ERICK RUDOLPH CONTINUES OCTOBER HOT STREAK WITH DUTCH HOAG MEMORIAL VICTORY AT OUTLAW SPEEDWAY

DUNDEE, NY – Erick Rudolph, since exiting Super DIRT Week at Oswego, has become dirt track racing’s ‘Mr. October’. “Rudy” as his car owner Randy Chrysler called him in Outlaw Victory Lane Sunday night, put on a dominant performance enroute to the $7,000 victory in Outlaw Speedway’s first seventy-lapper in well over a decade.

Rudolph would lead every lap of the event, but it was far from a cakewalk for the Ransomville, NY shoe. He would have to hold off the advances of ‘The Hurricane’ Steve Paine and ‘AJ Slideways’ Alan Johnson in the closing laps to score his second Outlaw win of 2016.

Brian Malcolm and Rudolph drew the front row for the feature event, with Rudolph leading the opening lap and setting a torrid pace early on. Thirty-six cars signed in for competition on Sunday for the eighth running of the Dutch Hoag Memorial.

One driver that had high expectations was certainly Matt Sheppard, who was aboard the same No. 357 that he wheeled to victory lane in the lone Short Track Super Series stop at Outlaw Speedway in June. Unfortunately, Sheppard’s race was over by the very unlucky lap thirteen as he pulled the car into the infield in the first turn. Sheppard would not return to the field.

Paine had $19,500 on the line if he could win on Sunday and ‘The Hurricane’ made his presence felt, taking over the second spot on the restart from Malcolm. Rudolph set the pace with Paine in tow, but it was Outlaw Speedway second-high point man Alan Johnson who was the next driver to present himself as a threat to win.

Johnson fought through traffic after starting eleventh and advanced to fourth by lap twenty-one. Then overtook third from Cory Costa on lap twenty-nine. Five laps later, Costa would get back by Johnson for third before the caution flew on lap thirty-five for Donnie Lawson who got turned backwards under the flag stand.

Two more quick cautions on laps fifty-four and fifty-six allowed Paine, Johnson and Costa to close back in on Rudolph. But Rudolph was the rabbit on restarts, who would distance himself from the field to have a nice cushion upon hitting slower traffic ahead.

With eight laps to go, Johnson made his way around the outside of Paine in turn four to take over the runner up position. But with a nearly three second deficit to Rudolph, it didn’t look like Johnson had near enough time to catch Rudolph’s No. 25.

Johnson dug down deep and erased Rudolph’s lead as the pair came to the white flag, with Rudolph being held up just a bit in traffic. The driver from Middlesex, N.Y. looked high and low on the final lap, but Rudolph was up to the task to hold on for the $7,000 payday. It was his second win in three Outlaw Speedway starts in 2016, driving for Chrysler’s team.

“We’re having our fair share of luck here in October,” said Rudolph in Outlaw Victory Lane. “The cars are running well, I feel like I’m doing the right things out there and making the right decisions in the pit area.”

Rudolph, whose family has had a storied career in the sport, was asked about what it meant to win the Dutch Hoag Memorial? A race named after a Northeast legend, lost earlier in 2016.

“Dutch Hoag was a good friend of my grandfather’s and (he) was very respected in the sport,” noted Rudolph. “To win on his memorial night is something special.”

Alan Johnson needed another lap, maybe two to try and get the job done Sunday night.

“There’s no doubt I had a great car,” said Johnson. “Passing was kind of tough and I dug myself a hole in the heat race and started a little too far back.”

Paine was surely disappointed about missing out on the bonus, but was impressed with Rudolph and Alan’s late race charge.

“Erick was really good last time he was here,” commented Paine. “We just missed it a little bit on tires and maybe set up. We spent the night changing the rear end, so we’re lucky to have even finished. Al was good at the end, he made up almost a straightaway there at the end and I thought he was going to get him.”

