Erick Rudolph| Erick Rudolph Racing| BBL Racing

Erick Rudolph charges to first career Super DIRTcar Series win, taking victory at Autodrome Drummond
Rudolph charges from 17th starting spot to win at Autodrome Drummond

DRUMMONDVILLE, QUEBEC — July 23, 2014 — Mere weeks after first sitting behind the wheel of his new ride, young Modified driver Erick Rudolph picked up a win in a Super DIRTcar Series race. A late-race charge took the Mike Payne owned Page Trucking No. to victory Tuesday, July 22, at Autodrome Drummond.

“Today we just hit it right on, where we needed to be,” the 22-year-old out of Ransomville, N.Y., said after the 100-lap Super DIRTcar Series Big Block Modified Series race Tuesday. “It started a little slow, but slowly and surely we worked up to to the front.”

Rudolph, the defending DIRTcar 358-Modified Series champion, started 17th on the grid after finishing fifth in his heat and was able to make the right moves to claim the lead over veteran racer and eight-time Super DIRTcar Series champion Brett Hearn with just 10 laps to go.

Polesitter Matt Billings led the race at the green flag, followed by Steve Paine in second, Brett Hearn in third, Larry Wight in fourth and Monday’s feature winner Danny Johnson in fifth. Paine and Hearn gathered momentum in the first few laps, with Paine passing billings for the lead in lap 4 and Hearn passing Paine for the lead in lap 9.

The Gypsum Express Ltd. No. 99L wheeled by Wight stopped in turn two during lap 11, bringing the first caution of the race. Hearn was strong on restarts Tuesday, and didn’t give competitors behind him any opportunity to challenge his position. Meanwhile, Rudolph was working his way forward, making his way to 14th after the lap-18 restart.

A collision in lap 38 brought red-flag conditions to the race track with the No. 22c of Mario Clair flipped in turn 3. The No. 22c, as well as the No. 9H driven by point leader Matt Sheppard and the No. 54 of Steve Bernard were towed off the track.

Hearn led the next double-file restart over another veteran racer, Danny Johnson, with Rudolph running in eighth. Over the next 40 green laps, Rudolph steadily gained rank, passing Paine for fifth in lap 58 and Matt Billings for fourth in lap 74. Another caution took hold of the race track in lap 80, resulting in a single-file restart during which Rudolph gained two positions to run in second.

Billy Dunn challenged Rudolph for second in lap 88, and Rudolph powered forward, not only fending off Dunn’s challenges, but also making his way closer to the leader. Rudolph ran bumper-to-bumper with Hearn and wheel-to-wheel with Dunn, until Dunn fell back and Rudolph was able to pull alongside Hearn. Rudolph took the lead in lap 90 and never looked back.

“I was able to size him up. It seemed like I was a little quicker than him,” said Rudolph, whose win Tuesday marks the first Super DIRTcar Series victory of his career. “Then, when I got a run, I took the spot.”

Defending series champion Hearn, while hoping for a win Tuesday, was pleased with a strong second-place finish.

“We had a very fast car. I’m really proud of how the team came here ready to race,” Hearn said of his No. 20 Madsen Motorsports team. “We laid down some good laps in time trials both nights, we had good heat race runs, but we sealed the right rear tire and we got beat by a faster car at the end. It was a great race, obviously I’m disappointed, but at the same time I’m really proud.”

Dunn stayed strong the remaining laps to finish third after starting sixth on the grid. A hard-charging Gary Tomkins started 28th and finished fourth. Initial race leader Matt Billings finished fifth.

The Super DIRTcar Big Block Modified Series returns to Albany-Saratoga Speedway Wednesday, July 30, for the completion of Brett Hearn’s “The Big Show 6.” For more information about the Super DIRTcar Series, visit www.superdirtcarseries.com.
http://www.superdirtcarseries.com/news/race-reports/188-2014-race-reports/879-rudolph-on-a-roll-autodrome-drummond.html

Late-race charge takes Rudolph to DIRTcar 358-Modified Modified Series Victory Lane

PORT COLBORNE,  ONTARIO — July 2, 2014 — After a stunning late-race charge, Erick Rudolph, of Ransomville, N.Y., took victory in the DIRTcar 358-Modified Series 100-lapper Tuesday, July 1, at Humberstone Speedway.

The defending series champion, Rudolph wrestled the lead from small block star Mat Williamson, of St. Catherines, Ontario, with just four laps remaining in the feature race.

“I just started reeling him in,” Rudolph said during the Victory Lane ceremonies that concluded the Speedway’s Canada Day special. “We raced each other hard for a little bit, had a lot of fun doing that, then with four laps to go I was able to get by him and get the win.”

Williamson and Rudolph certainly put on a show for fans at Humberstone Speedway, battling back and forth right up until the checkered flag.

The battle began early in the race, with Williamson starting eighth on the grid and Rudolph sixth. By lap 20, Williamson was grappling with initial race leader Mike Bowman for second place and Rudolph was close behind in third. Todd Gordon was in the lead after a quick move off a restart in lap 13 took him past polesitter Bowman.

In lap 21, Williamson was closing in on Gordon, closely hugging the inside of the track while Gordon looped around on the outside groove.

