STANDOUT ALAN DELLINGER TO REUNITE WITH WELL-KNOWN BOB WILLIAMS IN SWEENEY RUSH LATE MODELS FOR 2014; DUO LOOKS TO MAKE THEIR MARK UTILIZING BILSTEIN’S $135 “SEALED” SHOCKS
April 17, 2014
By Mike Donald – (Staff Series Spotlight)
(Canfield, OH)…The dawning of a new racing season often brings forth new drivers, new sponsors and new paint schemes. For Bob Williams and Alan Dellinger, however, it brings forth the reunification of an owner-driver combination who will be attempting to recapture some old glory.
Williams owned the No. 8 Rocket chassis that Dellinger piloted to a 2007 Northeast Touring Championship in the first year of Crate Late Model racing in the region. From 2006 until 2011, this duo claimed 10 victories at tracks, including Sharon Speedway (Ohio), Raceway 7 (Ohio), Dog Hollow Speedway (Pennsylvania), and Tri-City Speedway (Pennsylvania).
The two travelled separate paths during the last two racing seasons, but the desire to find victory lane, once again, has brought the two back together. “We have stayed friends, and I asked to reunite with him,” said Williams of Canfield, Ohio. “It is good to be back with Bob, and I think we can be competitive,” said Dellinger- the Niles, Ohio native who now calls Hermitage, Pennsylvania home.
The team will field an unsponsored No. 8 Rocket chassis for the 2014 season. With plans to run weekly events at Sharon Speedway and plans to compete in some of the Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC RUSH Touring Series events, the duo believes they can attain success, once again.
“We wouldn’t do this unless we thought we could win,” Williams explained. His son, Jeff, and friends, Bob Jones and Paul Moore, will provide crew assistance as the team dials back its budget. The team will use the Bilstein “sealed” shocks ($135 each that’s being mandated in the new Sweeney RUSH Sportsman Modified division) and use E85 Ethanol gasoline. Bilstein recently signed a two-year agreement to be the “Official Shock” of the RUSH Racing Series.
“I see other teams come into the pit area with their $400,000 haulers, their $2,500 set of shocks and their high-priced racing fuel, well, when we won our 2007 championship we did it on pump gasoline,” Williams revealed. “Alan believes we can be competitive; we can make it work. I am not a believer in those trick shocks and other things some teams do,” he added.
Williams and Dellinger are deeply rooted with long-term racing success. Williams competed in the ARCA Series from 1991-1994. In his 1994 campaign, he finished 12th at Daytona in a car that Ernie Irvan had previously raced to a Daytona 500 victory. Following his stint in the ARCA ranks, he competed on dirt in E-Mod competition for the next 10 years, and he captured nearly 40 victories.
Likewise, Dellinger has garnered notoriety as a driver; aka Jim Dandy, Jr. He has approximately 400 wins throughout his career, and he has claimed more than 10 track championships! In fact at Sharon Speedway he has 160 victories alone including 87 in the E-Mods (most all-time), 65 in the Stock Cars (most all-time), 5 in the Big-Block Modifieds, 2 in the Econo Mods, and one in the Crate Late Models! His championships have come in multiple divisions, including Super Late Models, Street Stocks and Big Block Modifieds. He has hoisted the championship trophy at tracks like Mercer Raceway Park (Pennsylvania), Raceway 7 and Sharon Speedways.
These two racing personalities have raced with and against each other. And it wasn’t always a bed of roses. “Alan and I were bitter rivals at one time,” Williams explained. They were E-Mod competitors for many years. In 2004, an off-track car accident slowed Williams’s on-track efforts, and he needed a driver. “My son suggested that I should put my big nemesis in the car. Now we are good friends,” Williams said of Dellinger. “It is remarkable how much with think alike, especially when it comes to chassis set-up,” he added.
So after driving for separate E-Mod teams the last two years, Williams and Dellinger will reunite and forge ahead in 2014 looking for success. “We can be competitive…and I will be giving 100 percent,” said Dellinger, the 50 year old, married father of four. The team’s car this year will sport black and blue colors. “Yeah, we are going to put a hurting on people,” Williams said with a laugh!
RUSH 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, High Gear Speed Shop, RainEater Wiper Blades, 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.