News Director 
Story By: MIKE LEONE / RUSH RACING SERIES – PULASKI, PA – The Hovis Auto & Truck Supply RUSH Late Model Series presented by Born2Run Lubricants is proud to release its 2022 Flynn’s Tire Touring Series schedule of events.
The richest season in Series history will include 24 events at 15 different speedways in seven states all paying a minimum of $3,000 to-win and boasting a record $51,400 point fund! Kyle Hardy enters the new season fresh off his $12,000 Flynn’s Tire/Born2Run Lubricants Tour Championship after dethroning Jeremy Wonderling, who had won an unprecedented three straight titles.
One year after more than doubling from the pre-pandemic point fund, the 2022 season will see another 25% increase with a whopping $51,400 in potential payoff for the top 20 point earners! The 2022 Flynn’s Tire Tour Champion will receive a record $15,000- the highest of any Chevrolet Performance Crate Engine Series in the country. Each of the top 10 positions have been increased with $7,500 for second, $5,000 for third on down to $1,500 for 10th place! The minimum Tour event payoff has increased from $2,000 to-win to $3,000 to-win with each position seeing an increase. See complete point fund and purse breakdown below.
Highlighting the schedule is the record breaking $20,000 to-win “Bill Emig Memorial”, which returns to Lernerville in conjunction with the renowned “Firecracker 100” weekend for the fourth straight year but first time with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series’ $50,000 to-win event. Also featured in the schedule is the “Battle of the Bay” Speedweek along with the “Jook George Steel City Classic” and “Bill Hendren Memorial” events at Pittsburgh’s PA Motor Speedway, which have continued to grow in stature. New stops on the schedule include Tyler County Speedway and Land of Legends Raceway.
“Our RUSH Late Model Touring Series events have always produced great racing but this past year was simply incredible,” acknowledged RUSH Director Vicki Emig. “The competition has definitely went to the next level and our car counts continue to be very strong averaging 38 cars over the past three years. To be able to nearly triple the overall Touring Championship point fund and have all of our events pay a minimum of $3,000 to-win 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.”
The 2022 schedule will get underway with the fourth annual “Battle of the Bay” Mid-Atlantic Speedweek April 13-16. The Speedweek will kick-off once again at Delaware International Speedway in Delmar on Wednesday night followed up by events at Georgetown, Potomac, and Winchester Speedways that will each pay $3,000 to-win. Additional details will be announced soon.
Outside of 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled the opening Mid-Atlantic swing, 10 of the 12 scheduled events have now been completed. Car counts have ranged between 40-53 with an average of over 45 cars per event! Kyle Hardy, who swept last year’s three events, along with Max Blair and Logan Roberson each have three “Battle of the Bay” wins, while Ross Robinson has a single victory.
After a month off, the Touring Series heads north to Stateline Speedway for the fifth year for the “Bill Law Memorial” on May 14. The 2017 event was the first ever Tour event at the Busti, NY oval 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. And in 2019, Wonderling again held off Blair and withstood a mid-race rain delay. COVID-19 cancelled the 2020 event, but this past season saw Wonderling win for the third time in four events, which featured an all-time record high Stateline Crate Late Model car count of 43!
The Stateline event is annually held in memory of the late Bill Law, who pioneered the Crate Late Model concept in the Northeast as a car owner for several racers including his son Jon. Law’s grandson, Kyle Murray, carries on the family tradition as he currently competes in the RUSH Late Models. Kyle finished 10th in the 2019 points in his first year on the Tour.
The following night (Sunday, May 15), Eriez Speedway will host a “Marquee” event giving racers back-to-back $3,000 to-win shows within just a 40-mile distance. Located just outside of Erie, Pa., this will be year number four of ownership for Dave Alexander, who will again host weekly Sunday night RUSH Late Model racing. There have been nine RUSH Tour events completed all-time at Eriez. After the Blairs had won the first seven with Max winning six and his father Rob one in a substitution role for Max, Hardy swept both events in 2020 for $5,000.
For the sixth straight year, Outlaw and Genesee Speedways in New York have teamed up to host back-to-back “Marquee” Events on Friday and Saturday, May 27-28, this year paying $3,000 to-win each, with Bradford Speedway right across the border in Pennsylvania joining in for a $3,000 to-win Platinum Event on Sunday night.
