News Director 
Story By: MIKE LEONE / RUSH RACING SERIES – PULASKI, PA – Even though the 2021 Pace Performance RUSH Dirt Late Model Flynn’s Tire/Born2Run Lubricants Touring Series season completed just one month ago, Series Directors Vicki Emig and Mike Leone have been hard at work on the 2022 season.
While a lot of event details are still in the works, RUSH is proud to announce that all 2022 Touring Series events will pay a minimum of $3,000 to-win and the points fund will see another increase of approximately 25%! This will bolster the 2022 Touring Series point fund to $51,400 with the champion to earn a record $15,000!
The 2021 season produced some of the best racing in Touring Series history. Linden, Virginia’s Kyle Hardy conquered the $12,000 championship in his first season of RUSH racing. The quality of competition was never better. Besides Hardy, veteran RUSH racers Jeremy Wonderling, Joe Martin, and John Waters picked up wins in addition to Super Late Model standouts Chub Frank, Michael Norris, and Mark Whitener. Over the past three years, the Touring Series has averaged 38 cars per event. A record 194 different drivers from 12 different states competed in at least one Flynn’s Tire/Born2Run Lubricants Tour event in 2021.
“Our RUSH Late Model Touring Series events have always produced great racing but this year it was simply incredible,” acknowledged Emig. “The competition has definitely went to the next level and our car counts continue to be very strong which has translated into tremendous RUSH Late Model Touring Series events! With that said and after discussions with our RUSH-sanctioned speedway partners, we are excited to offer the richest Touring Series Championship and schedule of events in RUSH Series history!”
After the COVID-19 pandemic was a setback in 2020, the RUSH Touring Series doubled the pre-COVID point fund with all spots getting a boost in 2021. Now with the promoters stepping up to a pay a minimum $3,000 to-win purse (see breakdown below), RUSH has once again increased all 10 guaranteed points paying positions. RUSH will once again offer $1,000 to drivers that finish 11-15 in points with 75% attendance and $500 to drivers that finish 16-20 in points with 75% attendance. This increase will put the 2022 Touring Series point fund at a record $51,400!
“To be able to nearly triple the overall ‘Touring’ Championship is amazing but none of this would be possible without the strong support of our corporate marketing partners, speedways, and racers- we can’t thank everyone enough,” expressed Emig. “This is just the beginning of the exciting news for 2022, as we look forward to releasing more news in the very near future on some of our signature RUSH Late Model Touring events!”
The 2022 Flynn’s Tire/Born2Run Lubricants Touring Series schedule is expected to get underway April 13-16 for the “Battle of the Bay” Speedweek. Signature events such as the “Bill Emig Memorial” (June 23-25 at Lernerville Speedway), “Jook George Steel City Classic” (August 6 at Pittsburgh’s PA Motor Speedway), and “Bill Hendren Memorial” (September 30-October 1 at Pittsburgh) have already been confirmed.
On the RUSH “Weekly” side, the 40-position National Weekly Series Championship, “Track Pack” that offers a $2,500 point fund to each weekly-sanctioned speedway’s top six member racers, and the “Futures Cup” will all return in 2022. This together with the record breaking Touring Series point fund will boost the 2022 RUSH Late Model championship cash point funds alone to over $115,000!
