Story By: MARCIE BARLOW / RUSH RACING SERIES – PULASKI, PA – The weather was hot and so was the Hovis Auto & Truck Supply RUSH Racing Series action presented by Born2Run Lubricants last weekend. Michael Moreland was a new RUSH Late Model winner at Tyler County, while Paul Grigsby and Kurt Stebbins both won for the first time in 2024.
Michael Norris scored his second consecutive victory at Pittsburgh in the “Jook George Steel City Classic”. Brent Rhebergen won for the second straight Sunday evening in RUSH Sprint Cars- this time in the first ever appearance at Blanket Hill Speedway! Zain Harvey added two wins to his total in RUSH Pro Mod action, while standouts Chas Wolbert, Kole Holden and Ayden Cipriano scored wins in RUSH Sportsman Modified action.
Breyton Santee led the entire distance of the 20-lap RUSH Late Model City Chevrolet Weekly Series event at Raceway 7 Friday evening to score his third win of the season at the Conneaut, OH oval. Mike Wonderling made his season debut and came home in second with last week’s winner Cory Sines getting third. Billy Henry, Jr. was fourth. Josh Ferry returned to action for the first time since his scary flip at Lernerville on June 21 and finished fifth.
Friday’s RUSH Late Model action at Dog Hollow Speedway saw Mike Laughard capture his second consecutive victory and fifth of the season at the speedway. Dan Angelicchio made a successful season debut at the Northern Cambria facility and was second beating out his cousin Marino Angelicchio. Scott Stein was fourth over RUSH Late Model rookie Tyler Ellenberger. Winchester, Virginia driver Dylan High made his first ever appearance at Dog Hollow and was sixth.
Paul Grigsby and Clayton Tarabori led the RUSH Late Model field to the green Friday evening at McKean County Raceway. The duo of Grigsby and Tarabori pulled away from the field while Dusty Waters and Jeremy Wonderling, who was driving for Brad Mesler, battled for third. Grigsby led the entire distance of the 20-lap event to score his first victory of 2024. Tarabori claimed second with ninth place starter Chuck LaFleur third. Wonderling ended up fourth with Waters finishing fifth.
The RUSH Late Model Flynn’s Tire/Gunter’s Honey Tour was back in action at Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Motor Speedway for the running of the 35th Annual “Jook George Steel City Classic” last Saturday. A strong field of 46 drivers were in attendance. Bryce Davis took the lead at the start and he and fellow New Yorker Jeremy Wonderling soon separated themselves from the rest of the field. A lap seven caution slowed the field and Kyle Lukon took the lead when the action resumed. Lukon would weather several cautions and controlled the top spot while Wonderling, Davis, Michael Norris battled for spots two through four. The event’s final caution flew on lap 28 when Mason Zeigler blew a tire. When action resumed, Michael Norris used the outside line to make the winning move on the 29th circuit. Norris led the final 11 laps to score the victory and collect the $7,010 first-place prize money by 1.604 seconds over Lukon. Wonderling finished third with Davis fourth and points leader Brock Pinkerous fifth.
Michael Moreland’s persistence finally paid off Saturday night as the West Virginia driver finally scored his career first RUSH Late Model victory in the City Chevrolet Weekly Series event at Tyler County Speedway. AJ Spagnuolo was second. John Boring turned in his career best RUSH Late Model finish in third. Lane Brock and Ohio invader Brian Nethers rounded out the top five.
Kurt Stebbins used a night off from his promotional duties at Genesee Speedway to get behind the wheel of his RUSH Late Model for the second straight Saturday at Woodhull Raceway. Stebbins drew the pole for the main event and led the entire distance of the 20-lap event to score his first victory of 2024. City Chevrolet Track Pack points leader Brett Marlatt was second. Joe Layfield and Brian Knowles finished third and fourth. Ontario, Canadian visitor, Tim Gillespie, completed the top five.
Hovis Auto & Truck Supply RUSH Late Model action at Stateline Speedway saw Jason Genco lead the 20-lap feature event from the start score his second win at the New York oval this season. David Parker was able to cut into Genco’s lead at the end of the event but had to settle for second as both drivers rebounding from disappointing performances in the Flynn’s Tire/Gunter’s Honey Touring Series event the week prior. Ward Schell and Randy Hall were third and fourth, while Josh Ferry recorded his second fifth place finish in as many nights since his return to racing after five weeks.
Friday night Raceway 7 winner, Breyton Santee, came back on Sunday to score his second win of the season at Eriez Speedway. Veteran Scott Gurdak was a season best second as Jason Genco, Bobby Rohrer, and Shane Crotty completed the top five.
RUSH Stock Car action at Eriez Speedway saw Jimmy Roberson and Raiddan Wilson lead the field to green, but it was third place starter Alex Bush, who would score the victory. For Bush, it was his second Eriez win of the season and third overall in Hovis Weekly Series action. Kaden Michael, Wilson, William Baker, Jr., and Roberson rounded out the top five.
