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KYLE HARDY OUT-DUELS MAX BLAIR FOR HIS 1ST CAREER TYLER COUNTY VICTORY & 2ND STRAIGHT ON THE LABOR DAY WEEKEND SWING FOR THE HOVIS RUSH LATE MODEL FLY

KYLE HARDY OUT-DUELS MAX BLAIR FOR HIS 1ST CAREER TYLER COUNTY VICTORY & 2ND STRAIGHT ON THE LABOR DAY WEEKEND SWING FOR THE HOVIS RUSH LATE MODEL FLYNN’S TIRE/GUNTER’S HONEY TOUR
By Mike Leone

August 31, 2025 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Middlebourne, WV)...The Hovis Auto & Truck Supply RUSH Dirt Late Model Series presented by Born2Run Lubricants completed a two-race Labor Day weekend swing for the Flynn's Tire/Gunter's Honey Touring Series on Sunday at Tyler County Speedway. Race #13 of 2025 was the second and final visit of the season to "America's Baddest Bullring" and was part of the 1/4-mile fairground facility's inaugural "Country Roads" event. The event was also part of the Dave Poske's Performance Parts Mid-Ohio Valley Series.

Eight days prior, Kyle Hardy had yet to win a RUSH-sanctioned feature in 2025. Hardy broke the ice last Saturday night (August 23) winning a City Chevrolet Weekly Series event at his home track, Winchester Speedway. Then on Friday night, Hardy ended a winless drought of more than two years and four months on the Flynn’s Tire/Gunter’s Honey Tour winning in his first ever appearance at Tri-City Raceway Park Two nights later, Hardy completed the $8,000+ Labor Day weekend sweep by out-dueling Max Blair for his first career Tyler County victory! Hardy passed Blair on a restart on lap nine and fended him off throughout the 30-lap duration to reach Landrum Performance Victory Lane. In between, Hardy also added a $3,000 Super Late Model win at Elkins Speedway.

“I was scratching my head watching the Super (Late Model) race and trying to figure out what my car needed- I can’t believe we hit the setup right,” acknowledged the 32-year-old Winchester, VA standout. “I’ve been trying to learn this and do it on my own. To beat Max Blair like that and have a clean race- I just can’t believe I could do it at Tyler County. I have a lot of respect for him. We’ve had a lot of fun races together. I’m not sure what tire he had on, but he fired off really good. I stayed there steady with him and had a good restart. I was nervous from there on out- trust me. Congrats to him for running top five in the Super race and running second here. I can’t wait to get home and celebrate with my girlfriend. It’s hard doing this for a living. A lot of this comes out of our pocket, but I have to thank Mike and Becky Hurley for allowing us to use a trailer and letting us tag along. We had a Super car here, but found out the header broke.”

Following the Dave Postke’s Performance Parts “Feel the RUSH” 4-Wide Salute, Blair and Wonderling led the 26-car to green with Blair racing into the lead over Wonderling and Hardy. As Blair continued to lead, Hardy was all over Wonderling in the battle for second. Hardy put a slider on Wonderling in turn two and made the pass stick on lap seven, which was good timing as a caution would slow action with eight laps completed. When racing resumed on lap nine, Hardy made the outside work for what would be the winning pass.

Kyle Thomas, who won the July 3 Flynn’s Tire/Gunter’s Honey Tour event at Tyler County, started seventh and worked his way into third past Wonderling on lap 11 with Demetrios Drellos following in fourth one-lap later. Up front, Hardy caught lapped traffic on lap 16 allowing Blair to close in. Blair pulled even with Hardy on lap 17, but Hardy maintained the lead as the caution was displayed for Payton Dalton’s spin with 17 laps completed.

When racing resumed, Drellos and Thomas made contact with Thomas spinning and necessitating the caution with 18 laps scored. Back under green, Hardy and Blair distanced themselves from the field by lap 20. The event’s final caution was displayed for debris with 24 laps completed. Under caution, Drellos exited and yielded third to Wonderling. When green replaced yellow on lap 25, Charlier overtook Wonderling for third.
Hardy was able to keep the Flynn’s Tire/Gunter’s Honey Touring Series all-time winner at bay over the final six laps as he took the checkered flag first by 1.373 seconds in his AGX Auto Glass/KHR/HT Roofing/Cline Construction/Dehaven Trailer Sales/MB Collectibles/Mike Hurley Motorsports/Xceptional Wildlife/Red Rock Tale Brickhouse-sponsored #99. Hardy’s 12th career Tour win to move past John Waters for fourth place on the Tour’s all-time win list.

