AFTER A SUCCESSFUL 2013 UNDER THE SWEENEY RUSH SERIES BANNER, PITTSBURGH’S PA MOTOR SPEEDWAY LOOKS AHEAD TO 2014
November 19, 2013
(By Jim Zufall – RUSH Staff Series Spotlight)
(Imperial, PA)…The final checkered flags of the season in the Northeast mark the transition of seasons for racers and fans. Weekends go from spending Saturday nights in the grandstands or the pits with your racing family to long winter days rebuilding racecars and budgets. For the race track operators and promoters, there is no real offseason.
Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC RUSH Dirt Late Model Series member track Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway barely let the bleachers go cold; putting together the 2014 schedule and making track improvements. Track manager, Matt Miley, wasted no time focusing on the 2014 season at the Imperial, Pa. oval affectionately known as “The Monster Half-Mile”.
The facility, according to Miley gets pretty much the same treatment every offseason. “Clay again, every year since MMS purchased PPMS,” stated Miley. But beyond the track surface, the entire facility gets a facelift. “It’s a big place! Every season sees maintenance of the infrastructure which no one sees, painting, a new layer of clay, vehicle maintenance, bleacher maintenance…that never ends.”
As for what the fans can expect in 2014, Miley plans on another aggressive schedule featuring several types of motorsports. “We plan on running everything on four wheels at PPMS that racers and fans support, including RUSH. The Sweeney RUSH Tour has been a part of our autograph night on a few occasions and folks love to visit with the RUSH teams. They are very generous; it’s like Halloween in July. We try to tie fans and children into events in many ways.”
Miley Motorsports’ first year of experience with the Sweeney RUSH Series has been great. “It was the first year?’ laughed Miley. “It didn’t seem like it. RUSH is a seasoned first class organization with great folks. Our first year at PPMS with RUSH just seemed like business as usual. Quality teams, quality people, and quality racing, exactly what we expected.”
Having the Sweeney RUSH Series promote the events and goings on at their member tracks has impressed Matt Miley and his staff. He sums up his reasons for that in two words: “Mike Leone! Mike just gets the job done. He gets the word out in the proper places for the RUSH Speedways. The RUSH team is willing to share and help with PR for the good of short track racing, that’s right up our alley.”
And while some skeptics still view crate engine Late Model racing as a detriment to short track racing, Miley says that couldn’t be further from the truth. “Crate Late racing started at PPMS. The Pro Lates, Crate Lates, Semi Lates, whatever you want to call them, have been a staple at PPMS for many years. We believe they are a perfect fit at PPMS and we don’t see fans leaving their seats come RUSH Late Model feature time. They are the future of weekly Late Model racing and RUSH has positioned the Northeast Region to be ready when that time arrives.”
Matt Miley and the management of Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway remain very optimistic about not only the future of the Crate Late Model class, but the new RUSH Sportsman Modified division as well. “We (PPMS) support both RUSH Pro Lates and the new RUSH Sportsman Modifieds. These divisions are the future of weekly racing. We would like to see all the tracks that run Crates in the Northeast fly the RUSH banner, it just makes sense. They have strong effective leadership, a great staff, and the best interests of racing as a goal for our region, a goal we share.”
The RUSH Dirt Late Model division and PPMS’s other four regular divisions kick off the season on Saturday April 5, 2014, and the all new Sweeney RUSH Sportsman Modified class set to debut on May 31. Kyle Lukon of Burgettstown, Pa. was the 2013 RUSH champion. Details at www.ppms.com.
2013 RUSH marketing partners include Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC, Pace Performance, RainEater Wiper Blades, Hoosier Tire, Sunoco Race Fuels, Bazell Race Fuels, Precise Racing Products, ARbodies, The Brake Man, K&N Filters, Lincoln Electric, TurboStart, K1 RaceGear, Beyea Headers, FK Rod Ends, Bobby Lake Motorsports, Wrisco Industries, High Gear Speed Shop, Utsinger’s Towing, 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.