9/23/2022
RUSH Late Model Series
JASON GENCO’S $2500 ERIEZ WIN LOCKS UP “TRACK PACK” TITLE & GETS HIM CLOSER TO HOVIS RUSH LATE MODEL NATIONAL WEEKLY SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP; CHAD RUHLMAN
JASON GENCO’S $2500 ERIEZ WIN LOCKS UP “TRACK PACK” TITLE & GETS HIM CLOSER TO HOVIS RUSH LATE MODEL NATIONAL WEEKLY SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP; CHAD RUHLMAN WINS FOR THE 1ST TIME AT MARION CENTER & DOG HOLLOW WHILE JOHN MOLLICK DOES THE SAME AT KNOX IN RUSH SPRINTS
By Marcie Barlow
September 23, 2022 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Pulaski, PA)...The 2022 racing season is quickly winding down but there has been plenty of Hovis Auto and Truck Supply RUSH Racing Series presented by Born2Run Lubricants action taking place throughout the region. Chad Ruhlman became the first ever winner in RUSH Sprint Car Equipment Rental Options Weekly Series action at Marion Center Speedway. Youngster Ayden Cipriano continues to tally wins in Hovis RUSH Sportsman action, while Jason Genco, Joe Martin, Michael Duritsky, Ben Policz and Jeremy Wonderling added to their win totals in Hovis Auto and Truck Supply RUSH Late Model competition.
Georgetown Speedway hosted a special $1,000 to win Hovis Auto and Truck Supply RUSH Late Model Weekly Series event on Friday, September 9th. Trevor Collins led the early stages of the 20-lap event before Austin Hubbard used the bottom groove to overtake Collins. Hubbard moved to the top side of the speedway for the final three circuits to pull away from Collins and score his second straight Georgetown victory. Collins, Matt Hill, Joey Warren and Michael Duritsky, Jr. rounded out the top five.
Weekly Hovis RUSH Late Model action has continued at Pittsburgh’s PA Motor Speedway. Tim Shaffer and Brandon Burgoon battled the entire distance of the 20-lap main event on Saturday, September 10th. The duo quickly separated themselves from the rest of the field at the start of the event with Shaffer in the top spot and Burgoon in second. Several cautions slowed the field, but Burgoon was unable to make a pass and Shaffer went on to score his second victory of the season at the oval. Burgoon, Mike Reft, Philip Bubeck and Colby Beighey completed the top five.
On Saturday, September 17 at Pittsburgh, Ben Policz and Daryl Charlier led the 18-car field to the green for the $1,500 to-win event. Policz set the pace early with Kyle Lukon and Charlier following. The running order remained the same until lap 17 when Burgoon got by Charlier for third. A caution on lap 28 set up a two-lap shootout between Policz and Burgoon. Policz came home the victor for the fifth time this season with Burgoon once again coming home in the runner-up position. Lukon, Mike Reft and Charlier rounded out the top five.
Eriez Speedway brought down the curtain on their 2022 season with a bang last weekend for the annual September Sweeps started by the late owner Bobby Rohrer and has continued on with new track owner Dave Alexander. Qualifying events on Friday set the feature lineup for the 24-car field of RUSH Late Models on Saturday night. Track champion Jason Genco won his fourth of the season and biggest overall win taking $2,500. It’s been a tremendous season for Genco, who won the $1,000 “Track Pack” titles at both Stateline and Eriez and currently leads the National Weekly Series points with two weekends to go. Max Blair made his first RUSH start of the season driving a team car to Will Thomas III and finished second. Josh Ferry was third in just his second Eriez start of the season and first since winning the July 10 Tour race. Mike Wonderling was fourth also in his second Eriez start of the year. David Parker was fifth and locked up the $500 runner-up in Eriez “Track Pack” points as he did the same at Stateline.
Jason McGregor scored his second victory of the season at Woodhull Raceway on September 10th as he defeated Jared Keeney, who was making just his second Woodhull start of the season and first since May 21. Jacob Tubbs, John Haggerty and Joe Layfield finished third through fifth.
Woodhull Raceway closed out their 2022 season on Saturday, September 17th with Jason Knowles garnering his sixth victory of the season. Knowles and Clayton Tarabori battled for the top two spots the entire distance of the main event with Knowles scoring the win. Tarabori, Steve LeBarron, $1000 “Track Pack” champion Brian Knowles, and McGregor completed the top five.
Bradford Speedway closed out their 2022 seasons last Friday night. Jeremy Wonderling captured the RUSH Late Model main event at Bradford over Kurt Stebbins, Steve Dixon, Chuck LaFleur, and Clayton Tarabori. Wonderling ended the Bradford campaign with his three straight wins and four on the season at the ¼-mile oval as his win was worth $1,200.
In RUSH Pro Mod action at Bradford, Steve Dixon closed out an excellent season with another victory. Zain Harvey, Al Brewer, Critter Hemphill and Tyler Oakes followed. For Dixon, it was his eighth win in nine starts at Bradford and his ninth overall RUSH win of the season moved him to second in points behind now six-time champion Dennis Lunger, Jr.
After a week off, Genesee Speedway returned to action on September 17 in their final tune-up before the “Topless Nationals” weekend. Doug Ricotta claimed the track championship just by starting the main event, but it was seventh place starter Jeremy Wonderling who entertained the fans with his driving prowess. Wonderling took the third spot from Bill Holmes with a bold slide job on lap seven and then made a similar move on JJ Mazur on lap 11 to move into second. Wonderling then set his sights on Chad Homan, who had a healthy lead on the field. Wonderling reeled in Homan and took the top spot from him on lap 19 and led the remainder of the event to score his second win of the weekend. Wonderling has now won five straight races at Genesee, eight on the season and his 13th overall RUSH win kept him alive for the National Weekly Series Championship. Homan, Mazur, Jimmy Johnson and Bill Holmes rounded out the top five.
