SWEENEY RUSH
SPRINTS CONCLUDE SUCCESSFUL YEAR #2; CHAD RUHLMAN REPEATS $5000 BONNELL'S ROD
SHOP WEEKLY SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP WHILE SON KEVIN EARNS "FUTURES CUP" TITLE
By Mike Leone
January 4, 2020
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Pulaski, PA)...The
Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC RUSH Sprint Car Series powered by Pace Performance
will record the 2019 season as a great success as the division continued its
forward momentum in just its second year with a total of 27 different racers
competing throughout the region. The
cost-containment classes features traditional, non-wing Sprint Cars with the
Chevrolet Performance 602 crate engine, spec Hoosier Tires, spec/sealed Bilstein
Shocks, and RUSH "Visual" Methanol.
Three drivers captured RUSH championships.
Chad Ruhlman earned the Bonnell's Rod Shop $5,000 Weekly Series title,
while his son Kevin Ruhlman captured the "Futures Cup" crown.
Jeremy Weaver copped the "Empire State Classic" top honors.
Well over $33,000 in cash and valuable product was distributed to RUSH
Sprint Car racers for their efforts in 2019.
A good chunk of the season was decimated by rain with
Mother Nature taking 14 of the 33 events.
There were seven different winners amongst the 19 completed events with
five of those being first time winners.
Eight different speedways completed events, while the shows at Stateline
and Tyler County Speedways were rained out.
The 27 different cars was an increase of six from
2018. Sharon averaged 18 cars per
night, while Lernerville had over 20 cars for all three of their shows.
The August 31 "Manufactures Night" presented by MSD Performance at
Lernerville saw over $12,000 distributed to the record 21 competing racers.
"Outside of the rain, we were very pleased with how
the 2019 season went for our RUSH Sprint Cars," acknowledged RUSH Director Vicki
Emig. "The rain put a damper on a
lot of the events, but the car counts grew and the quality of racing really
improved- a couple of the events were ones racers and fans won't forget.
It was great to see five new winners.
The growth of this division has even been on a faster pace than when our
RUSH Sportsman Modifieds and Pro Mods started.
We're excited for 2020, as this class continues to allow racers the
opportunity to race a Sprint Car affordable and offer back strong championship
point funds and contingencies."
For the second year in a row, Chad Ruhlman captured
the $5,000 Bonnell's Weekly Series title and led the way in victories; however
2019 wasn't as dominate as he won 10 times compared to 15 in 2018.
Ruhlman picked up the first ever RUSH Sprint race at Raceway 7, which
featured a strong 20-car field. He's
won all three $800 races over the past two years during the "Empire State
Classic" at Genesee Speedway. The
42-year-old driver, who now calls Erie, Pa. home, was sponsored by
Callahan Weber Hydraulics, Wicked Wrenches, Kelly Frederes Auto Repair, Close
Racing Supply, North Star Unlimited, 5th St. Sunoco, Jen’s Pink Zebra, Ruhlman
Race Cars, and Premier Communications.
Zach Morrow was the second winningest driver as he was able to win three
features in 2019, which was one more than 2018.
Morrow was also able to improve his point finish from third to second,
which earned him $2,500. The
29-year-old Gibsonia, Pa. driver has found a lot of success at nearby
Lernerville, where he's captured four of his five career wins.
He also picked up his first career win at Pittsburgh's PA Motor Speedway
in 2019, which propelled him to the track title at the "Monster Half-Mile".
After making several end of the year starts in 2018, Brian Woodhall completed
his first full season of RUSH Sprint Car racing this past season.
The 35-year-old Apollo, Pa. driver captured his first career RUSH win on
June 22 at Sharon then later in the season won the first ever RUSH Sprint Car
race at New York's Ransomville Speedway on September 13.
Woodhall, who was one of only three drivers with multiple wins in 2019,
earned $1,750 for finishing third in points.
Jeremy Weaver really came on throughout his first season of RUSH Sprint Car
racing. The 18-year-old Stoneboro,
Pa. racer competed for four full seasons in the RUSH Sportsman Modified
division. After some early season
Mod starts this year, Weaver moved over to the RUSH Sprint Car division
full-time driving for longtime Modified and Sprint Car owner Ted Hull.
Weaver picked up the $300 "Empire State Classic" championship in
mid-September then won his first career Sprint feature the following Saturday at
Pittsburgh. He'd go on to finish
fourth in the final standings for $1,500.
After helping his father Chad during the inaugural 2018 season, Kevin Ruhlman
made his Sprint Car debut in 2019.
