BARBERVILLE, FL – By Bobby Sweeney – Erick Rudolph has always shown great pace in the state of Florida, but one of those special little gator trophies has evaded him for many, many years. Finally, Rudolph got the monkey off his back and got a gator in his hand, winning the DIRTcar Nationals finalé at Volusia Speedway Park on Saturday night from 11th on the grid.
“A lot of years, a lot of podiums, and a lot of top fives and such,” said Rudolph.” We are always strong. It’s awesome to finally be able to do it.”
Rick Laubach stalked Larry Wight for the lead in the early stages of the 50-lap feature, with Wight holding Laubach at bay prior to the first yellow of the race on lap 15. Prior to this caution, Rudolph had made quick work from his 11th starting spot, climbing to sixth using both available lanes. Using momentum around the recently reworked topside, Rudolph ran up to third on the restart.
“We found a little something in the middle and the top, here and there,” said Rudolph. “The car was so good that I could miss it a little bit, and it seemed like it would still just pull off the corner.”
With Wight and Laubach very committed to the top, Rudolph floated the middle and found some grip. At halfway, Rudolph dove under Laubach, then drove down the hill out of turn four to formulate a run on Wight for the lead. With crossed flags in the air, Rudolph grabbed the top spot.
“About 10 laps before that I found something and kind of settled into where I really wanted to be, and they kind of weren’t there,” said Rudolph. “So that kind of made it work out.”
In clean air, Rudolph’s pace quickened, leaving Wight and Laubach to argue over second. On lap 43, the caution waived, and Rudolph’s big gap was gone. Wight lost a right rear tire on the restart, and second on back turned hectic. Matt Williamson slipped into second, with Laubach dealing with Matt Sheppard and Alex Payne as the race wound down.
Out front, Rudolph continued to hammer out clean laps. With 50 showing on the scoreboard, Rudolph reached the checkered flag first, finally claiming a gator trophy after over a decade of attempts at Volusia Speedway Park. Williamson claimed the runner-up spot, with Sheppard, Payne, and Laubach completing the top five.
Williamson’s race was a bit back-and-forth, bouncing between third and fifth for much of the event. Eventually, the pendulum swung in the 88’s favor, as Williamson got to second in the final rundown.
“Restarts mean more than anything here,” Williamson stated. “Those dang things, you probably get two good ones and then immediately follow it with three bad ones. Luckily, we had a great car tonight, so when they did go my way there at the end, we were able to capitalize on it and get up to second.”
Here are the top five in the final DIRTcar Nationals point standings:
1. Alex Yankowski 585
2. Mat Williamson -3
3. Alex Payne -10
4. Erick Rudolph -24
5. Justin Haers -26
DIRTcar Nationals Night 4 (50 Laps): 1. 25-Erick Rudolph[11]; 2. 88-Mat Williamson[4]; 3. 9S-Matt Sheppard[10]; 4. 70A-Alex Payne[15]; 5. 20-Rick Laubach[1]; 6. 84F-Stewart Friesen[5]; 7. 2-Jack Lehner[3]; 8. 84Y-Alex Yankowski[9]; 9. 12-Darren Smith[13]; 10. 1-Billy Pauch Jr[8]; 11. 98H-Jimmy Phelps[6]; 12. 3-Justin Haers[7]; 13. 4-Anthony Perrego[21]; 14. 83X-Tim Sears Jr[19]; 15. 58-Louden Reimert[16]; 16. 99L-Larry Wight[2]; 17. 91-Felix Roy[22]; 18. 21A-Peter Britten[12]; 19. 7Z-Zach Payne[18]; 20. 8-Rich Scagliotta[24]; 21. 15X-Justin Stone[20]; 22. 21M-Bob Mcgannon[25]; 23. 5H-Amy Holland[23]; 24. 30-HJ Bunting[17]; 25. 66-Corbin Millar[28]; 26. 35C-Chris Curtis[14]; 27. (DNF) 11C-Matt Caprara[26]; 28. (DNF) 16X-Danny Creeden[27]
Rudolph Breaks 11 Year DIRTcar Nationals Drought, Yankowski Earns Big Gator Championship