sportsman Modified victory at Sharon Speedway, while Kyle Martell broke into victory lane for the first time of 2021 the night before at Raceway 7.  

Pace Performance RUSH racing action got underway early on Thursday evening at McKean County Raceway with both the Late Models and Pro Mods in action.  Doug Ricotta led the first three circuits of the 25-lap Late Model main event with Dustin Waters taking the top spot on the fourth circuit.  On lap 12, Steve LeBarron went up in smoke and slowed coming out of turn four; unfortunately, Jason Dobson and race leader Waters had no place to go and were both collected in the melee.  Steve Dixon inherited the lead when action resumed and went on to collect his first McKean victory of 2021 worth $1,000.  Jeremy Wonderling edged out John Waters after a long, hard battle for second.  Chuck LaFleur and Ricotta completed the first five.  

In MCR RUSH Pro Mod action, veterans Mike Eschrich and Adam Ashcroft led the field to the green with Dennis Lunger, Jr. joining in the hunt a few laps later.  By the halfway mark it was Ashcroft in front followed by Critter Hemphill, Lunger, Eschrich and Al Brewer.  Hemphill pressured Ashcroft in the closing laps but Ashcroft held on for his first MCR win of the year.  Hemphill held off Lunger to come home in second.  Eschrich and Brewer completed the top five.        

The Pace RUSH Late Model teams made their second ever appearance at Utica-Rome Speedway Friday evening.  Chad Homan made a late race charge and a last lap pass of Bret Belden to score his second victory of the season at the Vernon, NY oval, each worth $1,000.  Belden, Chris Fleming, Sean Beardsley and Harry Halliday rounded out the top five. 

Dusty Waters got redemption on Friday night at Bradford Speedway.  Twenty-four hours after a heartbreaker at McKean, Waters won his first Pace RUSH Late Model feature in nearly two years in just his second start of the year at Bradford.  Dixon, who was fresh off a $1,000 win at McKean the night before, was a second.  Jason Dobson was a season best third.  Chuck LaFleur was fourth for the second straight night as Andy Michael completed the top five.

Dennis Lunger, Jr. copped his first Bradford RUSH Pro Mod win on Friday night.  After a win and a runner-up in Late Model competition at McKean and Bradford, Dixon took his Pro Mod to a second place finish.  Al Brewer was third.  Tim Schram was a season best fourth as Duane Powers, Jr. was fifth.

Jared Keeney, who has been doing some Touring Series racing this year, stayed close to home and captured his first career RUSH win on Friday night at The Hill Speedway.  Darrin Horton, Joe Lane, Mike Epler and Steve LeBarron finished second through fifth.

Pace RUSH Late Model action on Friday night at Raceway 7 got off to a rough start as the red flag would wave before the first lap was completed.  Racing action resumed with Bud Watson leading the way and withstanding the challenges of defending divisional champion Matt Latta.  By lap nine Darrell Bossard got by Latta for the second spot; however Latta would reclaim second by lap 13.  The event’s final caution flew on lap 23 as the lapped car of Tyler Allison made have contact with Watson.  In spite of the heavily damaged race car, Watson was able to hold on to the top spot and score his career first RUSH Late Model victory at the speedway.  Last week’s winner Breyton Santee claimed second followed by Latta, Steve Hollabaugh and Josh Ferry.  

Joe Martin scored his second consecutive RUSH Late Model win at Dog Hollow Speedway Friday night after dueling Michael Duritsky, Jr. for much of the 20-lap main event.  Martin grabbed the lead at the start of the event and appeared to be headed for a runaway victory, but several cautions kept the competition close.  Martin and Duritsky traded slide jobs in the final laps, but Martin was able to hold off Duritsky at the checkered for his fourth Dog Hollow win of the season.  Joe Moyer, Kyle Smith, Jr. and Tim Snare, Jr. completed the top five.    

Super Late Model ace Michael Norris raced from the sixth spot to score the victory in the RUSH Late Model Flynn's Tire/Born2Run Lubricants Touring event at Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway Saturday night.  The Sarver, Pa. resident passed Darryl Charlier on lap 23 and held off points leader Kyle Hardy to earn more his second straight $7,010 win in the "Jook George Steel City Classic" presented by Zarin Truck & Auto.  The event is promoted by Branden Lockwich that honors George, a famed car owner in Western PA.  Kyle Lukon, Charlier and Joe Martin completed the top five. 

Scott Sweeney, Jr. took the lead at the start of the RUSH Late Model main event Saturday night at Winchester Speedway and never looked back.  Sweeney scored his career first RUSH victory by nearly half a straightaway over Tyler Hoy, who made his 2021 RUSH season debut.  Mike Franklin finished third with Bubby Tharp Jr, Steven Payne following.

Saturday evening at Fulton Speedway the RUSH Late Models took their roofs off to complete in a “topless” 20 main event. Bret Belden took command at the start and built up a straightaway lead by lap five, while Harry Halliday, Chad Homan, Kevan Cook and Sean Beardsley swapped positions two through five.  By the midway point of the event Homan cut Belden’s lead in half before a caution slowed the field on the next lap.  For the second straight night, Homan wrestled the lead away from Belden with a late race pass and went on to score his seventh victory of the season at the speedway as well as his 12^th overall win of the year.  Halliday finished in second with Chris Fleming in third.  Belden dropped to fourth with Beardsley fifth.         

Khole Wanzer led the first two circuits of the Pace RUSH Late Model main event at Stateline Speedway before Darrell Bossard took the lead.  Bossard went on to score his third victory of 2021 at the New York oval.  Wanzer came home in second for a career best finish followed by Scott Gurdak, Ward Schell and Dixon.     