The 17-year-old competed in the RUSH Pro Mod division in 2016 and 2017.
Driving his father's 2018 championship Sprint Car, Kevin had a tremendous
year with 8 top 5s and 12 top 10s in 13 starts to finish fifth in points.
His best finish was a third three times, which came at Bradford,
Pittsburgh, and Sharon. Kevin will
go down in history as the inaugural RUSH Sprint "Futures Cup" Champion.
The three other drivers to pick up their first career RUSH Sprint Car victories
were Brad Blackshear, John Mollick, and Andy Feil.
Blackshear, a former Econo Mod standout, won an exciting feature on June
30 at Old Bradford Speedway, while his brother Brandon matched a season best
third that night. Brad would go on
to finish 10th in points for the second straight year.
Mollick's win was aboard Scott Clever's #4J on July 27 at Pittsburgh- a track
that he's had so much success in driving a RUSH Late Model for Bob Bentz.
Feil's win meanwhile came on August 24 at Sharon in one of the best RUSH
Sprint races of all-time when he out-dueled Brian Ruhlman after nearly a
race-long side-by-side battle for the lead.
Feil drove the John Mahoney/Larry Eckart #9J to eighth in points in his
first year of RUSH.
Other newcomers to the RUSH Sprint division in 2019 included Matt Sherlock III,
Brian Hartzell, Nolan Groves, Brad Church, Greg Beach, Ryan Fraley, and Frank
Wilson. Groves finished second in
the "Futures Cup" standings.
The RUSH Sprint Car drivers will celebrate their 2019 accomplishments at the
awards banquet on January 25 at Gatherings Banquet & Event Center.
The 2020 season will get underway on April 11 at Tyler County Speedway in
Middlebourne, WV for "RUSH Night".
FINAL 2019
Bonnell's Rod Shop Weekly Series Top 20 Points:
1. CHAD RUHLMAN 1321 2.
Zach Morrow 1310 3. Brian Woodhall
1297 4. Jeremy Weaver 1280
5. Kevin Ruhlman 1251 6.
Brandon Blackshear 1243 7. Shawn
Smith 1227 8. Andy Feil 1221
9. Arnie Kent 1208 10. Brad
Blackshear 1207 11. Steve Pedley
1194 12. Dave Hawkins 1185
13. Matt Sherlock III 1174
14. Brian Hartzell 1171 15. Tyler
Powell 1142 16. Brian Ruhlman 959
17. Nolan Groves 850 18.
Brandon Hawkins 775 19. John Mollick
763 20. Scott Hawkins 673.
FINAL 2019
"Futures Cup" Points:
1. KEVIN RUHLMAN 1251 2. Nolan
Groves 850.
FINAL 2019 “Empire
State Classic” Points presented by CNC Specialties, Intense Fab & Pace
Performance:
1. JEREMY WEAVER 266 2. Brian
Woodhall 257 3. Zach Morrow &
Brandon Blackshear 254 5. Arnie Kent
251 6. Steve Pedley 248
7. Dave Hawkins 245 8. Matt
Sherlock III 243 9. Brian Hartzell
240 10. Brad Blackshear 236
11. Shawn Smith 178 12. Tyler
Powell & Chad Ruhlman 170 14. Kevin
Ruhlman 166 15. Andy Feil 156
16. Nolan Groves 151 17. Brad
Church 84.
The RUSH Racing Series is brought
to you by Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC & Pace Performance along with the support
of Hoosier Tire, Bilstein Shocks, Sunoco Race Fuels, Bazell Race Fuels, Insinger
Performance, MSD Performance, Holley Performance Products, Hovis Auto & Truck
Supply, FK Rod Ends, Wehrs Machine & Racing Products, Schoenfeld Headers, Jones
Racing Products, TBM Brakes, Performance Bodies & Parts, Racing Electronics,
Dirt Defender, Wrisco Industries, Frankland Racing Supply, Landrum Performance
Spring, Ontime Body & Graphic, Trailer-Alarms.com, Bonnell's Rod Shop, Zarin
Truck & Automotive, Sherwood Wheels, Alternative Power Sources, Precise Racing
Products, Lincoln Electric, Velocita-USA, Classic Ink USA, CrateInsider.com, and
Wedge Motorsports.
E-mail can be sent to the RUSH Racing Series at [email protected] and
snail mail to 4368 Route 422, Pulaski, PA 16143. Office phone is 724-964-9300
and fax is 724-964-0604. The RUSH Sprint Series website is
www.rushracingsprintcars.com. Like our
Facebook page at
www.facebook.com/rushsprintcars and follow us
on Twitter @RUSHSprints
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