9/24/2022
RUSH Late Model Series
JEREMY WONDERLING CONTINUES DOMINANCE AT GENESEE WITH HIS 7TH STRAIGHT HOVIS RUSH LATE MODEL VICTORY TO SWEEP THE 2-NIGHT FLYNN’S TIRE TOUR “TOPLESS N
JEREMY WONDERLING CONTINUES DOMINANCE AT GENESEE WITH HIS 7TH STRAIGHT HOVIS RUSH LATE MODEL VICTORY TO SWEEP THE 2-NIGHT FLYNN’S TIRE TOUR “TOPLESS NATIONALS” FOR MORE THAN $6000
By Mike Leone
September 24, 2022 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Batavia, NY)...The Hovis Auto & Truck Supply RUSH Dirt Late Model Series presented by Born2Run Lubricants returned to Genesee Speedway on Saturday for night two of the fifth annual “Topless Nationals”. The event marked the third and final appearance of 2022 by the Flynn’s Tire Touring Series to the 1/3-mile Genesee County Fairgrounds. Tour race #16 of the season attracted 32 cars for the second straight night matching the second highest car count ever at Genesee as a total of 34 different cars participated over the two nights.
It took Jeremy Wonderling more than 14 months to return to victory lane in a Flynn’s Tire Touring Series event with his win on Friday night at Genesee. Wonderling didn’t have to wait quite as long to park his #3J on the frontstretch this time; 22 hours to be exact as “Mr. Excitement” led all 30 laps of the feature for the second consecutive night to sweep the “Topless Nationals” weekend worth more than $6,000! It once again wasn’t an easy victory as he had to keep fellow Empire State hot shoe, Chad Homan, at bay for most of the event. More impressively, it was Wonderling’s seventh consecutive win at Genesee, which has propelled him into the lead by one-point for the Hovis National Weekly Series Championship with one weekend remaining!
“This feels really good,” expressed the 42-year-old Wellsville, NY standout. “I didn’t know what to do (tire choice). We put hard tires on for the dash and were decent and noticed my sixth and final lap was my best lap. It really wasn’t the right call for the dash. The race track was pretty much telling everyone to put hard tires on. I was trying to keep the car as straight as I could. The caution came out and (Chad) Homan pulled up next to me. I know he’s really good- especially on (Hoosier) 55s. The car takes off really good so as long as I hit my marks I thought I’d be okay. I knew the biggest thing was beating him into the corner enough so he couldn’t put a slide job on me, which is part of the game. I saw him underneath me a couple times, but I knew he never got a good enough run to actually put a slide job on me.”
For the second straight night, Wonderling used the outside to power into the lead; this time past pole-sitter Joe Martin with fourth starting Homan following in his tracks as he moved into second. Matt Latta cracked the top five when he drove around Jason Knowles in turn four on lap three. By lap four, Wonderling and Homan began to distance themselves from the field. Wonderling had a 1.2-second lead when he caught lapped traffic on lap nine, but one lap later Homan had cut the deficit nearly in half. Martin began to close in on the lead duo on lap 12 and it was a three-car race for the lead on lap 13 before Jon Rivers was unable to clear the track to bring out the event’s first caution.
When racing resumed on lap 13, Jason Genco used the inside to pass Martin for third, while Homan was all over Wonderling in the battle for the lead. At the halfway point, Wonderling and Homan once again began to distance themselves from the pack in clean air, but a caution for Dusty Waters and Austin Allen slowed action for the final time of the event with 16 laps completed.
When green replaced yellow, Wonderling and Homan resumed their battle for the lead; this time Homan pulled alongside of Wonderling, but was unable to make the pass stick. Meanwhile, Latta drove around Martin to take fourth on lap 17. Wonderling’s lead began to expand by lap 21 and once he caught traffic on lap 28 had nearly a two-second margin. Homan closed in during the final laps in traffic, but Wonderling again made the right moves in his Terry Prince Contracting/Close Racing Supply/Cummings Trucking/Shuttleworth Auto Sales/Shuttleworth Asphalt Sealing-sponsored #3J to take his 15th RUSH-sanctioned victory of 2022 by 1.182 seconds. The three-time Flynn’s Tire Tour Champion upped his all-time Tour win total to 12 victories moving him into sole possession of second place.
