RUDOLPH CONCLUDES A
HISTORIC SEASON IN UPSTATE NEW YORK

   Erick Rudolph of Ransomville and the DeLange Racing team wrapped up a very impressive year of racing in Upstate New York last weekend. On Saturday the team headed to Chemung Speedrome in the Southern Tier to compete against the cars and stars of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. In what proved to be a very competitive race, the 16-year-old driver more than held his own and finished sixth, his best result so far in eight Whelen Tour races. He was pleased with his accomplishment but not completely satisfied.
   "We had a pretty good run tonight and got a sixth place finish out of it," Erick explained. "We really didn't have the car to go to the front. We worked all day trying to get it right; first it was tight and then it was loose and we struggled back and forth trying to find a middle ground. It ended up being a tad too loose in the feature but we came out with a solid finish anyway.
   On Sunday the team returned home to Dunn Tire Raceway Park for the completion of the US Open. Rudolph had won the first three Modified-type feature events and was hoping to conclude the sweep in the 100-lap Race of Champions Tour 100. But he battled an ill-handling racecar all day and still came away with a respectable seventh place finish against a stellar field. But like any good racer, he wasn't content with anything short of winning.
   "I was disappointed today," Rudolph admitted. "I thought we would come out of here with a little better finish after last week but we just didn't have that success today. All year we've struggled with our program for 100-lap races here at DTRP. We'll have to keep working on it for next year. We have a long winter to think about it so hopefully we can come back with something better in 2009."
   Despite an unsatisfactory effort in his final race of 2008 at his home track, Erick and the DeLange team have reason to be proud of what was a record-setting season. For the first time in the 50-year history of the Lancaster track, the teenager was the first-ever driver to win the track championship in both major open wheel divisions. His extraordinary feat proves this third generation racer has a bright future ahead of him. Please join us in congratulating this talented young man.
   Two races remain on the 2008 schedule for Erick Rudolph and the DeLange Racing team. On October 19 they will head east to historic Thompson International Speedway to challenge the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour in the World Series of Speedway Racing, the biggest auto racing event of its kind in the Northeast. Then on the first weekend in November they will head south to Concord, North Carolina for the Sixth Annual John Blewett III Memorial North-South Shootout at Concord Motorsport Park.

 THE END