Story By: MIKE LEONE / RUSH RACING SERIES – HARTFORD, OH – After a rain out on June 29 and a weekend off for the Independence Day holiday, racing returns to Sharon Speedway in a big way this weekend as the World of Outlaws Case Construction Late Models will invade the Hartford, Ohio 3/8-mile oval for two complete shows!
On Friday night (July 12), the World of Outlaws will race for $10,000 to-win and will be joined by the Billy’s Garage RUSH Sprint Cars and Whelen Econo Mods presented by Alcon Mechanical. “The Most Powerful Lat Models on the Planet” will return on Saturday night (July 13) for $15,000 to-win as the HTMA/Precise Racing Products RUSH Sportsman Modifieds presented by Bala Management will also be in action. Warm-ups for the Late Models will get underway each night at 6:30 p.m. with qualifying and racing to follow. The band Leather & Lace will perform after the races on Friday night.
Four-time World of Outlaws Champion, Brandon Sheppard, leads the Series into the weekend with an 18-point lead over Nick Hoffman. Defending Series Champion, Bobby Pierce, sits third in points and leads the way in the win column with six. Cade Dillard, Kyle Bronson, Tyler Bruening, Ryan Gustin, 2022 champion Dennis Erb, Jr., Brian Shirley, and rookie-of-the-year candidate Dustin Sorensen complete the top 10 in points. Max McLaughlin, who has competed at Sharon with the Super DIRTcar Big-Block Modifieds, is 11th in points in his rookie WoO campaign.
The World of Outlaws Late Models have made 13 prior appearances at Sharon with 11 different winners! It took until last year to finally get a repeat winner. Ryan Gustin, who won his first career WoO race in May 2022, became the first repeat winner when he won in May 2023. Also during the May 2023 three-night swing, Chris Madden scored a pair of victories including his first ever at Sharon. Devin Moran won in August 2022. In 2021, eventual NASCAR Cup Series Champion Kyle Larson won a thriller. Brandon Sheppard won a ‘race of the year’ candidate in 2019 as the WoO returned for the first time in more than nine years. Other WoO winners at Sharon include Darrell Lanigan (2010), Tim Fuller (2009), Donnie Moran (2008), Chub Frank (2007), Rick Eckert (2006), and Davey Johnson (2004).
The Billy’s Garage RUSH Sprint Cars have made three appearances to date in 2024. Friday’s show will be their second $800 to-win payday of the season as they joined up with the Ohio Speedweek on Wednesday, June 12. On that night, Arnie Kent ended nearly a 22-year Sharon winless drought with his first RUSH victory at track. The RUSH Sprints then competed on back-to-back Saturdays (June 15 & June 22) with Blaze Myers and John Mollick victorious. For Mollick, it was also his first career Sharon RUSH victory. Mollick also has a pair of victories at Tri-City Raceway Park to lead RUSH’s $5,000 to-win Sunbelt Rentals Weekly Series Championship points.
The Whelen Econo Mods are back for what will be their second show of the season on Friday night in an $800 to-win event presented by Alcon Mechanical. The Econo Mods made their season debut on June 15 when Joe Gabrielson made a winning debut in the division. Gabrielson’s victory was the 10th of his career at the Hartford, Ohio as he has nine career UMP Mod wins to his credit. Jeremy Double will try once again to break the tie with RUSH Sprint Car racer Brandon Blackshear to become the division’s all-time winner at 22.
On Saturday, the HTMA/Precise Racing Products RUSH Sportsman Modifieds will race for $800 to-win in an event presented by Bala Management. Kole Holden ended what was nearly a five-year winless drought at the track back on June 22 in their only appearance of the season. The two-time track champion now has six career wins at Sharon and leads RUSH’s $3,500 to-win Weekly Series Championship. Meanwhile, JC Boyer leads the Wedge Motorsports “Route 7 Rumble” Series points, which takes into account all events at Raceway 7 and Sharon. The division’s all-time winner, Chas Wolbert, has returned to the division in 2024 despite missing the opener due to being on vacation, and will look to add to his 20 career victories.
Summit Racing Equipment will present the hard charger award on Friday night to the RUSH Sprint Cars and Saturday night to the RUSH Sportsman Modifieds. The driver that passes the most cars in the feature each night will receive a $100 Summit gift card. In the event of a tie, the tiebreaker will be the driver that finishes highest in the feature.
The Performance Bodies “Nosed Out” program will award a $100 Performance Bodies gift card redeemable only at Wedge Motorsports to a driver in the Econo Mods on Friday night. The recipient will be the driver that most closely beats out another competitor for any finishing position on the lead lap. Tiebreaker will be the driver with the best finishing position.