Homan, who won his first career RUSH Tour race on May 28 at Genesee, earned $1,500 for runner-up as he’s finished in the top six of all six of his Tour starts this season. “We were much better tonight than last night,” stated the 40-year-old Penfield, NY racer. “We’ve been chasing the #3J for the last month and this is the closest we’ve been to him. I threw a couple big bomb sliders there, tried to clear him, but couldn’t do it and finally missed one and lost my momentum. He was a little better in the long runs and could get off the corners a little better than us, but we’re getting closer. Six tour races with five top 5s and one sixth including a second tonight; this team is really jelling and I’m really proud of everyone.”
Genco was third for the second straight night as he recorded his fifth top four finish in six Tour starts this season. “The car was good,” said the 39-year-old Frewsburg, NY resident. “We were on (Hoosier) 55s tonight, which I normally don’t run. I knew everyone else had them on and had to keep pace with what everyone else was doing. It was what it was and we finished third. We’re done for the year so Jeremy (Wonderling) won the Weekly Championship; congrats to him- it was a dogfight all summer long.”
Latta continued his strong late season surge with a season best fourth for his seventh top seven finish in the last 10 Tour races. Martin’s bid at a perfect night ended with a disappointing fifth, but nonetheless recorded his 11th top five and 14th top 10 in 16 Tour races.
Mike Wonderling went 10th to sixth for his best Tour finish in more than six years when he finished fifth at Ransomville Speedway on July 15, 2016. After a season best fifth on Friday night, Breyton Santee had another solid run in seventh for his sixth top 10 Tour finish of the season. Bryce Davis charged from 22nd to eighth to earn the $50 Precise Racing Products “Pedal Down” Hard Charger gift card. Jason Knowles was ninth over Brady Wonderling, who gave the Wonderling brothers three top 10 finishes! David Pangrazio finished 16th and received a spoiler kit from Ontime Body & Graphic. Jimmy Johnson, who was slated to start fourth, lost the driveshaft before the feature went green and was selected as the TBM Brakes “Tough Brake of the Night” recipient.
After qualifying for the prior two Tour features with 15th place finishes at Land of Legends and Genesee, Billy DuBois came up shy of transferring to the feature on Saturday night; however, the 28-year-old Byron, New York driver ended the night in victory lane. DuBois led all eight laps of the caution-free D&V Jewelers Non-Qualifier. DuBois earned $200 in his BJF Portable Welding/Hassett Paving/Bill Button Racing/012 Racing/AK Enterprise-sponsored #21B as he became the amazing 62nd different winner in 74 Non-Qualifier races run all-time!
Ronnie Mogavero finished second in the Non-Qualifier in his RUSH debut subbing for J.J. Mazur and also received a $100 Performance Bodies gift card for being the first feature non-qualifier. Alan Chapman beat out his brother Todd for third for the second straight night. Marc Berzowski was also fifth for the second straight night in his second career RUSH start for the eastern Pennsylvania racer.
For the second straight night and fifth time of the season, Martin set fast time in FK Rod Ends “Shock the Clock” Qualifying with a lap of 17.134 to earn $100. Picking up $25 FK Rod Ends heat race victories were Martin, Homan, Wonderling, and Johnson. Andy Michael and Davis won the last chance B mains. Martin won just his second Sunoco Dash of the season for a $100 Sunoco gift card. Also receiving $100 Sunoco gift cards for the random drawings for Tour racers were Latta and Rasey, while the $50 Sunoco gift cards went to Rivers, Kurt Stebbins, Mogavero, and Doug Ricotta.
It’ll be a quick turnaround for the Flynn’s Tire Touring Series with three big events coming up in the next week. It gets underway at Tyler County Speedway on Thursday night (September 29) for the $4,000 to-win “Cider Jug 40” followed up by two nights at Pittsburgh’s PA Motor Speedway for the annual “Bill Hendren Memorial”. Friday night will pay $4,000 to-win presented by Keyser Manufacturing and Precise Racing Products. Saturday night will pay an event record $10,000 to-win and is being presented by FK Rod Ends in conjunction with City Chevrolet and Pro Fab!
