HOVIS RUSH LATE MODEL FLYNN'S TIRE/GUNTER'S HONEY TOURING SERIES RELEASES 2025 SCHEDULE- THE RICHEST SCHEDULE TO DATE; MINIMUM $4000 TO-WIN FOR ALL EVENTS PART OF $76,200 POINT FUND WITH $20,000 TO CHAMPION, $5000 LANDRUM BONUS DRAWING, 3C GRAPHIX ROY & MORE
By Mike Leone
March 13, 2025 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Pulaski, PA)...The Hovis Auto & Truck Supply RUSH Late Model Series presented by Born2Run Lubricants is proud to release its powerful 2025 Flynn's Tire/Gunter's Honey Touring Series schedule of events. The richest season in Series history will include 22 events at 13 different speedways all paying between $4,000 and $20,000 to-win, and boasting a $76,200 point fund with $20,000 to the champion! Five of the events will pay more than the standard $4,000 to-win purse. Brock Pinkerous is the defending champion, while Jeremy Wonderling has won four of the last seven titles.
The 2024 Flynn's Tire/Gunter's Honey Touring Series season saw a record high average car count of 40 per event along with the strongest following of full-time member drivers in history! Several tracks set their all-time car counts for Chevrolet Performance Late Models. With that said, in December it was announced that all 2025 events will pay the minimum $4,000 to-win purse structure!
The 2025 champion will take home $20,000 for the second consecutive year! Also returning is the Landrum Performance "Loyalty Bonus" where one Touring Series member that competes in at least 75% of the completed events will receive a $5,000 bonus! And finally, 3C Graphix will again present the Rookie-of-the-Year with $3,000 going to a driver that competes in 75% of the 2025 events that has yet to do so in years past bringing the total points fund to $76,200!
Highlighting the schedule is the $20,000 to-win "Bill Emig Memorial" presented by Sunoco Race Fuels with associate sponsorship from Joseph J. Oliva Attorney at Law, which returns to Lernerville in conjunction with the renowned "Firecracker 100" weekend for the seventh straight year. Other returning major events include the "Jook George Steel City Classic" and "Bill Hendren Memorial" events at Pittsburgh's PA Motor Speedway. New stops on the schedule include New Jersey's Bridgeport Motorsports Park and West Virginia's Ohio Valley Speedway.
"Despite the challenges with Mother Nature and the economy, we're coming off arguably the best RUSH Late Model Touring Series season in our history," remarked RUSH Director Vicki Emig. "The car counts, quality of racing, and support of our speedways and marketing partners were tremendous. Once our RUSH racers hit the speedway the racing was phenomenal! This past season we were able to increase our points fund for the third time in four years, and after three years of being at the $3,000 to-win purse structure, we're proud to go the next level at $4,000 to-win! Not only will the winner's share increase by $1,000, but every position throughout the field will increase between $50-$500. We cannot thank our speedways enough for believing in our program and supporting the RUSH concept as it continues to grow and evolve to new heights into the future."
A new major event to the schedule will actually kick-off the 2025 season as Bridgeport Motorsports Park will host the first ever RUSH-sanctioned event in the Garden State on April 4-5! Preliminary events will be contested on Friday night with Saturday's 50-lap finale paying a whopping $10,000 at the "Kingdom of Speed"! The event is presented by Hoosier Tire Mid-Atlantic Fueled by Insinger Performance. This will be the first Touring Series event in the Mid-Atlantic since April 2023. This event has drummed up interest from racers from all over the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Mid-Ohio Valley.
One week later, Tyler County Speedway in Middlebourne, WV will host their first of three 2025 Flynn's Tire/Gunter's Honey Touring Series events. Tyler County will be beginning their fourth year of RUSH Late Model City Chevrolet Weekly Series racing on March 29, but first under new promoters Doug Doak and Scott Jenkins. Tyler County will also be part of the new Mid-Ohio Valley Series presented by Dave Poske's Performance Parts, which will be a separate $6,650 points fund also including events at Muskingum County and Ohio Valley Speedways that will pay the champion $2,000 to-win.
Another Saturday night City Chevrolet Weekly Series track in Pittsburgh's PA Motor Speedway will also host their earliest date in Series history on Saturday, April 19, while April 26 will be utilized in the event of rain. "Dirt's Monster Half-Mile" in Imperial, Pa. will be under the second full season of ownership by Blair Cress, Jr. A new wall has been installed around the track with new catch fence also going up along with other improvements. This will also be the second straight year that all four of PPMS' 2025 Tour events will pay a minimum of $4,000 to-win! This event last year ended up being the 2024 opener and attracted 47 cars, which was the average for Tour events at PPMS in 2024.
