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View Full Version : RUDOLPH MAKES RoC DART HISTORY WITH WIN AT WYOMING COUNTY



RGeeProductions
07-16-2007, 01:06 AM
In the storied history of the Race of Champions Dart Asphalt Modified Tour there has never been a teenage asphalt Modified winner. All of that came to an end on Sunday afternoon at the Wyoming County International Raceway. As 16 year old third generation racer Erick Rudolph of Ransomville, NY led all 75 laps with ease to claim not only his first RoC Dart win but also his first ever asphalt Modified win.

Matt Hirschman continued his fine run of not pitting and finishing in the top three as he ended up second. Daren Scherer like the first two drivers didn't pit for a new tire drove the wheels of his car to end up third. Bobby Holmes who is a teammate to Rudolph made it a good day for the DeLange Racing Team with a solid fourth place finish. Pete Brittain came on strong after his pit stop to finish in fifth aboard the Terry Zacharias prepared machine.

“ Yes this is my biggest win “ said the soft spoken $2,800 winner. “ Wyoming County has been a very good place for me as I won my first SST Sportsman feature here and now I won my first Modified feature here. “

Erick redrew the pole starting spot and when the green flag dropped to start the 75 lap feature Erick jumped out to the lead over Brian DeFebo. With the first 34 laps going caution free Rudolph navigated lap traffic like a cool veteran does after ten plus years of racing.

Still many thought that the rookie asphalt Modified racer would stumble when the race would get near the end. But every time there was an opportunity for nerves to play a role in the outcome Rudolph drove like he had ice water in his veins. This was proved every time after each restart Rudolph would open up a very comfortable lead. Basically he was never seriously challenged throughout the feature as he drove a perfect race.

“ I really wanted this one today “ said Erick. “ Because of starting on the pole with a good car that the DeLange's gave me to run along with the great crew I have working on the car. “

“ It's been a fun year racing around the different tracks with RoC and gaining the experience “ said Erick about his learning curve season on the road. “ It definitely means something to me to be the youngest RoC winner ever, there's a lot of history and I'm glad to be a part of the history. “

When Erick was named to this potent ride replacing Dave Wollaber many people questioned the move. With his performances this year Erick has silenced his critics and proved that he belongs in this car. “ I don't listen to my critics at all, as this was a big win, a RoC win, first Modified win, a really big win. “

Erick was very calm, cool, and collected after the feature win kind of like he was still in shock. But his dad Charlie was all smiles as he was receiving handshakes from the many well wishers in the pit area.

“ I'm very proud of him and he definitely has some talent “ said Charlie. “ It was a lot easier for me to drive than it was to watch, believe me. I'm very proud of him as he turned 14. 14 the last two laps and that is moving at this place. What can you ask of a kid at that age. “

“ I would like to thank my dad, my grandpa, all of the crew, and all of the sponsors, because I couldn't do any of this without them “ said Erick.

“ I didn't know that going with the no pit strategy was the thing to do but it worked out as the tires held up really good and the risk paid off “ said Erick. “ I know the paving job helped my back out as I'm not as sore as I was following the last race here as the car didn't go all over the place like it did last time. “

“ People copied our strategy from last weekend so I came up with something else “ said second place finisher Matt Hirschman. Last weekend Matt rode around at the back on both nights and only pitted on Friday to finish third and didn't pit and won on Saturday night. Today Hirschman raced hard in his heat race and re drew 11th for the feature.

“ Every race like I told you last week you have to come up with something different or what ever works best for that day “ said Matt. “ I'm kind of the benchmark right now because we are running competitive and people are looking at what we're doing. It might have worked for me once and we can do it different ways to get good results. “

Matt after the original green took his time to save his tires and never entered the top five until lap 48. With the second place car of Brian DeFebo really struggling while holding on to second. Matt went from fifth to second with an inside backstretch pass on lap 71. Despite having one final restart on lap 74 Matt didn't have anything for the high flying teenager.

