Story By: MICHAEL LEONE / RUSH RACING SERIES – PULASKI, PA – After losing two of the first three scheduled events of the season to Mother Nature, the Hovis Auto & Truck Supply RUSH Dirt Late Model Flynn’s Tire/Gunter’s Honey Touring Series is ready for the first doubleheader weekend of 2024.
Stateline Speedway in Busti, NY will host action on Saturday night (May 11) at 7 p.m. followed 50 miles west at Eriez Speedway in Erie, Pa. on Sunday evening (May 12) at 6:30 p.m. Both races will pay $3,000 to-win.
The “Bill Law Memorial” returns to Stateline for the seventh time on Saturday night. In 2011, Law was diagnosed with small cell lung cancer and passed away in July 2012. Law’s involvement in racing began in the late 1970s as he loved having muscle cars and going to the drag strip in his high school days. Even though he never actually raced, he stood behind racing 100%. In the early 1980s, Law and Leon Szweda put an asphalt car together and raced at New York’s Holland Speedway.
Law’s taste for racing moved to the dirt tracks in the mid 1980s as he helped Tom Taber for several years. He met a lot of great people that he became very good friends with; one was Bob “The Bird” Baldwin. The Law Family traveled with him and his family racing from Pennsylvania to West Virginia to Maryland.
As Bill’s son Jon was getting older, they got involved in Go-Kart racing as the family would travel all over New York and Pennsylvania. Bill was still involved in auto racing as they would race Go-Karts during the day and sell parts and fuel at night at the races. As Jon got older, Bill bought him an IMCA Modified. A few seasons later, Jon and Bill bought a Limited Late Model. That lasted a couple years until Jon was starting his own family and got away from the racing scene.
Law was the first person to have a Crate Late Model in the region when the class debuted in 2007 in the Northeast. Law had several drivers over the years behind the wheel of his #14 including Baldwin, Ward Schell, Rich Gardner, Jon Law, Curt VanPelt, David Scott, and Kyle Scott. Bill’s grandson, Kyle Murray, has raced RUSH Late Models over the years. With the Scott Family owning Stateline, it’s fitting the “Bill Law Memorial” takes place at their track as Jean and Jim Scott’s son David and grandson Kyle drove for Law.
The 2017 event was the first ever Tour event at Stateline in the 10-year history of Crate Late Models in the Northeast as a big crowd watched a thriller as Jeremy Wonderling held off standout and track dominator Max Blair for the victory. The 2018 event was just as good as Damian Bidwell made a late race pass of Scott Gurdak for his first Tour win in more than three years. In 2019, Wonderling again held off Blair after withstanding a mid-race rain delay. The COVID-19 pandemic cancelled the 2020 event. Wonderling was victorious again in 2021 topping a Stateline record 43-car field. Joe Martin won his first career Stateline race in 2022 after waiting out an hour and a half rain delay. Last year, Wonderling won the event for the fourth time in six years this time over a 42-car field!
Meanwhile, there have been 13 RUSH Tour events completed all-time at Eriez. Max Blair has seven victories, while his father Rob has one in a substitution role for Max. Kyle Hardy swept both events in 2021 in route to the championship. In 2022, Logan Roberson won the May event for his first Eriez win, while Josh Ferry scored an upset career first Touring Series victory in July on “Manufacturers Night” presented by MSD Performance. Last year, Wonderling won the spring race finally getting his first Tour win at Eriez, while Blair topped a huge field of 52 cars at “Manufacturers Night” event in the summer.
Both tracks fell victim to rain last weekend for their scheduled 2024 openers. Stateline had 32 cars in the pits and were able to complete their heat races before rain overspread the speedway.
“This is a nice, annual weekend for our northern RUSH Late Model teams to be able compete in two $3,000 to-win Tour events and also for our traveling teams as the two tracks are just 50 miles apart,” stated RUSH Director Vicki Emig. “We have to thank the Scott Family for their continued support of RUSH and the Alexander Family for continuing Sunday night RUSH racing that the Rohrers had done so successfully over the years. We’re thankful that the Law Family has allowed us the opportunity to continue be able to have the ‘Bill Law Memorial’ as a Tour event, and we look forward to honoring Bill on Saturday night.”
The podium finishers at the season opening event at Pittsburgh on April 20 was an interesting trio that included winner Tim Shaffer, who is a National Sprint Car Hall of Famer, runner-up 14-year-old Brock Pinkerous, and third place Dave Hess, Jr., a Super Late Model and Modified great who made his first Pittsburgh Chevrolet Performance crate engine start. Pinkerous, who finished fourth in the 2023 Tour standings, now has two career City Chevrolet Weekly Series victories after winning the RUSH debut at Albany-Saratoga Speedway on April 26 in addition to the 2023 season opening win at Stateline.
Roberson, the 2022 Series Champion, had to battle his way out of the B main then worked his way from the 19th starting spot to 5th. Joe Martin, who has finished runner-up in points each of the last four years, went 16th to 6th. Meanwhile, four-time and defending Flynn’s Tire/Gunter’s Honey Tour champion, Jeremy Wonderling, had a quiet night in eighth.
$100 “Shock the Clock” Qualifying and $25 to-win heat races will take place each night and be presented by FK Rod Ends. The Sunoco Dash will set the beginning rows of the feature lineup each night and will award the winner a $100 Sunoco fuel gift card. The “Fill’er up with Sunoco Bucks” program will include an additional $400 of Sunoco fuel card giveaways each night; two $100 random draws for drivers in the top 15 of Tour points and another four $50 random draws for all other competitors.
The podium finishers each night will each receive a three-pack of Heritage Wine Cellars premier products. Precise Racing Products will award a $50 gift card for the “Pedal Down” Hard Charger that passes the most cars in the feature each night. Ontime Body & Graphic’s “Spoiler Alert” will award a spoiler kit to the second place finisher on night one and the third place finisher on night two. The first feature non-qualifier each night will receive a $50 certificate from Holley Performance brands. There will also be five BOGO Landrum Performance Springs certificates given away through drawings each night. Forty lucky fans will receive a bottle of Dusted Steak Seasoning each night.