Winchester Speedway will be under the City Chevrolet Weekly Series banner for the 12th straight year in 2025. On Saturday, May 6, Greg Gunter's track will host their richest RUSH race since 2015 as $5,000 will be up for grabs at the Virginia red clay oval. Winchester has hosted eight Touring Series events all-time with six different winners. At the last event in 2023, Charlie Sandercock became the first Canadian to win in the track's 88-year history as he topped a 42-car field.
The Touring Series then heads north to Stateline Speedway in Busti, NY for the eighth year for the "Bill Law Memorial" on May 10. The Saturday night City Chevrolet Weekly Series track is under new ownership in 2025 led by Bill Catania. Last year, Brock Pinkerous won the event, which was the site of his first career Late Model win in 2023 at the age of 13 making him the youngest winner in the storied history of Stateline. Jeremy Wonderling has won four of the seven "Bill Law Memorial" events. The only other victors are Damian Bidwell in 2018 and Joe Martin in 2022. The event has averaged 41 cars the last four years.
The following night (Sunday, May 11), Eriez Speedway will give racers back-to-back $4,000 to-win shows within just a 40-mile distance. Located just outside of Erie, Pa., this will be year number seven of ownership for Dave Alexander, who will again host weekly Sunday night RUSH Late Model and RUSH Stock Car racing. There have been 14 RUSH Tour events completed all-time at Eriez. Max Blair leads the way with seven victories. Former champs Kyle Hardy and Wonderling are the only other repeat winners, while Rob Blair, Logan Roberson, and Josh Ferry have also been victorious.
For the ninth straight year, Outlaw Speedway and The Dirt Track at Genesee in New York have teamed up to host back-to-back "Marquee" Events on Friday and Saturday, May 23-24 with Tri-City Raceway Park hosting the Sunday night Memorial Day Eve show again.
Outlaw's show will again be dubbed as the "Gary Montgomery Memorial". Bryce Davis (2017) and Wonderling (2018-2019, 2024) have won in memory of BRP Series founder Montgomery. After COVID-19 and rain cancelled the Outlaw shows for three straight years, Joe Martin became the first non-New Yorker to win in 2023. Tyler Siri has done a tremendous job at transforming Outlaw, while new Genesee promoter James Gayton will continue Saturday night weekly programs featuring the RUSH Late Models at the Genesee County Fairgrounds in Batavia. Last year's Tri-City event was the first career Tour win for eventual champion, Brock Pinkerous, and marked the Series' first race at the Franklin, Pa. oval in nearly six years!
Another return stop in 2024 after lengthy period was McKean County Raceway, who also hosted their first Flynn's Tire/Gunter's Honey Touring Series event in nearly six years! After several rounds of downpours, the show went on and Bryce Davis swept the night. McKean will return to the 2025 schedule on Friday, June 6 as the $4,000 to-win event will be the richest in Chevrolet Performance Late Model racing in the history of MCR! RUSH Late Model racer, Kurt Stebbins, took over the East Smethport, Pa. fairground oval late in 2023 and a full slate of weekly Friday night racing featuring the City Chevrolet RUSH Late Model Weekly Series along with the RUSH Pro Mods will return.
The Flynn's Tire/Gunter's Honey RUSH Late Model Tour will join up with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series three times in 2025 with the first being at the "Firecracker 100" weekend June 19-21 at Lernerville Speedway! This crown-jewel event for Super Late Models paying $50,000 to-win also showcases RUSH in the running of the "Bill Emig Memorial" for the seventh straight year. The Saturday night program for RUSH will again be highlighted by a 50-lap $20,000 to-win main event presented by Sunoco Race Fuels with associate sponsorship from Joseph J. Oliva Attorney at Law. Max Blair won the event the first two years totaling $20,000 then won $20,000 alone in 2023, while Florida's Mark Whitener won $10,000 in 2021 and $20,000 in 2022 for western Pa. car owner Dirk Neal and Brian Daugherty. Last year saw Dave Hess, Jr. win the $20,000 jackpot for his biggest career win in his storied career. D&V Jewelers annually awards a diamond championship ring valued at $7,500 to the victor.
The second of three appearances to Tyler County Speedway will take place on Independence Day Eve (Thursday, July 3) followed up the next night by the first ever appearance at Ohio Valley Speedway near Parkersburg for a Mountaineer State doubleheader! Ohio Valley is owned by standout New York UMP Modified racer, Rich Michael, whose brother Andy Michael competes in the RUSH Late Models and nephew Kaden Michael is a RUSH Stock Car Champion. Ohio Valley will also host a pair RUSH Weekly Series events on April 18 and May 9 for the first time.