Shane Pierce spun in lap 22 to bring the race’s third caution. The subsequent restart presented an opportunity for Williamson, and he took full advantage, powering ahead at the green flag for the lead. Williamson kept his position through the next 40 caution-riddled laps, and was able to leverage intermittent green lap runs to pull ahead of the rest of the field. Behind him, Rudolph and Gordon battled hard for the runner-up spot with Rudolph winning out in lap 50.

After a lap-59 restart, a series of green-flag laps put the leaders among lapped traffic by lap 76. At first Williamson struggled with the extra cars on the track, letting Rudolph come within a few car lengths of his rear bumper. However, a three-time maneuver charging between Robbie Krull’s No. 123 and Lance Willix’s No. 16 helped Williamson work the lapped cars to his advantage.

With two cars between his No. 25 ride and the leader, Rudolph’s advance was challenged, but Rudolph did not let it slow him down. He darted low on the inside of turn 3 in lap 91 in an attempt to pass one of the lapped cars, but he hit a barrier to bring caution back  to the race track.

On the restart, Rudolph was fast on the top side and kept pace with Williamson. They raced side-by-side, with Rudolph trying the outside, then deftly crossing behind to the inside, to try to find a way around Williamson. Finally, in lap 96, Rudolph was able to find enough speed to overtake Williamson for the lead and the win.

“When the race first started I realized we had missed the setup a little bit, but I knew as the race went on that it would get better, and I was just waiting and waiting,” Rudolph said. “I almost got to him, but I got caught up with a couple of lapped cars. Then the yellow came out. From there it was just working on him.”

“It was tricky to get by him, but we made it work,” Rudolph continued.

Williamson stayed strong for a second-place finish.

“We were too good too early,” Williamson said. “We sealed our tire over there, and that was our fate. We were just lucky to hang in there for second (place). If the race had been a little bit longer, we would have ended up third or fourth.  It was a good run for Erick, and we just have to work on it for next time.”

Pete Bicknell finished third after starting fourth. Drastic equipment changes after the night’s qualifying rounds helped Bicknell stay strong throughout the feature.

“We changed just about everything about it. We had been having trouble with it being a little bit loose, so I said ‘let’s just change everything we can think of,’ and we did,” Bicknell said of the No. 42. “It actually worked good — that’s probably the best we’ve had the car for a while. The guys did a good job changing everything over.”

Chad Brachmann finished fourth after staring third and polesitter Mike Bowman placed fifth. Rounding out the top ten are Ryan Susice in sixth, Gordon in seventh,  Mario Clair in eighth, Lance Willix in ninth and Tyler McPherson in tenth.

The DIRTcar 358-Modified Series continues Wednesday, July 3, with a 75J lap feature at Ransomville Speedway in Ransomville, N.Y.  For more information about the DIRTcar 358-Modified Series,  visit www.dirtcar.com.

A-Main:

1. 25 Erick Rudolph – Ransomville, N.Y.

2. 6m Mat Williamson – St. Catharines, Ontario,  Canada

3. 42 Pete Bicknell – St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada

4. 3 Chad Brachmann – Sanborn, N.Y.

5. 71 Mike Bowman – St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada

6. 38 Ryan Susice – Ransomville, N.Y.

7. 28 Todd Gordon – Thorold, Ontario

8. 22c Mario Clair – Drummondville, Quebec, Canada

9. 16 Lance Willix II – Theresa, N.Y.

10. 777 Tyler McPherson – St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada

11. R70 Ryan Arbuthnot – Renfrew, Ontario, Canada

12. 17 Chris Steele – Fenwick, Ontario, Canada

13. 38 Scott Wood – Thorold, Ontario, Canada

14. 66x Carey Terrance – Hogansburg, N.Y.

15. 123 Robbie Krull – Cambria, N.Y.

16. 72 Tommy Flannigan – Port Robinson, Ontario, Canada

17. 12 Chad Chevalier – Port Colborne, Ontario, Canada

18. 21k Randy Chrysler, Lewiston, N.Y.

19. 88 Shane Pierce – Welland, Ontario, Canada

20. 23 Larry Lampman, Jr. – Port Colborne, Ontario, Canada

21. 74 Dave Flannigan – St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada

22. 108 Bill Bleich – Port Robinson, Ontario, Canada

23. 18 Rick Hoctor – Cheektowaga, N.Y.

 

Qualifying Heats (top 4 redraw)

Heat 1: Bowman, T. Flannigan, Lampman, Clair, Wood, Willix, Arbuthnot, Pierce

Heat 2: Rudolph, McPherson, Gordon, Terrance, Steele, Bleich, Krull, D. Flannigan

Heat 3: Williamson, Susice, Bicknell, Brachmann,  Chevalier, Chrysler,  Hoctor

Time Trials: 1. Bowman 15.867, 2. Susice 15.939, 3. T. Flannigan 15.943, 4. Clair 15.955, 5. Williamson 16.005, 6. Rudolph 16.023, 7. Wood 16.034, 8. Lampman 16.051, 9. Brachmann 16.097, 10. Bicknell 16.111, 11. Chevalier 16.133, 12. Chrysler 16.144, 13. Terrance 16.157, 14. McPherson 16.216, 15. Steele 16.271, 16. Pierce 16.341, 17. Gordon 16.346, 18. Krull 16.487, 19. Bleich 16.548, 20. D. Flannigan 16.560, 21. Arbuthnot 16.624, 22. Hoctor 16.811, 23. Willix 16.889

Erick Rudolph wins Canada Day thriller at Humberstone Speedway