5/11/2021
RUSH Late Model Series
PACE RUSH LATE MODELS SET FOR WEEKEND DOUBLEHEADER OF FLYNN'S TIRE/BORN2RUN LUBRICANTS TOUR EVENTS AT STATELINE SATURDAY FOR "BILL LAW MEMORIAL" & ERI
PACE RUSH LATE MODELS SET FOR WEEKEND DOUBLEHEADER OF FLYNN'S TIRE/BORN2RUN LUBRICANTS TOUR EVENTS AT STATELINE SATURDAY FOR "BILL LAW MEMORIAL" & ERIEZ SUNDAY
By Mike Leone
May 11, 2021 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Pulaski, PA)...After losing the April 25 McKean County Raceway event to Mother Nature, the Pace Performance RUSH Late Model Series together with Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC will return to action this weekend one month since the "Battle of the Bay" Speedweek for a Flynn's Tire/Born2Run Lubricants Touring Series doubleheader. Race #4 of the richest season in Series history will be at Stateline Speedway in Busti, NY on Saturday night (May 15) with warmups at 7 p.m. followed by race #5 50 miles west on Sunday night (May 16) at Eriez Speedway in Erie, Pa. with warmups at 6:15 p.m.
After losing last year's event due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the "Bill Law Memorial" returns to Stateline for the fourth 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. Today, Bill's grandson, Kyle Murray, is in his fifth year of RUSH Late Model competition with five career wins in Weekly Series action.
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 the Busti, NY oval 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. And in 2019, Wonderling again held off Blair and withstood a mid-race rain delay to top a record Stateline field of 33 cars.
Both Stateline and Eriez have completed one Pace Weekly Series event to date this year. Andy Boozel emerged victorious over a 26-car field at the Stateline opener on May 1, while Mike Knight captured the May 2 Eriez opener over a 19-car field. There have been seven RUSH Tour events completed all-time at Eriez and the Blairs have won all seven with Max winning six and his father Rob one in a substitution role for Max!
"This is a nice weekend for our northern RUSH Late Model teams to be able compete in two $2,000 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."
Kyle Hardy laid the gauntlet down at the "Battle of the Bay" winning all three events and taking home $10,175 in cash plus contingencies! Hardy joined Rick Singleton, Max Blair, Jeremy Wonderling, and Kyle Lukon as the only drivers to win three consecutive Tour events. Hardy, who also leads the Pace Performance National Weekly Series standings, will look to tie and eclipse Blair's record of four consecutive Tour wins during the 2015 season.
After a 20th place finish at the Georgetown opener, Jeremy Wonderling bounced back with finishes of fifth and eighth at Potomac and Winchester respectively as he looks for his fourth straight Tour championship, but this year with $12,000 on the line! Kyle Lukon, who battled with Wonderling down to the wire in the 2019 Tour chase, had three solid nights at the "Battle of the Bay" with finishes of third, seventh, and sixth. Last year's runner-up in points, Joe Martin, also had a consistent three nights with finishes of 11th, 11th, and ended Speedweek with a fifth at Winchester.
Each night will include $100 FK Rod Ends "Shock the Clock" Qualifying and $25 heat races capped off by 30-lap $2,000 to-win, $225 to-start feature events. There will be a $200 to-win, $150 to-start non-qualifier if 30 or more cars are present.
Precise Racing Products will award a $100 gift card for the "Pedal Down" Hard Charger that passes the most cars in the feature each night. The TBM Brakes “Tough Brake of the Night” will award three bottles of Xtreme6 Racing Brake Fluid valued at approximately $45 along with a certificate for a discount off any TBM Brakes purchase.
The feature winner each night will receive a 5-Gallon Race Jug from Precise. Ontime Body & Graphic's "Spoiler Alert" will award a $150 spoiler kit to the fourth place finisher on Saturday and fifth place finisher on Sunday (note: if a driver has already won a spoiler this season, spoiler will be awarded to the next position). In addition to a $100 Sunoco gift card for the Sunoco Dash winner, one driver will be randomly selected at the drivers meeting for a $100 Sunoco gift card thanks to the "Fill'er up with Sunoco Bucks" program presented by Sunoco and Zarin Truck & Auto.
Feature Payoff each night: 1. $2,000 2. $1,000 3. $650 4. $550 5. $470 6. $435 7. $410 8. $370 9. $340 10. $310 11. $280 12. $270 13. $260 14. $250 15. $240 16. $235 17. $230 18-24 $225.
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 6:30 p.m. with RUSH warm-ups at 7. Pit passes are $35. There is a $100 entry fee. Driver radio channel is different at Stateline as 469.500 is used. Here are the pit notes/agenda: https://rushlatemodels.com/StatelineAgenda051521.pdf
For Sunday at Eriez, pit gates open at 3:30 p.m. (access prior). Drivers meeting will be at 5:45 p.m. with RUSH warm-ups at 6:15. Pit passes are $35. There is a $100 entry fee. Driver radio channel is 454.000. Here are the pit notes/agenda: https://rushlatemodels.com/EriezAgenda051621.pdf
Both events will also count towards the RUSH National Weekly Series Championships and "Futures Cup" for those eligible racers. In addition, points will also be awarded for the expanded "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.
The 2021 Touring Series is being presented by new marketing partners Flynn's Tire along with Born2Run Lubricants. Drivers will compete for the richest Chevrolet Performance Crate Engine Touring Series championship with $43,000 on the line. Points will be accumulated at each Marquee Event. Drivers can use Platinum Event(s) to replace worst Marquee finishes and/or up to two for missed Marquee Events. Memberships forms are available at https://rushlatemodels.com/memberships.html.
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 and follow them on Twitter @NewStateline.
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, check out www.eriez-speedway.com. Follow them on Twitter @EriezSpeedway1 and like their page on Facebook at www.facebook.com/eriezspeedway.
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, 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 info@rushracingseries.com 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.
Article Credit: Mike Leone
Submitted By: Mike Leone
