Pittsburgh Will Try Again To Host 2025 RUSH Late Model Series Opener This Saturday
5 min read
By Mike Leone
April 22, 2025 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Imperial, PA)…After three consecutive rain outs to start the 2025 season, the Hovis Auto & Truck Supply RUSH Dirt Late Model Flynn’s Tire/Gunter’s Honey Touring Series will try yet again to kick-off the season this Saturday night (April 26) at Pittsburgh PA Motor Speedway. It’ll be the rescheduled “Herb Scott Memorial” as warmups are slated for 6 p.m. followed by qualifying and racing. There is a rain date of April 26. The event will be streamed live on TheCushion.com with live audio on MyRacePass, which will also have lineups, results, and live timing.
After a record $76,200 points fund was posted for the 2024 season, the largest following of 13 full-time teams competed on the Tour in addition to a record average car count of 40 despite several big events being rained out. That same point fund will return in 2025 as $20,000 will again be on the line along with the 3C Graphix $3,000 to-win Rookie-of-the-Year and the $5,000 Landrum Performance Springs “Loyalty Bonus”. Over the off-season, it was also announced that all 2025 Flynn’s Tire/Gunter’s Honey Touring Series events will pay a minimum of $4,000 to-win, $300 to-start. At least 18 teams are expected to compete for the 2025 championship.
Saturday night will not only be the first event part of the City Chevrolet Weekly Series at Pittsburgh, but will be the first of four appearances this season by the Flynn’s Tire/Gunter’s Honey Tour at “Dirt’s Monster Half-Mile”. Saturday will be the running of the annual “Herb Scott Memorial”. The “Jook George Steel City Classic” will take place on July 26 (rain date August 2) and the “Bill Hendren Memorial” on October 3-4 are also on the Tour’s 2025 schedule at PPMS. The 2024 Tour events at Pittsburgh averaged 47 cars per event! Tim Shaffer is the defending “Herb Scott Memorial” winner, which was the “Steel City Outlaw’s” second career Tour victory.
Herb Scott was one of the most well-known and respected drivers who ever raced in western Pa. His side-by-side battles with Joe Mihalic were nothing short of legendary. Ten times during his hall of fame career, Scott won the track championship at Heidelberg (1956-1960, 1962-1965, and 1967). His first win came in his first year of racing at New Kensington Speedway in 1948. His 500th win came at Lernerville Speedway, and his final feature win came at Schmucker’s Speedway in September of 1979. He would go on to win a total of 520 career features!
There have been 32 RUSH Tour events completed all-time at Pittsburgh with 18 different winners. Michael Norris, who won the 2024 $7,010 “Jook George Steel City Classic” for the fourth time in five years, leads the way with six victories over fellow PPMS standout, Kyle Lukon, who has five. Ryan Montgomery is a three-time winner. The only other repeat winners are Daryl Charlier, Jeremy Wonderling, and National Sprint Car Hall of Famer Tim Shaffer. Single wins go to Tommy Schirnhofer, Jr., Colton Flinner, John Mollick, Mike Pegher, Jr., Jacob Hawkins, Garret Paugh, Levi Crowl, Kyle Hardy, Logan Roberson, Joe Martin, and most recently Mason Zeigler and Brandon Burgoon, who picked up their first career Tour victories during the “Bill Hendren Memorial” last October.
“We’re looking forward to Pittsburgh on Saturday and continuing our relationship with Blair Cress, Jr. who took over the track during the 2023 season,” expressed RUSH Director Vicki Emig. “No track has hosted more RUSH Late Model Tour shows than Pittsburgh and they once again lead the way with four events in 2025. It’s a great honor to have Herb Scott’s memorial event as a RUSH Tour event, and will now open the Touring season for the second straight year. With our substantial points fund and the richest slate of events in our history brings so much excitement for the upcoming season.”
$100 “Shock the Clock” Qualifying and $25 to-win heat races will be presented by FK Rod Ends. The Sunoco Dash will set the beginning rows of the feature lineup and will award the winner a $100 Sunoco fuel gift card. The “Fill’er up with Sunoco Bucks” program co-presented by Bazell Race Fuels will include an additional $400 of Sunoco fuel card giveaways; two $100 random draws for drivers in the top 15 of 2024 Tour points and another four $50 random draws for all other competitors.
The podium finishers will each receive a three-pack of Heritage Wine Cellars premier products. Precise Racing Products will award a $50 gift card for the “Pedal Down” Hard Charger that passes the most cars in the feature. Ontime Body & Graphic’s “Spoiler Alert” will award a spoiler kit to the first place finisher. The first feature non-qualifier will receive a $50 certificate from Holley Performance brands each night. There will also be five BOGO Landrum Performance Springs certificates given away through drawings each night. Forty lucky fans each night will receive a bottle of Dusted Steak Seasoning each night.
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
You do not have to be a member of RUSH to compete only to receive Weekly and/or Tour points. The entry fee is $100. AMB/MyLaps transponders will be used; Westhold transponders will NOT work. Units are available to rent for $25. Driver radio channel will be 453.800. Imperial Heights Garage will service the event and will have the RUSH Hoosier Tires for sale; call 724-695-0150 to pre-order. PPMS will have Sunoco E85R and Sunoco 110 for sale.
The pits will be open throughout the afternoon with pit pass sales at 3 p.m. RUSH registration will open by 3 p.m. with the drivers meeting at 5:30. Warm-ups are slated for 6 p.m. followed by qualifying and racing. Pit passes are $40. Pit notes/agenda: https://rushlatemodels.com/PPMSAgenda042625.pdf
Pittsburgh PA Motor Speedway is a ½-mile dirt track with a GPS address of 170 Kelso Rd, Imperial PA 15126, which is located just off the Noblestown exit on Routes 22/30. For more information, check out their website at www.ppms.com or call 412-279-7223. The track number on race day is 724-695-3363 or 724-695-0393. As for their social media outlets, you can like their page on Facebook at www.facebook.com/PittsburghsPennsylvaniaMotorSpeedway or follow them on Twitter @PAMotorSpeedway.
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, Billy’s Garage, Joseph J. Oliva Attorney at Law, Schoenfeld Headers, Jones Racing Products, Landrum Performance Springs, Russ King Racing, 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, Design Creations, and Competition Crate Parts.
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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