Rudolph now joins Ron Cartwright Jr., Alan Johnson, Bob Henry Jr., Ryan Susice and Matt Sheppard as the only six drivers who can say they have won a Dutch Hoag Memorial.

Earlier in the evening, Matt Sheppard won the 7s Wild seven-lap $700-to-win dash for cash. An event that saw Steve Paine lead early, but drop out on the third lap when the rear end failed on his No. 7x. Paine’s crew thrashed in the pit area to change to a new rear end, before the seventy-lap feature was called to the lineup.

Outlaw Speedway Dutch Hoag Memorial Official Results 10/23/2016:

MODIFIEDS, 36 cars (70 Laps): ERICK RUDOLPH, Alan Johnson, Steve Paine, Cory Costa, Bobby Varin, Tyler Siri, Ray Bliss, Billy Van Pelt, Pat Ward, Stacey Jackson, Brian Malcolm, Rusty Smith, Joe Dgien, Kenny Peoples Jr., Steven Deinhardt, Brady Fultz, Jim LaRock, Matt Curry, Ron Cartwright Jr., Donnie Lawson, Danny Varin, Matt Sheppard, Marcus Dinkins, Randy Chrysler

$700-to-win Modified Dash: MATT SHEPPARD, Tyler Siri, Erick Rudolph, Ron Cartwright Jr., Brian Malcolm, Jim LaRock, Cory Costa, Billy Van Pelt, Marcus Dinkins, Steve Paine

DNQ: Eldon Payne, Dillon Groover, Chris Ostrowsky, Ken Titus, Tim Murphy, Derrick Podsiadlo, Dave DuBois, Dale Welty, Brian Nelson, Lee Bills, Todd Hayward, Butch Green

Heat Winners: Steve Paine, Brian Malcolm, Matt Sheppard, Tyler Siri, Billy Van Pelt
Consi 1: Bobby Varin, Randy Chrysler, Danny Varin, Joe Dgien
Consi 2: Brady Fultz, Ray Bliss, Pat Ward, Rusty Smith

http://www.dirttrackdigest.com/NewPress/?p=27440

CLEAN SWEEP FOR RUDOLPH OF BROCKVILLE

By MANDEE PAUCH

BROCKVILLE, ONT  – Erick Rudolph made a clean sweep during Brockville Ontario Speedway’s Fall Nationals as he picked up Friday nights DIRTcar Small Block Modified feature and Saturday nights Super DIRTcar Series feature, both in his No. 62 Small Block Modified.

“I was behind Friesen for ten or fifteen laps or so,” Rudolph said. “I was able to get around him a little bit before halfway. The track took some rubber. Then the lap cars came involved. I kept my nose clean. Towards the end of the race we had some restarts where we were able to keep her out front.”

On the drop of the green flag Jimmy Phelps and Stewart Friesen pulled away from the field as they went side-by-side until Friesen hooked his car up to the outside groove and set sail.

Friesen was just closing in on lap traffic until the first caution of the night was brought out on lap seven due to a slowing Max McLaughlin with a left front flat.

Rudolph took advantage of the lap 12 restart as he slipped passed Phelps for second.

It didn’t take long for Rudolph to start putting pressure on Friesen as Rudolph drove to the outside of the track and went by Friesen to claim the top spot on lap 27.

Matt Sheppard showed his nose on the lap 46 restart and advanced into the third spot, moving in on Friesen but action was soon halted as a caution was brought out once again on lap 47.

Rudolph led the field at the halfway mark over Friesen, Sheppard, Danny Johnson and Keith Flach.

Johnson reclaimed third from Sheppard then flew by Friesen on the top for second on lap 55.

Rudolph, with a sizable lead over Johnson, caught the back end of the field for the first time of the night on lap 61.

As Rudolph worked his way through lap traffic Johnson, Sheppard and Friesen were slowly closing the gap.

Larry Wight, who started twelfth, snuck his way into the top five by lap 65.

