SWEENEY RUSH LATE MODEL SERIES RELEASES TENTATIVE 2014 TOUR SCHEDULE; APPROXIMATELY 20 EVENTS FEATURED THROUGHOUT 5 STATES & CANADA
January 27, 2014
(By Mike Leone) FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Pulaski, PA)…After putting a final wrap on the inaugural 2013 season with the awards banquet on January 18, Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC RUSH Dirt Late Model Racing Series Directors Vicki Emig and Mike Leone have released a tentative schedule for the Sweeney Touring Series for the upcoming 2014 season.
This year’s Sweeney Tour schedule includes approximately 20 events at a minimum of 12 different facilities throughout Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, Virginia, New York, and Ontario, Canada. In fact, the first nine events will be at eight different facilities! Some of the Northeast’s most premier speedways will be the schedule once again and showcased in conjunction with many of these speedways signature events. In addition to the over $25,000 cash point fund, over $60,000 in product contingencies will be awarded throughout the 2014 Sweeney Tour season!
In 2013, the Sweeney Tour completed 24 of the 27 scheduled events completed with 12 different winners. Mike Pegher, Jr. edged out Ryan Montgomery for the $5,000 championship by just three points! A total of 167 different drivers competed in at least one of the events!
With Pegher not expected to defend his championship focusing more on Super Late Models, Montgomery, who tied Pegher for the most Series wins at five, will be one of the favorites to win the title. Third place point man Butch Lambert has retired his Butch Lambert Racing, while four-time Tour winner and Sweeney Weekly and Pace Summer Chase Champion Max Blair has moved on to the NDRL “Kings of Dirt” Super Late Models. Things appear to be wide open in both Sweeney Weekly and Touring in 2014; in fact, several new racers have already indicated they plan on following the Tour in 2014!
“We’ve taken a different approach to this year’s schedule,” acknowledged Emig. “We analyzed last year’s schedule and took into account feedback from the racers and the speedways to come up with this year’s schedule. We’ve cut back on the total number of events, spread the schedule out better, reduced the number of two-day/one-event programs, and cut back on the number of shows at each track. We feel this will produce a much more attractive schedule for the teams and make the events more special at each speedway. Currently, racers will only have to leave home 14 times.”
Negotiations are underway to kick-off the 2014 Sweeney Tour season on Saturday, April 12 at a venue to be announced. Freedom Speedway will be reopening in 2014 on Friday nights and have given northern racers a three-night circuit with McKean County Raceway on Saturdays and Humberstone Speedway on Sundays. The Delevan, NY oval will host the facility’s first ever Crate Late Model Tour event on Friday, May 30! Freedom was one of the original speedways when Crate Late Model racing was started in the Northeast in 2007. Emig worked with prior promoters Dan Hoffman and Mike Lauterborn and are now excited to be working with new Freedom promoter Troy Shuknecht.
Action heats up for the first weekend of June in what could be the season’s biggest weekend of the year and will take place at Roaring Knob on Saturday, June 7 followed by Pittsburgh’s PA Motor Speedway on Sunday the 8th. The Markleysburg, Pa. oval will again host the Northeast’s “Bill Hendren Memorial” paying $2,000 to-win for the second straight year. Then the next evening, action shifts to “The Monster Half-Mile” for the Northeast’s first ever 100-lap race! The “Steel City 100” will pay a minimum of $4,000 to-win, $300 to-start with 30 cars taking the green flag!
Two weeks later, another huge weekend will be on tap for the inaugural “Mid-Atlantic States Classic”. Maryland’s Potomac Speedway on Friday, June 20 and Virginia’s Winchester Speedway the following night will both pay $2,500 to-win, $250 to-start! Both speedway joined the Sweeney Weekly Series for 2014 and on this weekend will both host their first ever Crate Late Model Touring Series events!
The season’s third weekend doubleheader will take place over the Independence Day holiday at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa. on Friday, July 4 followed by Sharon Speedway in Hartford, Ohio on Saturday night . The “Bill Emig Memorial” will feature a pair of $1,500 to-win events along with the infamous card draws that add points to determine the $1,500 “Wild Card Weekend” point fund.
The annual Trumbull County Fair and McKean County Fair race events will take place at Expo Speedway in Cortland, Ohio on Wednesday, July 9 for $2,000 to-win and at the East Smethport, Pa. raceway on Thursday, August 14 respectively.
