By Mike Mallett
Some days are better than others.
That phrase perfectly summed up Erick Rudolph’s weekend at Weedsport Speedway.
On Saturday night, Rudolph was left disappointed after charging from 19th to 11th in the Super DIRTcar Series Hall of Fame 100. It wasn’t the result the Ransomville, N.Y. driver had hoped for.
But by Sunday night, the story had changed.
Rudolph rebounded to win the 40-lap, $3,000-to-win Big Block Modified support feature as part of the World of Outlaws Empire State Challenge program.
“We weren’t where we wanted to be yesterday,” said Rudolph. “We got a little better today—right from practice, time trials on—it just felt like a totally different car. Hopefully we’re on to something and we can carry a little momentum into this week.”
Rudolph started second and didn’t waste time. He slipped by polesitter Will Shields on a lap three restart, taking a lead he would never give back.
“We had good stick through the corners,” Rudolph explained. “I think it was important that we got by him when we did because it seemed like maybe 20 laps later, when I got to lapped cars, I couldn’t even do anything with them besides follow them around the bottom. If we hadn’t gotten by early, it might have been a different outcome.”
The team took a step back to move forward—revisiting some old tricks that paid off in the setup department.
“It’s just things that we’ve done in the past that we really haven’t been doing lately,” said Rudolph. “We just threw something at it, and it stuck.”
For Rudolph, it wasn’t just a win—it was a much-needed shot of momentum heading into the heart of the summer stretch.