Blair earned $2,000 for his runner-up finish and has finished on the podium in all four of his 2025 Flynn’s Tire/Gunter’s Honey Tour starts this season including wins at Stateline and Eriez Speedways. “It was a fun race,” stated the 35-year-old Centerville, Pa. racer. “I really wish that last debris caution wouldn’t have come out because we were catching lapped traffic. He was really good up the race track- I couldn’t run up there, but I think I was better on the bottom. The lapped cars were dirtying the top up and I was catching him, and I thought ‘there’s just enough time left and this is going to be fun’ but the yellow came out. He was definitely better in clean air than I was. Clean air is so important in these cars and I don’t run the crate cars enough to really know what to do with them anymore. Even at Lernerville at the Firecracker, I was good all weekend long, but in the feature got stuck in dirty air and wasn’t good enough anymore. It was just like tonight, I thought we were really, really good all night long when I was out front, but in dirty air I’m just not good enough. We had a second-place car and that’s where we ended up. Hopefully we’ll get a chance to run this car some more and get better here and there.”

Charlier completed a strong weekend besting his fifth on Friday at Tri-City with a third for his third top five of the season worth $1,000. Wonderling was fourth for his fourth straight top five and 10th in 13 races to maintain the points lead in the race for the $20,000 championship. Ninth starting Zack Carley came home fifth for his third straight top six effort as he continues to close the gap on Drellos in the battle for the 3C Graphix Rookie-of-the Year chase.

In his first ever Tyler County start, New York's Bill Holmes III went 19th to 6th matching his season’s best effort from his home track, Genesee, on July 22. Jason Knowles went 22nd to 7th to earn the $50 Precise Racing Products “Pedal Down” Hard Charger gift card, which was his season’s sixth top 10 finish. Greg Carrico, a teammate to Hardy, returned to the Tour for the first time since the Independence Day swing at Tyler County and Ohio Valley Speedways, and was eighth. Russ King Racing Futures Cup points leader, George Casto III, was ninth. Nick Corbitt was 10th in his first career RUSH Tour start. Tyler County regular, Jim Cochran, was 14th and received a spoiler kit from Ontime Body & Graphic. Blake Runyon was the first feature non-qualifier and received a $50 Holley Performance gift card.

Blair earned $100 for setting fast in FK Rod Ends “Shock the Clock” Qualifying with a 14.057 and earned $100. Winning $25 FK Rod Ends heat races were Blair, Wonderling, and Hardy. Holmes won the last chance B main. Blair became the 10th different Sunoco Dash winner of the season and received a $100 Sunoco fuel card. Also winning $100 Sunoco fuel cards in the random drawings were Knowles and Ben Easler, while the $50 fuel cards went to A.J. Spagnuolo, Corbitt, Carrico, and Brian Nethers.

Landrum Performance Springs, which will award the $5,000 Loyalty Bonus to an eligible Flynn’s Tire/Gunter’s Honey Touring Series regular at the season ending event, distributed BOGO certificates on Sunday night, which were captured by Kolbe Kimbrew, Blake Runyon, Jeremy Wonderling, Mike Wonderling and Bill Holmes III.

The Flynn’s Tire/Gunter's Honey Touring Series will return to action on Saturday night (September 6) at Winchester Speedway in Winchester, Virginia for a $5,000 to-win event.

Hovis Auto & Truck Supply RUSH Late Model Flynn’s Tire/Gunter's Honey Touring Series Race #13 (30 laps, $4,000 to-win): 1. KYLE HARDY (99) 2. Max Blair (Centerline 114) 3. Daryl Charlier (Dobnak 114) 4. Jeremy Wonderling (3J) 5. Zack Carley (2) 6. Bill Holmes III (8) 7. Jason Knowles (4) 8. Greg Carrico (Hurley 67) 9. George Casto III (19c) 10. Nick Corbitt (West 47w) 11. Austin Allen (Mullen 32) 12. Brian Nethers (34) 13. Michael Duritsky, Jr. (90J) 14. Jim Cochran (93) 15. Kyle Thomas (57) 16. Payton Dalton (5L) 17. Demetrios Drellos (111) 18. Ben Easler (02) 19. Davin Kaiser (Beverlin 11) 20. A.J. Spagnuolo (5A) 21. Santino Loretta (Spagnuolo 36s) 22. Mike Wonderling (18) 23. Kolbe Kimbrew (151) 24. Logan Reed (37) 25. Jacob Whitt (33) 26. Ryan Hare (29). (Note: Ryan Hare took a Tour provisional & Brian Nethers took a Track provisional)

DNQ for the feature: Blake Runyon (20) Brent Trimble (1B).