The lone Hovis Auto & Truck Supply RUSH Sprint Car event was a historical one in that it marked the return of full-size race cars to the Blanket Hill Speedway for the first time in some 50 years to the Kittanning, PA 1/5-mile track. Brent Rhebergen, who scored his first ever divisional win last Sunday at Tri-City Raceway Park, once again “parked it” in victory lane as he led the 20-lap event wire to wire. Points leader John Mollick came home in second. Rookie racer Curt Emings was a career best third. Trent Marshall and Ricky Tucker III finished fourth and fifth, respectively. The RUSH Sprints will be back at Blanket Hill on August 25.
The Hovis RUSH Sportsman Modified teams had their first three-day racing weekend of the season. Friday evening at Raceway 7 Chas Wolbert took the lead at the start and led the entire distance of the 20-lap main event to score his second consecutive victory at the Ohio speedway. For Wolbert, it was his fourth Raceway 7 victory of the season and fifth overall in Wedge Motorsports “Route 7 Rumble” Series action. Rob Kristyak came home second with youngster Karston King getting his best Raceway 7 finish of the season in third. Kole Holden and Logen Lockhart rounded out the top five.
On Saturday, the RUSH Sportsman Modified competitors made another stop at Sharon Speedway for the Wedge Motorsports “Route 7 Rumble” Series. Kole Holden, who started second, would lead lap one before JC Boyer grabbed the top spot for lap two. Holden was back in front on the third circuit and would lead until veteran Rob Kristyak took command on lap six. Holden got by Kristyak on lap 15 and held off Wolbert to score his second Sharon victory of the season and third overall. Kristyak held on for third with Darrin Gallagher getting fourth. Doug Rutana finished fifth.
RUSH Sportsman Modified teams then ventured to Tri-City Raceway Park to complete their weekend for the first appearance at the Franklin, Pa. half-mile in nearly two years. Ayden Cipriano and Brandon Ritchey led the field to the green with Cipriano immediately taking the lead and cruising to his second RUSH Sportsman Modified win of the season. Ironically, Cipriano won the last RUSH Mod race at Tri-City back in 2022 and joined Garrett Krummert as the only repeat winners in 11 races run all-time at Tri-City. Ritchey claimed the runner-up position with Kole Holden getting third. Logen Lockhart, who has been running a RUSH Sprint weekly at Tri-City this season, was fourth over Darrin Gallagher. The RUSH Mods will be back at Tri-City on August 25.
Competitors in the Hovis RUSH Pro Mod Division had a busy three race weekend that started off at McKean County Raceway on Friday. Zain Harvey and Tyler Oakes led the field to green with Harvey quickly grabbing the lead. Harvey went on to score a dominating victory of 5.782 seconds over Josh Wilcox. Tyler Oakes, Joe Chamberlain, and John Woodward Jr. completed the top five.
Saturday evening the Pro Mod teams travelled to Stateline Speedway. Their 15-lap main event saw four leader changes between Tim Peterson and Zain Harvey before Harvey took advantage of a late race restart to muscle the lead away from Peterson. Harvey led the final three circuits to score win number five at Stateline and his RUSH leading 14th overall of the season. Peterson came home in the runner-up position. Nick Arnold, Vaughan Nystrom, and Al Brewer rounded out the top five.
John Woodward, Jr. was the victor in RUSH Pro Mod action at Bradford Speedway on Sunday. For Woodward it was his second win of the season as he defeated Larry Mitchell Jr., Josh Canfield, Ian Degolier and Al Brewer.
This weekend Hovis RUSH Late Model City Chevrolet Weekly Series action is scheduled at Dog Hollow, Freedom ($2,058) and Raceway 7 on Friday, Genesee, Stateline, Pittsburgh, Woodhull, and Muskingum ($1,000) on Saturday, and finally Bradford and Eriez on Sunday. Competitors at McKean County, Tyler County and Winchester Speedways are off this weekend.
The Flynn’s Tire/Gunter’s Honey Touring Series returns to action on Tuesday, August 6 at Woodhull Raceway for a $4,000 to-win “Darwin Davis Memorial” Platinum event followed up by Marion Center Raceway on August 10 for the Snyder/Martz Memorial and Eriez Speedway on August 11 for “Manufacturers Night” presented by MSD Performance.
Hovis RUSH Sprint Car Sunbelt Rentals Weekly Series action takes place Saturday at Sharon Speedway for the Billy’s Garage-sponsored event and Sunday at Tri-City Raceway Park. Tri-City will also have a special dash presented by Marsh Heating & Cooling with a $500 purse part of “Fan Appreciation” Night with free general admission.
The lone RUSH Sportsman Modified event is slated for Friday evening at Raceway 7 part of the Wedge Motorsports “Route 7 Rumble” Series. It’s another three-day race weekend for the RUSH Pro Mods as they will be at Freedom on Friday, Stateline on Saturday and Bradford on Sunday. Hovis Auto & Truck Supply RUSH Stock Car competitors have events scheduled at both Freedom and Eriez.
The points battles are heating up in all of the Hovis Auto & Truck Supply RUSH racing divisions so be sure to get out and support the tracks and race teams in your area.