The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour is slowly coming down to the end of the 2009 season. The remaining event on the schedule is next Sunday afternoon, October 18th at the Thompson International Speedway.
     Erick scored a tenth place finish at Stafford Motor Speedway last Sunday afternoon and finished the day two spots higher in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour point standings moving from 16th place to 14th place. With a good finish at Thompson, Erick could find himself even higher. Erick is only a few points out of 13th place.
     Considering that Erick was 33rd in NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour points four races into the 2009 season, Erick has run much better as the season went along.
     "We had a tough start to the season," said Erick. who is currently in his first full season on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. "We could've ben much better in the points if we would've been able to complete some of those races."
     In Erick's first four NWMT races this season, he failed to finish a race. Not because of car malfunction but on-track incidents. He was able to come through with a NWMT win at Spencer (NY) Speedway in July, becoming the youngest driver in the history of the series to do so.
     Last Sunday, Erick got all of his racing completed in one day. After qualifying was postponed to Sunday afternoon after a rainy day on Saturday, Erick was able to place his Ed Bennent Chevrolet Properties Modified in 13th starting position.
     Erick was up as high as fourth place in the Carquest Fall Final 150. Unfortunately, Erick picked up a flat tire due to an incident with a couple of cars who crashed in front of him. He came back to get tenth at the finish.
    "The car was running good. It was too bad that we had to get involved in that incident."
    Ironically for Erick, he also finished tenth in his previous event at Stafford in late August.

    This Saturday, Erick goes back to the place that drew him a whole new fanbase.
    Last October during Super DIRT Week, Erick won the 30 lap Mr DIRTcar Sportsman Championship Series event by a 13 second margin over his nearest competitor. It was one of the more lopsided victories in the history of Super DIRT Week, which began back in 1972.
    The amazing thing about Erick's win is that it was his first time on the Syracuse Mile. In fact, Erick had only a handful of racing events on the dirt before going to Syracuse.
   He took to the track like he had been a seasoned veteran.
    This weekend, Erick returns to Syracuse in the H & H Motorsports sponsored Troyer Chassis...this time in the DIRTcar 358 Modified division and the "Salute To The Troops Syracuse 150" this Saturday afternoon. Last season, Erick took the place over with a dominating win. This time, the competition will be more severe but Erick will be up to the task.
    "I had a lot of fun at Syracuse last year. I'm really looking forward to going back and driving well. The place has a lot of history. My dad and my grandfather both drove at Syracuse and I enjoy being the third generation here."
    Erick's dad Charlie was a staple at Syracuse. His best finish here was a second in 1988 in the Eckerd 200. He was also the Rookie of the Race in the 1980 Schaefer 125. He finished in seventh place.
    Time trials will be on Thursday afternoon (October 8th) with the first of two Twin 20 lap heat races scheduled to go off on Friday at 1:30pm.

   Below is the remaining 2009 schedule for Erick.

    October 10-Salute to the Troops Syracuse 150-New York State Fairgrounds
    October 18-Thompson Int'l Speedway World Series-NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour (Final 2009 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.