ERICK RUDOLPH IMPRESSIVE IN SIXTH PLACE FINISH AT STAFFORD

      Stafford Motor Speedway has been an on again and off again race
track for young racing star Erick Rudolph in the past two seasons. Last
Friday night, the Ransomville, NY resident had a successful venture on
the one half mile oval grabbing an impressive sixth place at the
Central Connecticut racing facility.
      The event also marked the halfway point of the NASCAR Whelen
Modified Tour 2009 schedule.

      For Erick, it was a payback for his two previous 2009 appeaences
at Stafford, where he didn't finish either event despite qualifying
well and setting very quick times in practice.
      Erick gave a lot of the credit for his finish to the people behind
the scenes.
      "I was just so happy with the performance of our race team. The
crew did a great job in getting the car out on the track when we had to
pit."
      Erick qualified in the sixteenth starting position and admitted
that it was a tough surface for passing.
      "I think everyone struggled in trying to pass all race long. We
were fortunate to get the sixth place finish. It was nice because we
haven't been able to do very well here in our other two events at
Stafford. I'm looking to continuing our good fortune when we come back
out here on Thursday at Thompson.
      Erick's first full season on the 2009 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour has
been challenging but he's looking forward to the final half of the
season, which includes visits to high profile race tracks such as
Bristol and Martinsville. Erick is only a few weeks from entering his
senior year at Wilson (NY) High School.
      This Thursday's Budwesier 150 presented by the New England Dodge
Dealers will be Erick's second visit to Thompson for the 2009 season.
The first time was the opening race of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour
in April where Erick had a top ten finish all but locked up when he was
involved in an accident that took him out of the race.
      Despite this, Erick is confident the outcome will be different
this time around.
      Erick and his race team will be prepared for what will be the
eighth race on the scheduled fourteen race 2009 NASCAR Whelen Modified
Tour.
      "I've ran well at Thompson in the past. The track is generally
laid out to what type of race track I like. It's a very fast racing
surface and really suits my driving style.
      Practice for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will be from
2:00-3:30pm. Qualifying/Time Trials is scheduled at 5:30pm. The
Budweiser 150 presented by the New England Dodge Dealers is slated to
begin at 8:45pm.
      Last Saturday night, Erick was scheduled to run the Tommy
Druar/Tony Jankowiak Memorial 50 at Dunn Tire Raceway Park, but the
event was rained out. The rescheduling of this event has yet to be
determined.
      It will be a busy weekend for Erick. In addition to competing at
Thompson this Thursday, he will be at Ransomville Speedway on Friday,
competing in a 30 lap DIRTcar 358 Modified feature. On Saturday, he
will be back at Dunn Tire Raceway Park competing in a 50 lap Modified
main event.
    The Erick Rudolph Racing Team would like to thank Bob Cordova of
Original Pizza Logs; Tom Snyder of Primetyme Motorsports, Tom Brigham
Jr of Brigham Concrete and John Holland and Al Heinke of H&H
Motorosports for their support of the Erick Rudolph Race Team. To learn
more about Erick Rudolph, please visit his website at www.erickrudolph.com.

MEDIA CONTACT: Dave Roberts

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