SWEENEY RUSH SERIES OFFICIALS CONTINUE TO WORK TOWARD ANTICIPATED INAUGURAL SPORTSMAN MOD SEASON
By Mike Leone
(Pulaski, PA)…Nearly two months have passed since the announcement that Sportsman Modifieds would join the Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC RUSH Racing Series banner for their debut in 2014 along with the return of the Sweeney RUSH Late Models. Series Directors Vicki Emig and Mike Leone have been hard at work promoting the new Sportsman Modified Series for its highly-anticipated debut in the spring of 2014.
The Series held two successful informational meeting at the end of October and recently had a display booth at The National Parts Peddler show in Syracuse, New York. Series Directors will also attend the Performance Racing Industry show in Indianapolis, Indiana December 12-14 to continue to build marketing partners and grow contingency programs. Over $50,000 of products was distributed on the Late Model side in 2013.
“We really enjoyed have a presence at the Parts Peddler show,” stated Emig. “The excitement for the Sportsman Modifieds was tremendous! Several of the manufactures expressed how much interest is being generated and how excited they are to see a program such as this in our region that will help sustain Modified racing. Bicknell’s Randy Williamson conveyed he’s already sent over 10 setup books to racers in our area. There were also numerous New York and Canadian racers that are looking forward to making the trip down to race in our region.”
The Sweeney RUSH Late Models have been known for the annual GM 604 engine giveaway along with the popular $30,000 “Manufacturers Night”. While those nights will again return in 2014 for the Late Models, an inaugural “Manufacturers Night” for the Sportsman Modifieds will also take place that will award a minimum of $5,000 in actual product! A Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC/Pace Performance Night will include the GM 602 engine giveaway! In all, it’s expected that over $10,000 of product contingencies will be awarded to the inaugural class of Sportsman Modified drivers.
2014 membership forms are available online under the membership link at www.rushsportsmanmods.com. Membership cost is $125, which qualifies the driver for the minimum $10,000 Series point fund, includes $100,000 of additional excess participant accident insurance over and above driver’s health insurance and/or speedway’s policy, as well as additional perks.
Both Precise Racing Products and Big Daddy’s Speed Center have offered a 5% discount on all racing parts (excluding the sealed Bilstein shock, fuel, and tires) for the entire 2014 season to all RUSH Sportsman Modified member drivers!
“We’re still getting interested racers contacting us as well as some other speedways looking at our program,” stated Leone. “The support of the speedways that stepped up to host events without knowing there’d be one car built is tremendous. We expect to release a draft of events later this month. The promoters want to see Modified racing continue into the future and everyone that’s committed realizes this is going to be a building process.”
“The 602 Sportsman class has grown everywhere and we believe with the program we’ve put together and the affordability, the results will be the same in our region,” continued Leone. “Seven years Crate Late Models didn’t even exist in the Northeast, now we are aware of over 300 different teams competing in the region.”
All interested drivers, speedways, and sponsors are urged to contact the RUSH office. Those interested drivers will be added to the contact list to receive all future correspondence. Also, racers who have Modifieds for sale can send their classified info to info@rushracingseries.com to be posted on the classified page on the RUSH webpage.
The Northeast-style dirt Modified division will debut in 2014 at many of the regional speedways and will feature GM 602 crate engines ($3,149 through Sweeney’s Pace Performance), spec Hoosier Tires on steel wheels, and affordable and long-lasting Bilstein “sealed” shocks ($135). RUSH has aligned with DIRTcar basically mirroring their rules. The partnership will allow the Series to work together toward mutually beneficial events and promotions in the future.
Six regional speedways have announced their commitment to each host multiple events in 2014 whether it be Weekly or Touring including Lernerville Speedway (Sarver, PA), Sharon Speedway (Hartford, OH), Pittsburgh’s PA Motor Speedway (Imperial, PA), America’s Motorsports Park (Clearfield, PA), Bradford (PA) Speedway, and most recently Raceway 7 (Conneaut, Ohio).
Lernerville, Pittsburgh, and Sharon expect to host approximately six events each. AMP has committed to running the class bi-weekly, while Bradford will run the Sportsman Mods for the first time ever, and at the minimum will host monthly events working with AMP. If the interest is there, the Mods will be added for a second show every month! Raceway 7 recently came on board to host at least two events.
Other tracks such as McKean County Raceway (East Smethport, Pa.) and Roaring Knob Motorsports Complex (Markleysburg, Pa.) have expressed interest with others to likely be added.
Additional informational meetings featuring guest speakers that have a vast amount of experience in the Sportsman Modified class along with the most current information will be scheduled after the holidays. These meetings will provide continued support and information for the racers in this division.
2014 RUSH Sportsman Modified marketing partners include Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC, Pace Performance, Hoosier Tire, Bilstein Shocks, VP Racing Fuels, and Precise Racing Products.
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 Sportsman Modified website is www.rushsportsmanmods.com. Those on social media can like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/rushsportsmanmods and follow us on Twitter @RUSHSportMods.