Hovis Auto & Truck Supply RUSH Late Model Flynn’s Tire Touring Series Race #16 (30 laps, $3,000 to-win): 1. JEREMY WONDERLING (3J) 2. Chad Homan (91) 3. Jason Genco (Craig/Badgley 29J) 4. Matt Latta (21) 5. Joe Martin (Snyder 10s) 6. Mike Wonderling (18) 7. Breyton Santee (9) 8. Bryce Davis (94) 9. Jason Knowles (4) 10. Brady Wonderling (z1) 11. Craig Graham (98) 12. Doug Ricotta (01) 13. Kurt Stebbins (26) 14. Jim Rasey (Wrightsman 21J) 15. Brian Kotarski (129) 16. David Pangrazio (55) 17. Brandt Graham (14) 18. Dave DuBois (012) 19. Austin Allen (32) 20. Brett Marlatt (99) 21. Dusty Waters (14) 22. Andy Michael (17x) 23. Jon Rivers (85) 24. T.J. Downs (33) 25. Kyle Murray (21) 26. Jimmy Johnson (39J). (Note: Brandt Graham took a Tour provisional & Dave DuBois took a Track provisional.)
D&V Jewelers Non-Qualifier (8 laps, $200 to-win): 1. Billy DuBois (21B) 2. Ronnie Mogavero (Mazur 13) 3. Alan Chapman (64c) 4. Todd Chapman (T54) 5. Marc Berzowki (25M). DNS: Paul Grigsby (24).
Car Count: 32
Feature Margin of Victory: 1.182 seconds
Feature Lap Leaders: Jeremy Wonderling (1-30)
Ontime Body & Graphic “Spoiler Alert” Spoiler Kit: David Pangrazio
Performance Bodies “Nosed Out”: Ronnie Mogavero
Precise Racing Products “Pedal Down” Hard Charger: Bryce Davis (+14)
Precise Racing Products 5-Gallon Race Jug: Jeremy Wonderling
Sunoco Fuel Card Winners: Matt Latta ($100), Jim Rasey ($100), Jon Rivers ($50), Kurt Stebbins ($50), Ronnie Mogavero ($50), Doug Ricotta ($50).
TBM Brakes “Tough Brake of the Night”: Jimmy Johnson
FK Rod Ends “Shock the Clock” Qualifying ($100 for fast time) (Track record 16.430 by Jeremy John Waters on 5/29/21): 1. 10S-Joe Martin, 00:17.134[11]; 2. 4-Jason Knowles, 00:17.171[8]; 3. 3J-Jeremy Wonderling, 00:17.208[6]; 4. 39J-Jimmy Johnson, 00:17.242[12]; 5. 26-Kurt Stebbins, 00:17.300[13]; 6. 91-Chad Homan, 00:17.319[3]; 7. 21L-Matt Latta, 00:17.320[22]; 8. 9S-Breyton Santee, 00:17.379[28]; 9. 21J-Jim Rasey, 00:17.426[19]; 10. 14W-Dusty Waters, 00:17.477[7]; 11. 01R-Doug Ricotta, 00:17.479[32]; 12. 94-Bryce Davis, 00:17.485[18]; 13. 98-Craig Graham, 00:17.520[20]; 14. 14-Brandt Graham, 00:17.531[10]; 15. 85-Jon Rivers, 00:17.557[9]; 16. 29J-Jason Genco, 00:17.562[30]; 17. 21-Kyle Murray, 00:17.580[23]; 18. Z1-Brady Wonderling, 00:17.594[15]; 19. 24-Paul Grigsby, 00:17.666[4]; 20. 32A-Austin Allen, 00:17.763[31]; 21. 012-Dave DuBois, 00:17.779[5]; 22. 18-Mike Wonderling, 00:17.813[1]; 23. 129-Brian Kotarski, 00:17.813[17]; 24. 55S-David Pangrazio, 00:17.885[21]; 25. 21BD-Billy DuBois, 00:17.885[26]; 26. 17X-Andy Michael, 00:17.957[27]; 27. 64C-Alan Chapman, 00:18.100[29]; 28. 25M-Marc Berzowski, 00:18.132[14]; 29. 99M-Brett Marlatt, 00:18.336[16]; 30. T54-Todd Chapman, 00:18.341[25]; 31. 33D-TJ Downs, 00:18.406[2]; 32. 13-Ronnie Mogavero, 00:18.498[24].