In between these fair events will be two big shows at Pittsburgh and Humberstone Speedways. On Saturday, July 12, Pittsburgh will host Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC/Pace Performance Night where one lucky RUSH competitor will win a brand new GM 604 engine valued at $5,675! This will be the first time ever this night has taken place at Pittsburgh! Then on Sunday, July 20, the “Canadian Late Model National Championship” will be a $2,000 to-win event at the Port Colborne, Ontario facility.
The Labor Day Weekend will be an exciting one for racers. It kicks off on Saturday, August 30 at McKean County for “Manufacturers Night” where over $30,000 in contingency products will be given away to the competing RUSH racers. This will be the first time that “Manufacturers Night” will be held at McKean. The following night another new venue will be on the docket as Wayne County Speedway hosts their first ever Crate Late Model race and will be showcased with the All Star Circuit of Champion Sprint Cars. The Orrville, Ohio oval is less than an hour and a half from the Pennsylvania/Ohio state-line.
Another weekend doubleheader for racers and fans will take place at Sharon and Pittsburgh on September 12-13. The Sweeney RUSH Tour will be part of the “Apple Festival Nationals” at Sharon on Friday night for the “Gary Knollinger Memorial” and the “Pittsburgher 100” with NDRL at PPMS on Saturday night! More info on these events will be released soon.
The Sweeney RUSH Tour will be part of the October season finales at Roaring Knob, McKean, and Lernerville! RUSH will compete in the traditional “Fall Classic” weekend at MCR October 10-11 with details to be announced in the near future. And the season will again conclude at Lernerville with the “Steel City Stampede” on October 24-25 with $2,000 to-win on Saturday night.
2014 Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC RUSH Late Model Series Touring Series Tentative Schedule*
* Saturday, April 12 TBA
* Friday, May 30 Freedom Speedway (Delevan, NY)
* Saturday, June 7 Roaring Knob Motorsports Complex (Markleysburg, PA) $2,000 to-win
(“Bill Hendren Memorial”)
* Sunday, June 8 Pittsburgh’s PA Motor Speedway (Imperial, PA) $4,000 to-win
(“Steel City 100” – 100 laps/30-car starting field)
“MID-ATLANTIC STATES CLASSIC”
* Friday, June 20 Potomac Speedway (Mechanicsville, MD) $2,500 to-win
* Saturday, June 21 Winchester Speedway (Winchester, VA) $2,500 to-win
BILL EMIG MEMORIAL “WILD CARD WEEKEND”
* Friday, July 4 Lernerville Speedway (Sarver, PA) $1,500 to-win
* Sunday, July 5 Sharon Speedway (Hartford, OH) $1,500 to-win
Plus $1,500 “Wildcard Weekend” point fund
* Wednesday, July 9 Expo Speedway (Fair race) (Cortland, OH) $2,000 to-win
* Saturday, July 12 Pittsburgh’s PA Motor Speedway (Imperial, PA) $1,500 to-win
(Sweeney/Pace Night with GM 604 engine giveaway)
* Sunday, July 20 Humberstone Speedway (Port Colborne, ON, Can) $2,000 to-win
(“Canadian National Late Model Championship”)
* Thursday, August 14 McKean County Raceway (Fair race) (East Smethport, PA) $1,200 to-win
$50,000 “END OF SUMMER BLOWOUT”
* Saturday, August 30 McKean County Raceway (East Smethport, PA) $1,500 to-win
(Plus $30,000 “Manufacturers Night”)
* Sunday, August 31 Wayne County Speedway (Orrville, OH) $1,500 to-win
* Friday, September 12 Sharon Speedway (Hartford, OH) $1,500 to-win
(“Apple Festival Nationals” – “Gary Knollinger Memorial”)
* Saturday, September 13 Pittsburgh’s PA Motor Speedway (Imperial, PA)
(“Pittsburgher” with NDRL “Kings of Dirt”)
* Fri & Sat, October 3-4 Roaring Knob Motorsports Complex (Markleysburg, PA) $2,000 to-win
(Qualifying & heats Friday & main events Saturday)
* Fri & Sat, October 10-11 McKean County Raceway (East Smethport, PA)
(“Fall Classic” – Weekend Details TBA)
* Fri & Sat, October 24-25 Lernerville Speedway (Sarver, PA) $2,000 to-win
(“Steel City Stampede” with heats Friday & main events Saturday)
*Schedule subject to change.
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.