SWEENEY RUSH LATE MODEL SERIES ANNOUNCES CHANGES FOR 2015 TOURING SERIES; SEPARATE NORTHERN & SOUTHERN TOURING REGIONS CREATED AS SERIES CONTINUES STRONG FORWARD MOMENTUM
July 23, 2014
(By Mike Leone)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Pulaski, PA)…While the exact details are still in the early planning stages, Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC RUSH Dirt Late Model Series Directors Vicki Emig and Mike Leone felt it was important to make an early announcement that in 2015 there will be two separate regions for the Sweeney Touring Series. Separate Northern and Southern Touring Regions will be created with 8-12 non-conflicting events per region.
In 2014, RUSH greatly expanded its territory with Potomac (Mechanicsville, MD) and Winchester (VA) coming on board in the Mid-Atlantic as well as Freedom (Delevan, NY) and Humberstone (Port Colborne, ON, Canada) in the Northeast as weekly-sanctioned speedways. All four of these speedways hosted a Sweeney Tour event in 2014 as part of the 20-event slate. Preliminary talks are already underway with additional speedways to join the Sweeney RUSH Weekly Series program in 2015.
“We’ve always been blessed to have great support from speedways and racers across the region,” stated Emig. “However, as with any successful business you must evolve and make slight changes to your business model to ensure continued growth. We feel we’ve reached a point where we’re now asking the racers to travel too far. Drivers like Cody Dawson from southern Maryland and John Waters from New York have gone above and beyond competing in all nine of the Touring events to date. Dawson just towed nine hours to compete Sunday at Humberstone, and Waters towed over six hours to Potomac earlier this season. Although growth is a good thing, we need to be realistic and feel that by creating two regions a positive effect for both our speedways and racers will be created.”
While the exact dollar amounts will not be released for some time, a minimum of $4,000 to-win championship paying down a minimum of 12 positions in each region is expected with a bonus program paying $2,000 to the overall top point man of the combined regions. A racer who competes in all of the Sweeney RUSH Tour events throughout both regions has the possibility of capturing $10,000 for their efforts, double what the Touring Championship has paid since its inception! Racers who choose to compete in the touring programs of both regions will still pay only one membership. The Sweeney Weekly, Pace Performance “Summer Chase”, and “Futures Cup” programs will remain intact.
All events will still be run by the same RUSH Touring Series Staff and as stated earlier will not conflict amongst regions. There’s also the possibility of one or two combined events for both regions with higher payouts. It’s also the goal to try and get these Sweeney Tour events to not conflict with Sweeney Weekly Series events in the region and doing so should be an easier task with less events per region.
To date, 112 different drivers have competed in at least one of the nine 2014 Sweeney Tour events with 11 events still remaining. The total number of different drivers is expected reach well over 150 by season’s end, which shows racers still enjoy and look forward to participating in a Tour event, but may not be able to do so due to extended travel requirements. Six drivers have perfect attendance to date (Ryan Montgomery, John Waters, Chad McClellan, Jason Rider, Eric Wilson, and Cody Dawson). There have been five different winners with Rick Singleton (four wins), McClellan (two wins), Montgomery, Max Blair, and Waters all victorious. The splitting of the region into two “Touring” quadrants is expected to greatly increase this number in 2015.
“As we all know, current economics have really dictated what racers can and cannot do,” stated Leone. “We feel by shortening the travel distance and the amount of races per region will give racers more incentive and make it easier for them to participate in their individual Touring Championship programs, thus boosting car counts per event. We really think this change will create excitement throughout the individual regions. It will also spread the Sweeney Touring Championship monies out to more racers. All of the promoters and racers that we’ve discussed this with have been in favor.”
The 2014 Sweeney Tour will be in action next on Thursday, August 14 at McKean County Raceway for the annual fair race and first of three appearances to the East Smethport, Pa. track. Following that event, the $50,000 End of Summer Blowout presented by Sunoco Race Fuels will feature $1,500 to-win events over Labor Day Weekend at McKean on Saturday, August 30 followed by the first ever RUSH-sanctioned event at Ohio’s Wayne County Speedway. The Saturday MCR event will also include the $30,000 Manufactures Night!
Stay tuned for more information on 2015 in the coming months. Tracks interested in the Sweeney RUSH program are urged to contact the RUSH Office at 724-964-9300 or e-mail info@rushracingseries.com.
RUSH Late Model marketing partners include Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC, Pace Performance, Hoosier Tire, Sunoco Race Fuels, Bazell Race Fuels, Precise Racing Products, ARbodies, The Brake Man, K&N Filters, Bilstein Shocks, Lincoln Electric, TurboStart, Beyea Headers, FK Rod Ends, Bobby Lake Motorsports, Driven Racing Oil, Crate Innovations Inc., Moroso Performance Products, Velocita-USA, High Gear Speed Shop, CrateInsider.com, Utsinger’s Towing, B.R.A.K.E.S., RockAuto.com, and Valley Fashions.
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 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.