McKean County Raceway
Martin's demise lifts Davis to McKean RUSH victory
EAST SMETHPORT, Pa. (June 14) — Capitalizing on leader Joe Martin’s misfortune, Bryce Davis of Hornell, N.Y., retook the lead on lap 22 of Friday’s Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC RUSH Dirt Late Model Touring Series event at McKean County Raceway and held off series points leader Rick Singleton of Huntingdon, Pa., to earn $1,500 for his first victory on the Crate Late Model tour.
Martin of Mayport, Pa., dominated the majority of the race after taking the lead from Davis on lap five. But his night came to a screeching halt end on lap 22 when he got too high and slammed at the end of the front straightaway wall, handing the lead and the eventual victory to Davis.
"I'm whopped," said the 22-year-old Davis, who became the fourth different winner in four events for the first-year Crate tour. "I didn't think we were going to catch Joe. We caught lapped traffic and he was just as quick as I was. We went on that long green flag run and I didn't think I was ever going to get him. I knew they were all back there.”
The sixth-starting Singleton settled for second at the finish, while Max Blair of Centerville, Pa., advanced from ninth to finish third. Mike Pegher Jr. of Wexford, Pa., was fourth with Chad Ruhlman of Bemus Point, N.Y., rounding out the top five finishers.
The race was held on the undercard of Mike Knight’s $5,000 victory in the NDRL’s ULMS Series event. The event drew a season-high 38 drivers for the RUSH event.
The RUSH Series returns to action June 21 with a $2,000-to-win event at Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway.
RUSH @ McKean: (1) Bryce Davis, (2) Rick Singleton (3) Max Blair, (4) Mike Pegher, Jr., (5) Chad Ruhlman, (6) Matt Latta, (7) Ed Carley, (8) Ryan Montgomery, (9) Doug Ricotta, (10) Jorden Peters, (11) Butch Lambert, (12) Glenn Elliott, (13) Chad Silleman, (14) Lauren Longbrake, (15) Adam Sixt, (16) John Over, (17) Dusty Waters, (18) Bob Kish, (19) Ward Schell, (20) Craig Dean, (21) Bruno Mowery, (22) Joe Martin, (23) Cody Dawson, (24) Jon Lichy. Heat winners (among 38 cars): Blair, Latta, Lambert. Dash winner: Ricotta. Consolation winners: Mowery, Montgomery.