For just the fourth time in history, Bradford Speedway will host a Flynn's Tire/Gunter's Honey Touring Series event on Sunday, July 13. Past winners include New York stars and former champions Bryce Davis, John Waters, and Jeremy Wonderling. This year's event will mark the richest to date at the 1/4-mile bullring with $4,000 on the line in the "Mike Reed Memorial"! In addition, an increased paying D&V Jewelers Non-Qualifier will be contested paying $350 to-win. Bradford is under new ownership in 2025 led by former Late Model racer, Rick Isadore. Bradford will also return as a City Chevrolet Weekly Series track in addition to continuing to run the RUSH Pro Mods on a weekly basis.
For the ninth time, the "Jook George Steel City Classic" at PPMS will be a Tour event. The "Jook George" will take place on Saturday, July 26 paying a minimum $6,010 to-win; however, that figure is expected to grow with contributions and bonuses as the event draws near thanks to the extraordinary efforts of Branden Lockwich. Last year, local Super Late Model star, Michael Norris, won the event for the fourth time in five years! Norris has earned more than $28,000 with those four victories!
For the first time ever, the Flynn's Tire/Gunter's Honey Tour will have two events scheduled at Stateline in 2025. Like the May weekend, Stateline will again hookup with Eriez to provide racers with a doubleheader weekend with minimal travel on August 9-10.
Sunday's show (August 10) at Eriez will be the annual "Manufacturers Night" presented by MSD Performance. The will be the fifth straight year Eriez has hosted the event and sixth all-time. The average car count for the event since Mfg. Night debuted in 2012 is over 47. Last year, an Eriez record 55 cars were on hand toping 52 from 2023! Over $30,000 of valuable and useful products is typically distributed to competing racers on this night.
After a rainout in 2024, Tri-City Raceway Park will attempt to kickoff the Labor Day weekend with an event on Friday, August 29. For the fourth straight year, the Tour is scheduled to compete at Tyler County on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend (August 31) part of the "Country Roads", which will also include a $20,000 to-win Super Late Model event.
For the 10th straight year, the Flynn's Tire/Gunter's Honey Tour will be part of the "Pittsburgher" joining LOLMDS for two complete shows on October 3-4. For the fourth straight year, the "Bill Hendren Memorial" will pay $4,000 to-win on Friday, while Saturday's show will boost a $10,000 to-win payoff alongside the $50,000 to-win "Pittsburgher" for LOLMDS. Sponsors such as FK Rod Ends, City Chevrolet, Pro Fab, Hendren Racing Engines, West Mifflin Collision, All Interior Painting, Keyser Manufacturing, Stan's Transmission, and Branden Lockwich 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 10-11 at Lernerville Speedway. This year’s “Steel City Stampede” will be the 17th edition of this huge event that includes most of the region’s racing divisions. Max Blair (2012, 2019-2020) and Michael Norris (2023-2024) are the only two drivers to win multiple events. 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), Kyle Hardy (2021), and Logan Roberson (2022).
All Tour events in 2025 will pay a minimum of $4,000 to-win, $300 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” (split A/B with four or more heats) 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 Platinum Events to replace their worst Marquee Event point scores. Drivers can also use Platinum Events to replace missed Marquee Events. Platinum dates include May 25 at Tri-City and July 13 at Bradford with a rain date of October 3 at Pittsburgh.
Touring membership is available for $125 or drivers can join both Weekly and Touring for $225. The membership is available at the following link: https://rushlatemode...emberships.html or through the Pit Pay App at https://getpitpay.com/5lb
2025 Minimum Feature Payoff: 1. $4,000 2. $2,000 3. $1,000 4. $800 5. $700 6. $600 7. $550 8. $500 9. $475 10. $450 11. $425 12. $400 13. $375 14. $360 15. $350 16. $340 17. $330 18. $320 19. $310 20-24. $300.
D&V Jewelers Non-Qualifier Payoff: 1. $200 2. $190 3. $185 4. $180 5. $175 6. $170 7. $165 8. $160 9. $155 10-24. $150. Tow $125
2025 Flynn's Tire/Gunter's Honey Touring Series Points Fund ($68,200 + $5,000 Landrum Loyalty Bonus + $3,000 3C Graphix Rookie-of-the-Year): 1. $20,000 2. $10,000 3. $7,500 4. $5,000 5. $4,000 6. $3,000 7. $2,500 8. $2,400 9. $2,200 10. $2,000. Drivers/Owners in the following positions must compete in 75% of the completed Tour events to receive point fund monies: 11. $1,500 12. $1,300 13. $1,200 14. $1,100 15. $1,000 16. $900 17. $800 18. $700 19. $600 20. $500.