“ Erick was up front all day and he had a really good car, he did a really good job running out there. I think we would have been equal if I had gotten more laps at the end of the race. I probably wasn't going to pass him today because the track wasn't as racy enough for me as it has been in the past. The outside groove wasn't as good for me as it has been in the past. “

Matt summed up his day in a positive way. “ A second, another top three finish for us here, I'm not sure how many in a row that is for us here. Congratulations to Erick on his first win, probably first of many, but they're hard to come by. We go to Oswego next week and that is my favorite track, my strongest track and we'll give it our best shot this week. “

“ I didn't notice that much difference with the track with the exception of a little bump in turns three and four “ said third place finisher Daren Scherer, who started 3rd when talking about the track surface. “ I took a different strategy this time and we weren't going to pit unlike last time when we pitted. We'll take a third and the different strategy paid off for us. “

Qualifying for the 21 cars in attendance saw heat wins captured by Billy Putney, Brittain, and DeFebo.

BULL RING NOTES; Many drivers are taking notice of fellow drivers race strategy and it was proven on this day. With everyone qualifying Eric Beers, Lee Sherwood, Rick Kluth, and Rusty Smith all rode around at the back of their respective heat race saving their tires. Unlike the previous visits to the track pitting for a new right rear tire didn't pay off with a feature win. Many drivers afterwards said the outside groove was slippery and it was more than likely the oil coming out of the fresh patches of blacktop that was done two weeks ago, the patches held up perfectly. Four drivers never pitted and they were the top three along with Brian DeFebo. DeFebo deserved a better finish as he was second until the mad scramble began with less than 10 laps to go and he got shuffled back. Eric Beers was driving the Zacharias Racing car that formerly belonged to Bobby Osgood. Beers had an overheating problem which brought a yellow out on lap 47, the problem was fixed but as he re- entered the track an oil line broke. While the track cleanup was taking place the oil line was repaired and Eric returned without losing a lap. Also during this yellow Billy Putney who was sixth had to pit to change a left front brake rotor assembly. Rusty Smith also deserved a better finish as he was as high as fourth until a last lap mad scramble took place in turn two which saw Rusty spend time in the infield grass.

RACE REPORT RACE OF CHAMPIONS DART ASPHALT MODIFIED TOUR NORTH REGION RACE # 3

FINISH; Erick Rudolph, Matt Hirschman, Daren Scherer, Bobby Holmes, Pete Brittain, Rick Kluth, Billy Putney, Lee Sherwood, Todd Smith, Brian DeFebo, Rusty Smith, Danny Knoll, Jr., Phil Slater, Eric Beers, Chris Zacharias, Mark Tychoniewicz, Dan Chimera, John Markovic, Matt Clemens, Bill Mislin, Tony Hanbury.
LAP LEADERS; Rudolph ( 1 - 75 )
DART MACHINERY SET OF HEADS $1,200 VALUE; Clemens
GATER RACING NEWS DRIVER BONUS DRAW $500; Knoll
HOOSIER RACING TIRE HARD CHARGER AWARD; Kluth ( 18th to 6th )
HOOSIER RACING TIRE HARD LUCK AWARD; Markovic ( 8th to 18th ), Tychoniewicz ( 6th to 16th )

NEXT RoC DART ASPHALT MODIFIED TOUR EVENT; Saturday July 21st - Oswego Speedway - Central Region Race # 4

JR KENNERUP/RoC MEDIA

uticamike
07-17-2007, 12:37 AM
JR didn't mention it but this was Ericks !! 6TH Start !! in a Modified. He was as cool as cucumber late in the race with MH breathing down his neck. He messed up in the SST race getting into the back of another car messing up his steering rack but undaunted goes out and wins the Mod feature. This kid
is special no doubt and has a bright future. Plus he's a nice kid and a pleasure
to talk to. Wish him all the best.