Category: News

By MIKE MALLETT

Erick Rudolph had his work cut out for him in Friday night’s season opener at the Big Diamond Speedway. The Ransomville, N.Y., driver missed the redraw in his qualifying even and had to start 14th. Rudolph clawed his way through the field to earn an impressive fifth place finish at the conclusion of the 30-lap affair.

“That is a hard earned fifth place,” stated Rudolph. “We had to work our butt off. We were a little under powered with our engine combination in the heat race. Our car handled perfect in the heat but we just couldn’t get a couple more spots. It wasn’t for lack of handling. Once the feature came around we could hang in there. In the middle of the race we were really fast but towards the end I loosened up a bit.”

Rudolph, driving his family No. 25, utilized Friday night as a test session as well for later in the season. Rudolph has plenty of experience on the Hoosier tires but Friday offered him an opportunity to run American Racer tires.

“We are going to run about a dozen or so shows with the American Racers,” he said. “We are here doing some testing for that. We definitely learned some things. We are going to write it down in our notebook for later in the year.”

Those events join a busy schedule that Rudolph has planned for the 2016 season. Besides the family team, Rudolph has several starts planned with Randy Chrysler as well as a team he competed for last season with a new number.

“Ransomville (Speedway) and Merrittville (Speedway), we’ll be there most of the time,” commented Rudolph. “That is going to be with the 62 team. We’ll be there unless there is a BRP (The Modified Tour) race or somewhere else we need to go then we’ll go, but that is our Friday and Saturday night plans. We’ll run the big-block with Randy Chrysler. There are four series or something like that in the area. We’ll go here and there and everywhere. We’ll have a busy schedule.”

The 62 team that Rudolph is running for in the 358-Modified ranks is the same team he drove for in 2015 owned by Rob Clark.

“It was the 19 car last year,” mentioned Rudolph. “I drove for him about a dozen times. We got a win at Humberstone (Speedway) and a tons of second. It’s a good runner. We have a new car with a freshened engine. I’m excited about it.”

Rudolph wrapped up his weekend with a top ten in the Hard Clay Open on Saturday night at the Orange County Fair Speedway.

http://www.dirttrackdigest.com/NewPress/?p=16674

By MIKE MALLETT

Erick Rudolph continues to prove that he is the master of the indoor racing scene. The Ransomville, N.Y., driver dominated Saturday night’s Battle of Trenton finale for his second indoor series win of the year. He won the opener in Allentown before a disappointing 10th in Atlantic City. Had he won all three events he would have took home a $10,000 bonus courtesy of Vahlco Wheels.

“It’s a letdown in the fact that we didn’t get the 10 grand bonus from Vahlco Wheels there, but you got to remember it’s not a letdown when you give 100 percent,” Rudolph said. “Not just me but the owner, the whole crew, it’s not a letdown because we know that we gave it our all. That’s what we are proud of.”

None the less it was a stunning indoor season for Rudolph considering he bested nearly 70 different cars on not just one but two occasions. Anyone that has ever been to an indoor event knows you need a fast race car but there is a certain element of luck to being able to survive the rough and tumble aspect of it.

“You got to look at this way,” stated Rudolph. “You got to play it by the numbers. There are close to 70 cars here today, similar in Allentown and Atlantic City there were a 100. To win one is an accomplishment, to win two is awesome.”

Rudolph has a strong relationship with indoor car builder extraordinaire Mark Lafler. The two share a hometown and have been working together for 10 years. The results have been incredible with Rudolph winning indoor event after indoor event and more and more people purchasing the Lafler built cars. In Saturday night’s dash at Trenton, seven out of the eight cars were of that design.

“This has been in the making for a lot of years,” commented Rudolph. “We used to race indoors about a decade ago. We had a handful of cars and it’s grown into what it is today. I don’t think there is any other car but a Lafler to run indoors. It goes with Mark Lafler himself. You see him walking around the garage area helping guys out, people coming over and asking him and more often than not he sends them in the right direction.”

Even though the indoor racing season has come to a close and Rudolph will be returning to the dirt, he’ll still have some focus on the indoor season that starts next December. He does stop at the shop during the off-season to check in and to go over things. The pair are constantly looking for a way to get better.

“It is something I look forward to getting to because we always run well and win,” stated Rudolph. “I feel like at the indoor races I have the best chance out of anyone to win with the track record we have. Car wise, engine wise, we got the whole package. It’s not totally forgotten about during the summer months. I usually stop by a couple times in the shop. He’s right in town. He comes to a few of my dirt races. We talk about it, catch up on it, discuss ways to get better. It’s got to be a year round thing.”

http://www.pavedtrackdigest.com/?p=878