6/21/2022
RUSH Late Model Series
RICHEST EVENT IN RUSH HISTORY SET FOR THIS WEEK AT LERNERVILLE WITH $20,000 TO-WIN "BILL EMIG MEMORIAL" PRESENTED BY SUNOCO FOR HOVIS RUSH LATE MODEL
RICHEST EVENT IN RUSH HISTORY SET FOR THIS WEEK AT LERNERVILLE WITH $20,000 TO-WIN "BILL EMIG MEMORIAL" PRESENTED BY SUNOCO FOR HOVIS RUSH LATE MODEL FLYNN'S TIRE TOUR; PART OF "FIRECRACKER 100" WITH LUCAS OIL LATE MODELS
By Mike Leone
June 21, 2022 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Pulaski, PA)...The Hovis Auto & Truck Supply RUSH Racing Series presented by Born2Run Lubricants is gearing up for its richest event in Series history. The "Bill Emig Memorial" presented by Sunoco Race Fuels with associate sponsorship from Marthinsen & Salvitti Insurance Group will take place this Thursday through Saturday (June 23-25) at Lernerville Speedway paying $20,000 to-win! In addition, the Big River Steel "Firecracker 100" event will feature the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series for the first time ever racing for $50,000 to-win, pushing the overall weekend to historical prominence in Late Model racing throughout the Northeast! The RUSH portion will be broadcast live on Lernerville TV.
The RUSH Late Model Flynn's Tire Tour returns to the "Firecracker 100" weekend at Lernerville for the fourth consecutive year; however, the "Bill Emig Memorial" feature purse has been increased nearly $19,000 with the victor earning $20,000- an all-time Northeast high for Chevrolet Performance Crate Late Models! Not only will the feature winner's take double from $10,000 to $20,000, but an additional $8,725 has been spread throughout the remainder of the purse. Notably, second place has jumped from $5,000 to $7,000, 10th place from $700 to $1,000, and start money from $450 to $600! The D&V Jewelers Non-Qualifier event has also been increased to $500 to-win.
Speaking of D&V Jewelers, the New Castle, Pa. company owed by race fans Doug and Valerie Hoover will also present a championship diamond ring valued at $5,000 to the winner of the 50-lap "Bill Emig Memorial"! That will increase the winner's amount to a minimum of $25,000 in cash and contingencies!
In 2019, the "Bill Emig Memorial" presented by Hovis Auto & Truck Supply took place with the "Firecracker 100" at Lernerville for the first time and attracted a season high 53 cars from seven different states and Ontario, Canada as Max Blair passed Ross Robinson with five laps to go for the victory. In 2020, the status of the event was up in the air until about one week prior due to COVID-19 restrictions, but that didn't stop Blair, who won the caution-free 50 lapper for another $10,000 payday presented by Hovis. In 2021, the Hovis-sponsored event continued its forward momentum as an event high 54 cars from 11 different states were in competition, and saw Florida's Mark Whitener win his first RUSH event in his first attempt.
Sunoco Race Fuels is presenting the event for the for the first time. Sunoco has been an important corporate marketing partner of the RUSH Racing Series as 2022 will mark the 10th year of their longstanding, successful relationship. Sunoco, the "Official Fuel" of RUSH, has fueled the Series over the past several years and offers their Sunoco E85R as an exciting cost-effective option for the RUSH Late Models in 2022.
Last year for the first time, Sunoco increased their support of RUSH by presenting the Sunoco "Fill'er Up with Sunoco Bucks" at each Flynn's Tire Tour event, which saw $5,000 of Sunoco fuel cards awarded to Tour participants. This program increased to over $12,000 of Sunoco fuel cards distributed to Tour participants in 2022! At Lernerville this week, two Tour drivers in the top 15 in points will win a $100 Sunoco gift card, while four other racers will win $50 gift cards. The Sunoco Dash winner will also receive a $100 Sunoco gift card.