Outlaw’s show will again be dubbed as the “Gary Montgomery Memorial”. The last three Outlaw races have been tremendous as former BRP Can-Am racers Bryce Davis (2017) and Wonderling (2018-2019) winning in memory of BRP Series founder Montgomery. Unfortunately, COVID-19 and rain cancelled the Outlaw show each of the past two seasons. Tyler Siri has done a tremendous job at transforming Outlaw, while new Genesee promoter Kurt Stebbins hosts a very successful Saturday night weekly program featuring the RUSH Late Models at the Genesee County Fairgrounds in Batavia. This will be the first of three 2022 Tour events at Genesee. Bradford meanwhile will host their first Tour show since 2017 when Bryce Davis was victorious with a last lap pass of John Waters. Bradford is in year number three under Dennis Cummings hosting weekly Sunday night RUSH Late Model racing.
The RUSH Late Model Tour will join up with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series three times in 2022 with the first being at the Big River Steel “Firecracker 100” weekend June 23-25 at Lernerville Speedway! This crown-jewel for Super Late Models will now pay a record $50,000 to-win and also showcase RUSH in the running of the “Bill Emig Memorial” for the fourth straight year. The Saturday night program will feature a 50-lap $20,000 to-win main event- the richest event in the history of Crate Late Model racing in the Northeast. Max Blair won the event the first two years totaling $20,000, while last year saw Florida’s Mark Whitener win $10,000 for western Pa. car owner Dirk Neal. Not only has the winner’s share doubled, but an additional $8,125 has been spread throughout the remainder of the feature 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 Independence Day holiday weekend will feature a pair of events in western Pa. for the second straight year. It will kickoff at Dog Hollow Speedway on Friday night (July 1) then on Saturday night, the RUSH Late Model Tour will make its first of four appearances at the “Monster Half-Mile” at Pittsburgh’s PA Motor Speedway for the annual “Herb Scott Memorial” with $3,000 will be on the line each night. This will be year number two for RFR Motorsports at Dog Hollow with the promotional duo of Mark McClellan and Kyle Smith, Sr., who took over the Northern Cambria track in 2021 and will again run the RUSH Late Models on a weekly basis on Friday nights. Last year saw Hardy win the first ever RUSH Tour event at Dog Hollow.
The much-anticipated return to Sharon Speedway in Hartford, Ohio after a five-year hiatus didn’t disappoint last year with Chub Frank winning a thriller in the inaugural “Bill Forney Memorial” with a last lap pass over Joe Martin. The second annual “Bill Forney Memorial” on Saturday, July 9 will pay a minimum of $3,199 to-win, but could increase with contributions. Forney passed away in August of 2019, and was the Sharon track champion in 1964, but where he really excelled was at Canfield Speedway where he won the championship seven times (1959-1961, 1963, 1965-1966, and 1968). With over 150 feature wins, Forney also won track championships at Painesville, Hickory, and Cloverleaf Speedways. The event will also be the Sharon/Canfield Drivers Reunion (1949-1973).
The following night (Sunday, July 10) will see the Tour return to Eriez for the second and final appearance of the 2022 season as the northwest Pa. track will host the annual “Manufacturers Night” presented by MSD Performance for the second straight year. Eriez also hosted “Manufacturers Night” in 2015 and attracted 47 cars with 46 checking in last year. The average car count for the event over the 10-year history since the MFG Night debuted in 2012 is 47. Over $30,000 of valuable and useful products is typically distributed to competing racers on this night.
The “RUSH Summer Showcase” at Lernerville on Friday, July 22 will feature the RUSH Late Models for the third straight year; however, unlike the prior two years when it was an $800 to-win Weekly Series event, this year will be a Tour event paying $3,000 to-win! A Weekly Series event has been added to Lernerville’s 2022 slate on May 20 in an excellent tune-up for the “Bill Emig Memorial”.
The following night, the cars and stars of the RUSH Late Model Tour will head to the Mountaineer State for the first time ever as Tyler County Speedway will be the site of this historic night. It’ll be the first of two appearances at the Middleboure, West Virginia 1/4-mile bullring, which will also host RUSH Late Model weekly-sanctioned racing for the first time.
