This past Saturday afternoon, Erick Rudolph returned to the scene where exactly one year ago, the Ransomville, New York racing star won the 30 lap DIRTcar Sportsman Championship at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse, New York during Super DIRT Week 2008.
     Never one to sit on his laurels, Erick moved his talents to the DIRTcar 358 Modified division during the 2009 season at Ransomville Speedway along with a full schedule on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.

     Erick's visit to the Salute To The Troops Syracuse 150 Mr DIRTcar 358 Modified Championship Series event last Saturday at Syracuse didn't go as well as he had planned as he finished 32nd after losing a battle with the famous Syracuse wall.
    "We felt that we had a car that could finish in the top ten."
     Erick set 28th fastest time in Thursday qualifying. With a chance to better his starting position in one of two scheduled 20 mile heat races on Friday, an all day rain forced Super DIRT Week officials to scrap the heat races and set up the feature event by order on how they timed.
     "After the tire went flat, then the wheel broke and that put us in the wall."
     While it was a tough day on Saturday, Erick did well in the Thursday afternoon "Futures Race" for the DIRTcar 358 Modified division. The Futures Races is a program designed by DIRTcar Northeast that allows first time drivers in a division to race against each other. Erick finished second and it gave him valuable experience when it came time to run against the division's more experienced drivers.
     "I was very happy with the way the car drove on Thursday. The Futures Race gave us a chance to get some work on the track before we went out on Saturday."
     Erick is hoping that his experience this season will give him an edge next year at Ransomville Speedway and at Syracuse Super DIRT Week 2010.
     "Compared to the Sportsman car we drove a year ago, this was certainly a bigger challenge. Last year, we didn't have the rain we did this year and you could pick your spots on the track. This year, the rain washed away the rubber away and we didn't have all of those spots."
     "I feel that luck has a lot more to winning a race than anything else.
     The final race of the 2009 season for Erick Rudolph and his race team will be this weekend when Thompson Internatonal Speedway hosts it's annual World Series event.
     It will also mark the final event for the 2009 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.
     Last season, Erick finished fifth in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour World Series race and would like nothing better than equaling or inproving his finish from a year ago
     "We'd like to go out of the 2009 season with a win or a great finish. We know that Thompson is a challenging track. We're ready for that."
     After a slow 2009 start, Erick has stepped up the pace and has slipped above 15th place in NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour points. With a top five finish, he could move even farther up the ladder as the third generation driver is anxious to get back on the half-mile high banked Thompson, Connecticut oval.
     On another note, Erick was originally scheduled to run the Concord (NC) Motor Speedway North/South Modified Shootout. The team, however, has decided that they will not attend the event as originally scheduled.
     Practice for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour at Thompson International Speedway will be Saturday morning (October 18th) with time trials scheduled for Saturday afternoon at 2:30pm. On Sunday afternoon, the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour competitors will have an autograph session scheduled for 2pm. The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour 150 is scheduled to begin between 3:00-3:30pm.
     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.