Thursday night's program will include warmups and $100 FK Rod Ends "Shock the Clock" Qualifying; Friday night will be highlighted by $25 FK Rod Ends heat races and the "John Buzzard Memorial" Sunoco Dash paying $100 cash and a $100 Sunoco fuel card; Saturday will see last chance B mains, the 50-lap feature, and the non-qualifier. The rain date is Sunday (June 26).
"We cannot thank the Tomson Family at Lernerville for believing in our program enough three years ago to include us as part of the Firecracker 100," continued Emig. "Now to be able to have the richest event in the 16-year history of Crate Late Models in the Northeast in conjunction with the biggest Super Late Model race in the history of western Pennsylvania is beyond words; it's going to be historic and I don't think anyone is going to want to miss it!"
The 2022 "Bill Emig Memorial" will be the 32nd annual event remembering the late car owner and father of RUSH Director Vicki Emig. Over the years, the event has been held at Lernerville, Hickory, Mercer, and Tri-City Speedways.
Bill Emig was a Semi-Late and Six-Cylinder Modified car owner from 1969 until his passing in 1990. Emig had successful drivers pilot the #1 Ford such as Jim Becker, Bob Krauss, Donnie Martin, John Buzzard, Jerry Lesnak, Butch Haefke, and Lou Gentile. In later years, Andy Priest, Jimmy Hawley, Frank Guidace, and Rodney Beltz drove Emig #1 Six-Cylinder and "358" Modified for Bill's daughter Vicki.
Emig's cars won over 300 feature events along with multiple track championships and several of Walt Wimer's prestigious Cavalcade Championships. In 1986, his car was featured in a full color article in the special Christmas issue of Stock Car Racing magazine. He was one of the original recipients of Lernerville Speedway's "Milestone in Racing" award in 1988. Emig has also been inducted into both the Pittsburgh Circle Track Club and Twin-State Auto Racing Club Hall of Fames.
"On a personal note, I wish my dad was here to witness what his love of racing has grown to- the RUSH Racing Series truly is his legacy," continued Emig. "It was him who gave me my love of racing; always taking me with him and never leaving me home. He passed away at just 54 and I remember planning his first memorial in 1992 that also took place at Lernerville, which paid $1000 to win. He would have loved our racers and vice versa because he was such a character; and also greatly appreciated our sanctioned speedways and corporate marketing partners, all who have helped Mike and I develop RUSH. I know he will be smiling down when our racers pull into to their four-wide in his memory, but this time for an amazing $20,000 to win!"
The 2022 Flynn's Tire Touring Series Championship will pay a record point fund of more than $51,000 with $15,000 to the champion. Thus far this season, Virginia racer Logan Roberson in his first year on the Tour has won three of the seven events to lead the points, while Joe Warren, Joe Martin, Chad Homan, and John Waters have also been victorious. Warren and Homan's victories were their first career Tour wins.
Roberson has just a 13-point lead on Martin, who has finished runner-up in points each of the last two seasons. Brothers Brady and Jeremy Wonderling are third and fourth in points both in search of their first Tour wins of the season. Breyton Santee, another newcomer to the Flynn's Tire Tour, has had a consistent season and is fifth in points. Completing the top 10 in points are Matt Latta, Cody Dawson, Andy Michael, Ashton Briggs, and Brandt Graham.
Lernerville has held one RUSH Late Model event this season as Will Thomas III picked up an $800 Weekly Series event win on May 20. By virtue of his victory, Thomas earned the Lernerville provisional. If Thomas does not use the provisional, it will go to the next highest finisher from that event that does not qualify for the feature. The Flynn's Tire Tour will return to Lernerville on July 22 and then for the finale on October 14-15 for the "Steel City Stampede".