A lap 73 caution allowed the field to close up once again as both small block drivers, Rudolph and Johnson, led the field to the lap 75 restart.

It was tight racing throughout the field as cars went two and three wide but it was the front row everyone had their eyes on.

Sheppard dove under Johnson and slid up across him coming out of turn four as he advanced into second on lap 76.

A late caution on lap 87 gave the field one more try to make some moves.

Rudolph pulled away on the final restart as Sheppard searched high and low for a faster lane.

Sheppard made up some ground as he started closing in on Rudolph.

With two laps to remaining, Sheppard was on Rudolph’s bumper looking for a way to make his move. Sheppard ran out of time as Rudolph crossed the line by 0.431 seconds over Sheppard to capture his first Super DIRTcar Series win of the season and second of the weekend at Brockville Ontario Speedway.

“You never know with Sheppard. He’s a fierce competitor. I’m sure he wanted to win just as much as I did. If he had anything for me or could have made the move I’m sure he would have. He was right there. If I made a mistake I’m sure he would have been there,” Rudolph said.

Rudolph was confident with his car after Friday night’s victory that he knew what to do come Saturday. “We set the car up a little bit different tonight than what we had Friday night. Tonight it was a little slipperier.”

Race Notes: 36 modifieds attempted to qualify and 30 modifieds started the feature event. Dale Planck won the Pole Position Raceway Fast Time Award with a time of 15.284 seconds in the No. 96m small block modified. Eight cautions were brought out during the feature; lap 7, 18, 31, 39, 47, 73, 84 and 87.

The Super DIRTcar Series will be off for a week as drivers and teams get ready for the Bad Boy Off Road World Finals at The Dirt Track at Charlotte Oct. 27-29th. That will be the final stop for the Super DIRTcar Series as the 2016 Big Block Modified Champion will be decided and crowned.

Follow the series on Twitter @SuperDIRTcar, or click www.SuperDIRTcarSeries.com.

Super DIRTcar Series Statistical Report; Oct. 15, 2016; Brockville Ontario Speedway, Brockville, Ont.

A-Main (100 Laps) – 1. 62-Erick Rudolph, 2. 9s-Matt Sheppard, 3. 27j-Danny Jonson, 4. 44-Stewart Friesen, 5. 99L-Larry Wight, 6. 66x-Carey Terrance, 7. 33-Ryan Arbithnot, 8. 21-Yan Bussiere, 9. 43-Keith Flach, 10. 18h-Peter Britten, 11. 91-Billy Decker, 12. 88-Mike Mahaney, 13. 151-Brian McDonald, 14. 23-Danny Bilodeau, 15. 6h-Max McLaughlin, 16. 42p-Pat Ward, 17. 21k-Randy Chrysler, 18. 20-Brett Hearn, 19. 19-Tim Fuller, 20. 16-Gage Morin, 1. 96-Jean-Francois Corriveau, 22. 7m-Mike Maresca, 23. 1*-Steve Bernier, 24. 9J0Jordan McCreadie, 25. 07-Tim Kerr, 26. 47s-Corey Wheeler, 27. 98h-Jimmy Phelps, 28. 63-Chris Herbison, 30. 96J-Jason Riddell

Heat 3 (8 Laps) – 1. 62-Erick Rudolph, 2. 21-Yan Bussiere, 3. 43-Keith Flach, 4. 91-Billy Decker, 5. 20-Brett Hearn, 6. 96-Jean-Francois Corriveau, 7. 96J-Jason Riddell

Group 3 Qualifier – 1. 62-Erick Rudolph, 15.426; 2. 21-Yan Bussiere, 15.763; 3. 43-Keith Flach, 15.876; 4. 91-Billy Decker, 15.932; 5. 20-Brett Hearn, 15.951; 6. 13-Kevin Hamel, 16.172; 7. 14-Rick Wilson, 16.218; 8. 96-Jean Francois Corriveau, 16.225; 9. 96J-Jason Riddell, 17.164

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