For the sixth time, the “Jook George Steel City Classic” at PPMS will be a Tour event. The “Jook George” will take place on Saturday, August 6 paying a minimum $5,010 to-win; however, that figure is expected to grow with contributions as the event draws near. The 2018 event attracted a record 51 cars and saw Jacob Hawkins take home $5,010. The 2019 event saw Kyle Lukon leave PPMS with a RUSH event record $11,610 payday thanks to the extraordinary efforts of Branden Lockwich. And even with the pandemic setting back fundraising efforts, Lockwich was still able to award Michael Norris with $7,000+ paydays each last two seasons. Zarin Truck & Auto has been the presenting sponsor from 2019 to present.
After a one-month break, the Tour returns to Tyler County on the Sunday of Labor Day Weekend (September 4) for the $4,000 to-win “Cider Jug 40” part of the prestigious 54th annual “Hillbilly 100” that pays $30,000 to-win for the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. This will be the second of three shows with LOLMDS in 2022.
For the first time in history, the Touring Series will invade Land of Legends Raceway as the 1/2-mile track in Canandaigua, New York will host a $3,000 to-win Platinum event on Saturday, September 10. This past season, Land of Legends became the 13th different track in the Empire State to host a RUSH Late Model sanctioned event all-time. The highly successful Weekly Series event saw Chris Fleming win a thriller over Sean Beardsley for the $1,000 payday.
Genesee Speedway will once again try and host to back-to-back Tour events for the first time ever on Friday and Saturday, September 23-24 with $3,000 to-win each night for the “Topless Nationals”! Last year, John Waters won the Friday night Platinum Event, while Saturday’s Marquee show was rained out after qualifying with what would have been an all-time record high Genesee Tour car count of 30.
For the seventh straight year, the Tour will be part of the “Pittsburgher” on September 30-October 1. The “Bill Hendren Memorial” has been increasing in stature every year as 2020 was the first time to offer complete shows each night paying $3,000 to-win. Friday night will again pay $3,000 to-win for the third straight year, while Saturday’s show with Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series expected to be substantially greater making it the richest “Bill Hendren Memorial” in history. Sponsors such as Pro Fabrication, FK Rod Ends, CrateInsider.com, the Hendren Family, and others have stepped up to really make this into a major event. In 2005, Bill Hendren, the patriarch of the Hendren family and founder of Hendren Racing Engines, had the foresight to begin building his affiliation with crate racing.
And as what been an annual tradition since RUSH’s inception, the “Steel City Stampede” will bring down the curtain on the Touring Series season on October 14-15 at Lernerville; however, this year with its richest payoff to date with $4,000 to-win! This year’s “Steel City Stampede” will be the 14th edition of this huge event that includes most of the region’s racing divisions. Max Blair is the only driver to win multiple events (2012, 2019-202). Other past winners include Josh Holtgraver (2009), Bryan Force (2010), Butch Lambert (2011), Dennis Lunger, Jr. (2013), Chad Ruhlman (2014), Jacob Hawkins (2015), John Mollick (2016), John Waters (2017), Colton Flinner (2018), and Kyle Hardy (2021).
All Tour events in 2022 will pay a minimum of $3,000 to-win, $250 to-start with a $200 to-win non-qualifier (30 cars or more), and guaranteed $125 tow money. All events will utilize the group qualifying format featuring $100 FK Rod Ends “Shock the Clock Qualifying” and $25 to-win FK Rod End heat races. Other nightly contingencies will be announced.
The championship points will be based off the cumulative Marquee Events; however, member drivers/owners will be able to use the three Platinum Events to replace their worst Marquee Event point scores. Drivers can also use Platinum Events to replace up to two missed Marquee Events. The current platinum events are Bradford (May 29), Land of Legends (September 10), and Genesee (September 23). If any of those are unable to be completed, the September 30 Pittsburgh event will become a Platinum Event (as it was in 2021).
Touring membership is available for $125 or drivers can join both Weekly and Touring for $225.
2022 RUSH Late Model Touring Series Minimum Feature Purse: 1. $3,000 2. $1,500 3. $800 4. $650 5. $600 6. $500 7. $475 8. $450 9. $425 10. $400 11. $325 12. $300 13. $275 14. $270 15. $265 16. $260 17. $255 18-24. $250.