2025 Hovis Auto & Truck Supply RUSH Late Model Flynn's Tire/Gunter's Honey Touring Series Schedule*
- Fri-Sat, April 4-5 Bridgeport Speedway (Swedesboro, NJ) - $10,000 (Rain date 4/6)
- Sat, April 12 Tyler County Speedway (Middlebourne, WV) - $4,000 to-win
- Sat, April 19 Pittsburgh PA Motor Speedway (Imperial, PA) - $4,000 to-win "Herb Scott Memorial" (Rain date 4/26)
- Sat, May 3 Winchester Speedway (Winchester, VA) - $5,000 to-win
- Sat, May 10 Stateline Speedway (Busti, NY) - $4,000 to-win "Bill Law Memorial"
- Sun, May 11 Eriez Speedway (Erie, PA) - $4,000 to-win
- Fri, May 23 Outlaw Speedway (Dundee, NY) - $4,000 to-win "Gary Montgomery Memorial"
- Sat, May 24 The Dirt Track at Genesee (Batavia, NY) - $4,000 to-win
- Sun, May 25 Tri-City Raceway Park (Franklin, PA) - $4,000 to-win (Platinum)
- Fri, June 6 McKean County Raceway (East Smethport, PA) - $4,000 to-win
- Thr-Sat, June 19-21 Lernerville Speedway (Sarver, PA) - $20,000 to-win "Bill Emig Memorial" presented by Sunoco Race Fuels & Joseph J. Oliva Attorney at Law (Part of the "Firecracker 100" - (Rain date 6/22)
- Thr, July 3 Tyler County Speedway (Middlebourne, WV) - $4,000 to-win
- Fri, July 4 Ohio Valley Speedway (Washington, WV) - $4,000 to-win
- Sun, July 13 Bradford Speedway (Bradford, PA) - $4,000 to-win (Platinum) - "Mike Reed Memorial"
- Sat, July 26 Pittsburgh PA Motor Speedway (Imperial, PA) - Minimum $6,010 to-win "Jook George Steel City Classic" - (Rain date 8/2)
- Sat, Aug 9 Stateline Speedway (Busti, NY) - $4,000 to-win
- Sun, Aug 10 Eriez Speedway (Erie, PA) - $4,000 to-win "Manufacturers Night" presented by MSD Performance
- Fri, Aug 29 Tri-City Raceway Park (Franklin, PA) - $4,000 to-win
- Sun, Aug 31 Tyler County Speedway (Middlebourne, WV) - $4,000 to-win (Part of the "Country Roads")
- Fri, Oct 3 Pittsburgh PA Motor Speedway (Imperial, PA) - $4,000 to-win "Bill Hendren Memorial" Night 1 (Part of the "Pittsburgher")
- Sat, Oct 4 Pittsburgh PA Motor Speedway (Imperial, PA) - $10,000 to-win "Bill Hendren Memorial" Night 2 presented by FK Rod Ends, Pro Fab & City Chevrolet (Part of the "Pittsburgher") (Rain date 10/5)
- Fri-Sat, Oct 10-11 Lernerville Speedway (Sarver, PA) - $4,000 "Steel City Stampede" - (Rain date 10/12)
*Schedule is subject to change. Additional date(s) may be added.
The RUSH Racing Series is brought to you by Hovis Auto & Truck Supply together with Born2Run Lubricants along with the support of Hoosier Tire, Rick Hendrick City Chevrolet, Sunoco Race Fuels, Bazell Race Fuels, Insinger Performance, Flynn's Tire, Gunter's Honey, MSD Performance, Holley Performance Products, FK Rod Ends, Joseph J. Oliva Attorney at Law, Schoenfeld Headers, Jones Racing Products, Landrum Performance Springs, 3C Graphix, Dave Poske's Performance Parts, Velocita-USA, Wieland Metal Services, Frankland Racing Supply, Dusted Steak Seasoning, Ontime Body & Graphic, D&V Jewelers, Dusted, Heritage Wine Cellars, Precise Racing Products, Racing Electronics, and Design Creations.
E-mail can be sent to the RUSH Racing Series at info@rushracingseries.com and mail to 4368 Route 422, Pulaski, PA 16143. Office phone is 724-964-9300. The RUSH Late Model website is www.rushlatemodels.com. Like our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/rushlatemodels and follow us on X (formerly known as Twitter) @RUSHLM.
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