DELANGE TEAM FIGHTS LOSING BATTLE WITH
MOTHER NATURE
AND LADY LUCK
Last weekend driver Erick Rudolph of Ransomville and the DeLange
Racing team had an aggressive schedule planned. It began with racing
the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour on Friday night at Stafford Motor
Speedway in Connecticut. It would conclude by heading back home to
compete on Saturday night in the 50th Anniversary Celebration at
Dunn Tire Raceway Park in Western New York.
The team arrived at Stafford on Friday afternoon hoping to improve
on their top-ten finish there in late May. After prerace preparation
the #45 Original Pizza Logs/PrimeTyme Motorsports/Brigham Concrete
Modified headed out for qualifying and posted the 11th fastest lap
time, placing them in the sixth row on the starting grid for the
night's main event.
Later that evening the Modifieds lined up and took the green flag
to begin the New England Dodge Dealers 150. Erick settled into a
comfortable position just outside of the top-ten and remained there
until the caution flag waved on lap 56. Most of the field headed for
pit road but the DeLange team played a different strategy, leaving
Rudolph on the track and he inherited the lead. Back to green flag
racing he remained there until the next caution on lap 68 when he
made his pit stop and fell in at the rear of the field.
Rudolph fought his way back up into the top-15 and was battling
with former Tour champion Rick Fuller for position when the caution
lights flashed on lap 104. He passed Fuller when the race went back
to green on the 110th circuit and was looking to advance further
when he brushed the wall off turn two. Although he was able to
continue racing the #45 was off the pace and fell back, eventually
finishing 17th at the end of the lead lap.
"We led our first laps on the Tour but that wasn't really our main
goal," explained Rudolph after the race. "We probably should have
pitted when the other teams did but we stayed out and it wasn't the
right decision. We expected most of the cars to pit later in the
race and that was our mistake. You live and learn and the longer we
do this the more experience we'll have to plan better. Late in the
race we were trying to make the best out of a bad situation and
sometimes when you do that it backfires. It did tonight when we lost
control of the car and scraped the wall."
Early Saturday morning the DeLange team was back on the highway
heading west this time, arriving at DTRP by mid-afternoon with both
the Modified and the #45 Original Pizza Logs/PrimeTyme
Motorsports/Brigham Concrete SST. They qualified both cars for the
night's feature races; a 100-lap Race of Champions Dart Asphalt
Modified Tour feature along with a 50-lap main for the Lorigo
Insurance SST Sportsman. Unfortunately the weather intervened and
the program was washed away after 16 laps of the SST feature. The
remainder of Sunday's program will be completed from that point
forward on Sunday, August 24, as well as the Monday Madness program
originally scheduled for August 25 featuring a 50-lap SST Sportsman
feature.
This coming Saturday the DeLange Racing team will be competing with
both cars at Dunn Tire Raceway Park on Heroes Homecoming Day
presented by the FOAR Score Fan Club. The Modifieds will feature the
Tommy Druar & Tony Jankowiak Memorial 50 along with a 30-lap main
for the SST Sportsman. The DeLange team will return to the NASCAR
Whelen Modified Tour on Saturday, August 23, at Mansfield
Motorsports Park in Ohio for a 150-lap event.
THE END