2022 RUSH Late Model Touring Series Point Fund ($51,400): 1. $15,000 2. $7,500 3. $5,000 4. $4,000 5. $3,000 6. $2,500 7. $2,000 8. $1,800 9. $1,600 10. $1,500. Will pay $1,000 to Tour members in positions 11-15 in points that compete in 75% of the total Tour events, and $500 to Tour members in positions 16-20 in points that compete in 75% of the total Tour events.
2022 Hovis Auto & Truck Supply RUSH Late Model Flynn’s Tire Touring Series Schedule*
· Wed, April 13 Delaware International Speedway (Delmar, DE) – “Battle of the Bay” Speedweek – Minimum $3,000 to-win (Marquee)
· Thr, April 14 Georgetown Speedway (Georgetown, DE) – “Battle of the Bay” Speedweek – $3,000 to-win (Marquee)
· Fri, April 15 Potomac Speedway (Mechanicsville, MD) – “Battle of the Bay” Speedweek – $3,000 to-win (Marquee)
· Sat, April 16 Winchester Speedway (Winchester, VA) – “Battle of the Bay” Speedweek – $3,000 to-win (Marquee)
· Saturday, May 14 Stateline Speedway (Busti, NY) – “Bill Law Memorial” – $3,000 to-win (Marquee)
· Sunday, May 15 Eriez Speedway (Erie, PA) – $3,000 to-win (Marquee)
· Friday, May 27 Outlaw Speedway (Dundee, NY) – “Gary Montgomery Memorial” – $3,000 to-win (Marquee)
· Saturday, May 28 Genesee Speedway (Batavia, NY) – $3,000 to-win (Marquee)
· Sunday, May 29 Bradford Speedway (Bradford, PA) – $3,000 to-win (Platinum)
· Thr-Sat, June 23-25 Lernerville Speedway (Sarver, PA) – “Bill Emig Memorial” at the “Firecracker 100” – $20,000 to-win (Marquee) – rain date June 26
· Friday, July 1 Dog Hollow Speedway (Northern Cambria, PA) – $3,000 to-win
· Saturday, July 2 Pittsburgh’s PA Motor Speedway (Imperial, PA) – “Herb Scott Memorial” – $3,000 to-win (Marquee)
· Saturday, July 9 Sharon Speedway (Hartford, OH) – “Bill Forney Memorial” – Minimum $3,199 to-win (Marquee)
· Sunday, July 10 Eriez Speedway (Erie, PA) – “Manufacturers Night” presented by MSD Performance with over $30,000 in product giveaways – $3,000 to-win (Marquee)
· Friday, July 22 Lernerville Speedway (Sarver, PA) – “RUSH Summer Showcase” – $3,000 to-win (Marquee)
· Saturday, July 23 Tyler County Speedway (Middlebourne, WV) – $3,000 to-win (Marquee)
· Saturday, August 6 Pittsburgh’s PA Motor Speedway (Imperial, PA) – “Jook George Steel City Classic” – Minimum $5,010 to-win (Marquee) – rain date August 7
· Sunday, September 4 Tyler County Speedway (Middlebourne, WV) – “Cider Jug 40” – $4,000 to-win (Marquee)
· Saturday, September 10 Land of Legends Raceway (Canandaigua, NY) – $3,000 to-win (Platinum)
· Friday, September 23 Genesee Speedway (Batavia, NY) – “Topless Nationals” Night 1 – $3,000 to-win (Platinum)
· Saturday, September 24 Genesee Speedway (Batavia, NY) – “Topless Nationals” Night 2 – $3,000 to-win (Marquee)
· Friday, September 30 Pittsburgh’s PA Motor Speedway (Imperial, PA) – “Bill Hendren Memorial” Night 1 – $3,000 to-win (Marquee but will become Platinum if one of the Platinum shows is cancelled)
· Saturday, October 1 Pittsburgh’s PA Motor Speedway (Imperial, PA) – “Bill Hendren Memorial” Night 2 part of the “Pittsburgher” – Payoff TBA (Marquee) – rain date October 2
· Fri & Sat, October 14-15 Lernerville Speedway (Sarver, PA) – “Steel City Stampede” – $4,000 to-win (Marquee) – rain date October 16
*Schedule is subject to change. Additional date(s) may be added.