Precise Racing Products will award a $50 gift card for the "Pedal Down" Hard Charger that passes the most cars in the feature. The TBM Brakes “Tough Brake of the Night” will award three bottles of Xtreme6 Racing Brake Fluid. The feature winner will receive a 5-Gallon Race Jug from Precise. Ontime Body & Graphic's "Spoiler Alert" will award a spoiler kit to the eighth place finisher (note: if a driver has already won a spoiler this season, spoiler will be awarded to the next position). Performance Bodies will award a $100 gift card to the first non-qualifier part of the "Nosed Out" program.
"Bill Emig Memorial" Feature Payoff ($51,925): 1. $20,000 2. $7,000 3. $3,500 4. $3,000 5. $2,000 6. $1,500 7. $1,300 8. $1,200 9. $1,100 10. $1,000 11. $900 12. $800 13. $700 14. $650 15. $625 16. $620 17. $615 18. $610 19. $605 20-24. $600 (25-26. $600 provisionals, if necessary).
Non-Qualifier Payoff: 1. $500 2. $300 3. $250 4. $240 5. $235 6. $230 7. $225 8. $220 9. $215 10. $210 11. $205 12-24. $200. Anyone not starting a feature will receive $125.
Drivers do not have to be a member of RUSH to compete only to receive Weekly and/or Tour points. The entry fee for the event is $100. AMB/MyLaps transponders will be used; Westhold transponders will NOT work. Units are available to rent for the weekend for $25. Driver radio channel will be 454.000.
RUSH registration and pre-race tech will begin by 2 p.m. on Thursday. RUSH drivers meeting will be at 5:40 p.m. on Thursday with the pill draw closing at 6:15 p.m. Lucas Oil warmups will begin at 6 p.m. followed by their qualifying then RUSH warmups. Lucas Oil heat races will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday followed by RUSH group qualifying. Racing will begin at 7:30 p.m.
For those unable to attend in person, Lernerville TV will broadcast the RUSH portion all three nights. Go to https://lernerville.tv/ to subscribe. Single day subscriptions are $10 for Thursday, $20 for Friday, and $20 for Saturday or $30 for a one-month subscription.
Lernerville is a 4/10-mile high-banked clay oval located 11 miles southeast of Butler, Pa. on Route 356 at 313 North Pike Road, Sarver, PA 16055. Lernerville is just 30 miles northeast of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. For more information, check out their website at www.lernerville.com or call 724-353-1511.
Sunoco has grown from its humble roots as a small oil company in Pittsburgh, PA, to one of the largest fuel distribution companies in the United States. Sunoco's rich, 130 plus-year heritage, legacy and reputation for innovation, and commitment to its local communities are foundational elements of this iconic American brand. Today, Sunoco distributes fuel to over 5,000 gas station locations in more than 30 states. Sunoco LP (NYSE: SUN) is a master limited partnership. SUN's general partner is owned by Energy Transfer Operating, L.P., a wholly owned subsidiary of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE: ET). For more information, check out www.sunoco.com.
The RUSH Racing Series is brought to you by Hovis Auto & Truck Supply together with Born2Run Lubricants along with the support of Hoosier Tire, Bilstein Shocks, Sunoco Race Fuels, Bazell Race Fuels, Insinger Performance, MSD Performance, Holley Performance Products, FK Rod Ends, Schoenfeld Headers, Jones Racing Products, TBM Brakes, Performance Bodies & Parts, Racing Electronics, Wrisco Industries, Frankland Racing Supply, Landrum Performance Spring, Ontime Body & Graphic, Sherwood Wheels, Alternative Power Sources, Precise Racing Products, Lincoln Electric, Velocita-USA, Waterstone Mortgage Hermitage, Wedge Motorsports, 3C Graphix, D&V Jewelers, DrumPreserve, CrateInsider.com, Terry Bowser Excavating, and Stop-Fyre.
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. The RUSH Late Model website is www.rushlatemodels.com. Like our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/rushlatemodels and follow us on Twitter @RUSHLM.
Article Credit: Mike Leone