Car Count: 28
Feature Margin of Victory: 1.373 seconds
Feature Lap Leaders: Max Blair (1-8), Kyle Hardy (9-30)
Heritage Wine Cellars 3-Pack of Premium Products: Kyle Hardy, Max Blair & Daryl Charlier
Holley Performance Group “Nosed Out”: Blake Runyon
Landrum Performance Springs BOGO Certificates: Kolbe Kimbrew, Blake Runyon, Jeremy Wonderling, Mike Wonderling & Bill Holmes III
Ontime Body & Graphic “Spoiler Alert” Spoiler Kit: Jim Cochran
Precise Racing Products “Pedal Down” Hard Charger: Jason Knowles (+15)
Sunoco Fuel Card Winners: Ben Easler ($100), Jason Knowles ($100), A.J. Spagnuolo ($50), Nick Corbitt ($50), Greg Carrico ($50), and Brian Nethers ($50)

FK Rod Ends “Shock the Clock” Qualifying ($100 for fast time): 1. 114-Max Blair, 00:14.057[21]; 2. 3J-Jeremy Wonderling, 00:14.119[18]; 3. 99-Kyle Hardy, 00:14.272[4]; 4. 57T-Kyle Thomas, 00:14.368[15]; 5. 111D-Demetrios Drellos, 00:14.371[17]; 6. 19C-George Casto III, 00:14.394[26]; 7. 42-Daryl Charlier, 00:14.418[2]; 8. 4-Jason Knowles, 00:14.424[27]; 9. 2C-Zack Carley, 00:14.429[14]; 10. 1B-Brent Trimble, 00:14.446[11]; 11. 11K-Davin Kaiser, 00:14.463[12]; 12. 151-Kolbe Kimbrew, 00:14.480[3]; 13. 67-Gregory Carrico, 00:14.481[28]; 14. 5A-AJ Spagnuolo, 00:14.482[6]; 15. 02-Ben Easler, 00:14.482[10]; 16. 36S-Santino Loretta, 00:14.524[1]; 17. 37-Logan Reed, 00:14.546[5]; 18. 90J-Michael Duritsky Jr, 00:14.610[16]; 19. 34-Brian Nethers, 00:14.659[13]; 20. 32A-Austin Allen, 00:14.699[9]; 21. 18-Mike Wonderling, 00:14.718[19]; 22. 8-Bill Holmes, 00:14.743[23]; 23. 93-Jim Cochran, 00:14.793[20]; 24. 33W-Jacob Whitt, 00:14.826[22]; 25. 47W-Nick Corbitt, 00:14.909[8]; 26. 20R-Blake Runyon, 00:15.196[7]; 27. 5L-Payton Dalton, 00:15.676[24]; 28. 29-Ryan Hare, NT.

FK Rod Ends Heat 1 (8 laps, Top 6 transfer to A $25 to-win): 1. 114-Max Blair[1]; 2. 42-Daryl Charlier[3]; 3. 57T-Kyle Thomas[2]; 4. 67-Gregory Carrico[5]; 5. 47W-Nick Corbitt[9]; 6. 36S-Santino Loretta[6]; 7. 8-Bill Holmes[8]; 8. 34-Brian Nethers[7]; 9. 1B-Brent Trimble[4]. DNS: 29-Ryan Hare.

FK Rod Ends Heat 2 (8 laps, Top 6 transfer to A $25 to-win): 1. 3J-Jeremy Wonderling[1]; 2. 111D-Demetrios Drellos[2]; 3. 32A-Austin Allen[7]; 4. 5A-AJ Spagnuolo[5]; 5. 11K-Davin Kaiser[4]; 6. 93-Jim Cochran[8]; 7. 37-Logan Reed[6]; 8. 20R-Blake Runyon[9]; 9. 4-Jason Knowles[3].

FK Rod Ends Heat 3 (8 laps, Top 6 transfer to A $25 to-win): 1. 99-Kyle Hardy[1]; 2. 19C-George Casto III[2]; 3. 2C-Zack Carley[3]; 4. 02-Ben Easler[5]; 5. 18-Mike Wonderling[7]; 6. 151-Kolbe Kimbrew[4]; 7. 90J-Michael Duritsky Jr[6]; 8. 33W-Jacob Whitt[8]; 9. 5L-Payton Dalton[9].

Last Chance B Main (8 laps, Top 6 transfer to A): 1. 8-Bill Holmes[1]; 2. 37-Logan Reed[2]; 3. 90J-Michael Duritsky Jr[3]; 4. 4-Jason Knowles[8]; 5. 33W-Jacob Whitt[6]; 6. 5L-Payton Dalton[9]; 7. 34-Brian Nethers[4]; 8. 20R-Blake Runyon[5]. DNS: 29-Ryan Hare & 1B-Brent Trimble.

Sunoco Dash (6 laps, $100 Sunoco fuel card to win): 1. 114-Max Blair[1]; 2. 3J-Jeremy Wonderling[6]; 3. 99-Kyle Hardy[2]; 4. 19C-George Casto III[4]; 5. 111D-Demetrios Drellos[3]; 6. 42-Daryl Charlier[5].

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, Seal-Tite Paving & Excavating, Dusted Steak Seasoning, Ontime Body & Graphic, D&V Jewelers, AERO Race Wheels, 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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