FK Rod Ends Heat 1 (8 laps, Top 5 transfer to A, $25 to-win): 1. 10S-Joe Martin[1]; 2. 26-Kurt Stebbins[2]; 3. 98-Craig Graham[4]; 4. 21J-Jim Rasey[3]; 5. 21-Kyle Murray[5]; 6. 99M-Brett Marlatt[8]; 7. 012-Dave DuBois[6]; 8. 21BD-Billy DuBois[7].
FK Rod Ends Heat 2 (8 laps, Top 5 transfer to A, $25 to-win): 1. 91-Chad Homan[2]; 2. 4-Jason Knowles[1]; 3. 18-Mike Wonderling[6]; 4. Z1-Brady Wonderling[5]; 5. 14W-Dusty Waters[3]; 6. 17X-Andy Michael[7]; 7. 14-Brandt Graham[4]; 8. T54-Todd Chapman[8].
FK Rod Ends Heat 3 (8 laps, Top 5 transfer to A, $25 to-win): 1. 3J-Jeremy Wonderling[1]; 2. 21L-Matt Latta[2]; 3. 85-Jon Rivers[4]; 4. 01R-Doug Ricotta[3]; 5. 129-Brian Kotarski[6]; 6. 33D-TJ Downs[8]; 7. 64C-Alan Chapman[7]; 8. 24-Paul Grigsby[5].
FK Rod Ends Heat 4 (8 laps, Top 5 transfer to A, $25 to-win): 1. 39J-Jimmy Johnson[1]; 2. 29J-Jason Genco[4]; 3. 9S-Breyton Santee[2]; 4. 32A-Austin Allen[5]; 5. 55S-David Pangrazio[6]; 6. 94-Bryce Davis[3]; 7. 13-Ronnie Mogavero[8]; 8. 25M-Marc Berzowski[7].
Last Chance B Main 1 (8 laps, Top 2 transfer to A): 1. 17X-Andy Michael[2]; 2. 99M-Brett Marlatt[1]; 3. 14-Brandt Graham[4]; 4. 21BD-Billy DuBois[5]; 5. 012-Dave DuBois[3]; 6. T54-Todd Chapman[6].
Last Chance B Main 2 (8 laps, Top 2 transfer to A): 1. 94-Bryce Davis[2]; 2. 33D-TJ Downs[1]; 3. 13-Ronnie Mogavero[4]; 4. 24-Paul Grigsby[5]; 5. 64C-Alan Chapman[3]; 6. 25M-Marc Berzowski[6].
Sunoco Dash (6 laps, $100 Sunoco fuel card to-win): 1. 10S-Joe Martin[2]; 2. 3J-Jeremy Wonderling[1]; 3. 29J-Jason Genco[3]; 4. 39J-Jimmy Johnson[4]; 5. 91-Chad Homan[5]; 6. 4-Jason Knowles[7]; 7. 21L-Matt Latta[6]; 8. 26-Kurt Stebbins[8].
The RUSH Racing Series is brought to you by Hovis Auto & Truck Supply together with Born2Run Lubricants along with the support of Hoosier Tire, Bilstein Shocks, Sunoco Race Fuels, Bazell Race Fuels, Insinger Performance, MSD Performance, Holley Performance Products, FK Rod Ends, Schoenfeld Headers, Jones Racing Products, TBM Brakes, Performance Bodies & Parts, Racing Electronics, Wrisco Industries, Frankland Racing Supply, Landrum Performance Spring, Ontime Body & Graphic, Sherwood Wheels, Alternative Power Sources, Precise Racing Products, Lincoln Electric, Velocita-USA, Waterstone Mortgage Hermitage, Wedge Motorsports, 3C Graphix, D&V Jewelers, DrumPreserve, CrateInsider.com, Terry Bowser Excavating, and Stop-Fyre.
E-mail can be sent to the RUSH Racing Series at info@rushracingseries.com and snail 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 Twitter @RUSHLM.
Article Credit: Mike Leone