Dog Hollow Speedway hosted the RUSH Late Models for two nights of action last weekend as the inaugural “Hustle at The Hollow” took place on Friday and Saturday. In Friday evening’s main event Dan Angelicchio led the first lap of the main event before Michael Duritsky, Jr. took the lead and cruised to the $1,500 win. After four straight runner-up finishes, Duritsky was able to tally his fourth Dog Hollow win to clinch the $1,000 “Track Pack” title. Braeden Dillinger came home second with Clinton Hersh, Angelicchio and Brady Wonderling completing the top five.
Veteran Joe Martin added another win to his 2022 total as he held off the challenges of Clinton Hersh the entire 20-lap distance. Dan Angelicchio, Mike Laughard, Marino Angelicchio, Braeden Dillinger, Colin Casale and Colby Beighey battled for the third spot for the entire distance of the main event. Martin’s second win of the year at Dog Hollow and sixth overall in RUSH competition was worth $1,500. Following Martin and Hersh at the checkered, it was Dillinger in third with Marino Angelicchio and Casale completing the top five.
After giving the RUSH Late Models the night off for two straight weeks, Skyline Raceway Motorsports Park hosed the division last Saturday night and it was Todd Chapman winning his second of the season. Dustin Spaulding made his RUSH debut driving for Patrick Parker and finished second with Alan Chapman trailing.
The Hovis Auto and Truck Supply RUSH Sprint Car Equipment Rental Options Weekly Series made their first ever appearance at Marion Center Speedway on September 10. Veteran Chad Ruhlman picked up the win over Arnie Kent, Gale Ruth, Jr., Blaze Myers and Andy Priest.
The RUSH Sprint Cars then travelled to Dog Hollow Speedway last Saturday for the second and final appearance of the season with Ruhlman winning his eighth of the season. Ruhlman led the entire distance of the event to score a convincing first ever Dog Hollow win over Kent, Ruth, Myers and Jeff Metsger. A Dog Hollow record 16 cars were on hand.
The RUSH Sprint Cars also competed at Knox Raceway last Sunday in an event that had been postponed from the prior week due to weather. Third place starter John Mollick passed Blaze Myers on lap six and went on to score his career first victory at the Clarion County oval. Sixth place starter Ruth came home in second to stay alive for the $5,000 to-win Equipment Rental Options Weekly Series Championship. Myers was third. Veterans Ruhlman and Priest finished fourth and fifth respectively.
The 2022 Equipment Rental Options RUSH Sprint Car finale will take place at Lernerville Speedway on October 14 and 15.
The lone Hovis RUSH Sportsman Modified event in the last two weeks took place at Lernerville Speedway on September 17. Bill Cunningham and Cole Edwards led the 20-car field to green but it was third place starter Garrett Krummert who led the first lap. By lap five, Krummert and fifth place starter Ayden Cipriano had pulled away from the field with Cipriano pressuring Krummert each lap. Two mid-race cautions slowed the field but each time Krummert managed to maintain the lead. That changed on lap 18 when the youngster used the bottom of turns three and four to slide up in front of Krummert and take the lead. Cipriano went on to lead the final two circuits to score his first ever Lernerville Speedway victory and fifth overall of the season all coming since July 8! Krummert, Edwards, Jeff Shaffer and Doug Rutana completed the top five.
The RUSH Sportsman Modifieds will be in action at PPMS this Saturday night (September 24) and October 8 before closing out the season at Lernerville on October 14 and 15 for the Flynn’s Tire Touring Series event.
RUSH Stock Car action at Dog Hollow Speedway saw John Eckenrod score the win on Friday evening for his fifth overall of the season, while Tim Laughard tallied his season’s eighth win on Saturday night. Laughard captured the $2,000 Weekly Series Championship.
The RUSH Karting Series closed out the season on September 10 at Stateline. Keaton Destre closed out the season winning three of the last four races for the JR-1. Mike Boardman was victorious for the 10th time in the Adult class. Capturing championships were Bexley Smith (Amateur), Jackson Himes (JR-1), Trenton Curry (JR-2), and Mike Boardman (Adult). It was the second straight title for Smith, while the others earned their first championships.
Coming up this weekend, Genesee Speedway will host the RUSH Late Model Flynn’s Tire Touring Series for the fifth Annual “Topless Nationals” on Friday and Saturday. Both events will pay $3,000 to-win. The Tour will then travel to Tyler County Speedway on Thursday, September 29 for $4,000 to-win before heading to Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway on Friday, September 30 and Saturday, October 1 for the “Bill Hendren Memorial” paying $4,000 and $10,000 to-win respectively.
Weekly RUSH Late Model action is slated for Pittsburgh, Winchester, and Skyline this Saturday.
The RUSH Racing Series is brought to you by Hovis Auto & Truck Supply together with Born2Run Lubricants along with the support of Hoosier Tire, Bilstein Shocks, Sunoco Race Fuels, Bazell Race Fuels, Insinger Performance, MSD Performance, Holley Performance Products, 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, Sherwood Wheels, Alternative Power Sources, Precise Racing Products, Lincoln Electric, Velocita-USA, Waterstone Mortgage Hermitage, Wedge Motorsports, 3C Graphix, D&V Jewelers, DrumPreserve, CrateInsider.com, Marthinsen & Salvitti Insurance Group and Terry Bowser Excavating.
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: Marcie Barlow