Saturday night RUSH Pro Mod action at Stateline was led to the green flag by veteran Dennis Lunger, Jr.  Lunger, Greg Johnson and Adam Ashcroft battled for the lead with Lunger gaining a little breathing room by lap five.  Johnson and Ashcroft batted for second with Steve Dixon joining in and taking the third spot on lap 12.  Ashcroft returned the favor and got by Dixon on the next circuit.  The trio of Johnson, Ashcroft and Dixon waged an intense battle for the runner-up spot with Johnson making contact with Dixon causing the event’s lone caution.  When green flag action resumed, Lunger led the final two circuits to score his sixth Stateline win of the year and ninth overall in Pace Weekly Series action.  Ashcroft, Johnson, Al Brewer and Tyler Oakes completed the first five.

Breyton Santee concluded his weekend at Eriez Speedway Sunday evening with a victory.  The Conneaut, Ohio driver, was the runner-up at Raceway 7 Friday evening, but was determined not to be the bridesmaid for the second time in three days as he passed Chub Frank and Jason Genco on a wild lap 15 to score a well-deserved first Eriez win of the season.  Veteran Mike Knight claimed the second spot with Jeremy Wonderling, Scott Gurdak and David Parker completing the top five.   

Pace Performance RUSH Sportsman Modified action took place at both Raceway 7 and Sharon Speedway this past weekend for Wedge Motorsports "Route 7 Rumble" Series events.  Greg Porter and Kyle Martell battled side-by-side during the opening laps of the main event.  Martell took the top spot for good on lap five while Kole Holden took the second spot from Porter on lap eight.  Martell led the remainder of the main event to score his first victory of the season anywhere in Hovis Weekly Series competition.  Chas Wolbert got by Holden on the final circuit to claim the second spot.  Holden, Brandon Ritchey and Preston Cope completed the top five.

On Saturday evening, the RUSH Sportsman Modified competitors made the short trek down Route 7 to Sharon Speedway for another Hovis Weekly Series event.  Volant, Pa. resident Clayton Deems led the 20-lap main event “wire-to-wire” to score his career first career win.  Deems did an outstanding job of racing through lapped traffic and held off divisional standout Chas Wolbert by 0.432 seconds.  Ben Easler, Holden and Jacob Wolfe rounded out the top five.  

RUSH Stock Car action saw Jeremy Zufall lead all 20 laps at Dog Hollow Speedway on Friday.  It was Zuffall’s sixth victory in the class.  Tim Laughard made his debut in the class and finished second.  Meanwhile, Mikael Beaver won for the sixth time at Eriez on Sunday night as he continues to lead the Pace Weekly Series standings. 

Winners in RUSH Karting action at the Stateline Karts Speedway this week were: RUSH Rookie: Emmie Bush; Junior #1: Ethan Arnone; Junior #2: Cody Rickard; RUSH Adult: Nate Dickerson.  Friday night at Race 1 Motor Speedway will be RUSH night with all classes in competition.  This Saturday night at Stateline is the inaugural "Manufacturers Night" with over $2,500 in product giveaways.

Potomac Speedway and Genesee Speedway were off this past week while Delaware International Speedway and Woodhull Raceway fell victim to Mother Nature.

This weekend the Pace RUSH Late Model will compete in a $2,000 to-win Flynn’s Tire/Born2Run Lubricants Touring Series event paying $2,000 to win at Eriez Speedway.  The event is also the division’s Manufacturers Night presented by MSD Performance.  More than $27,000 in valuable products will be awarded to the teams in attendance that evening.

Weekly RUSH Late Model action is scheduled for Dog Hollow Speedway, Potomac Speedway, Raceway 7 and The Hill Speedway on Friday.  Saturday night will see Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway, Delaware International Speedway, Woodhull Raceway, Genesee Speedway, and Winchester Speedway in competition.  The RUSH Late Models will not be in action at Bradford Speedway Sunday so their teams can take part in "Manufacturers Night".  A reminder that coming up on Friday, August 20, the RUSH Late Models will return to Ransomville Speedway for the second time in 2021 racing for $1,000 to-win.    

Both the Pace Performance RUSH Sprint Cars and Sportsman Modifieds are on the card at Sharon Speedway this Saturday.  With Stateline off, the RUSH Pro Mods are scheduled for a special night of action at Genesee Speedway on Saturday as they will join the Pace Performance RUSH Late Models on the racing card.  Also as a reminder, the RUSH Pro Mods will compete at McKean County Raceway on Thursday, August 19 part of the McKean County Fair.  The COVID-19 pandemic cancelled the McKean County Fair in 2020 and the event was rained out in 2019 so this will mark the first fair race in three years.     

RUSH Racing Series is brought to you by Pace Performance together with Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC along with the support of Hoosier Tire, Bilstein Shocks, Sunoco Race Fuels, Bazell Race Fuels, Insinger Performance, MSD Performance, Holley Performance Products, Hovis Auto & Truck Supply, Born2Run Lubricants, Flynn's Tire & Auto Service, FK Rod Ends, Schoenfeld Headers, Jones Racing Products, TBM Brakes, Performance Bodies & Parts, Racing Electronics, Dirt Defender, Wrisco Industries, Frankland Racing Supply, Landrum Performance Spring, Ontime Body & Graphic, Zarin Truck & Automotive, Sherwood Wheels, Alternative Power Sources, Precise Racing Products, Stop-Fyre, Lincoln Electric, Velocita-USA, Waterstone Mortgage Hermitage, CrateInsider.com, and Wedge Motorsports.

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 Twitter @RUSHLM.

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