RUDOLPH AND RAIN DOMINATE US OPEN AT DTRP

   Last weekend Erick Rudolph of Ransomville and the DeLange Racing team conquered the racing action at Dunn Tire Raceway Park on both Friday and Saturday. Friday night brought down the curtain on the DTRP regular season. Rudolph drove the #45 Original Pizza Logs/PrimeTyme Motorsports/Brigham Concrete SST to Victory Lane in the remaining 43 laps of the previously postponed SST 50, completing a sweep of all seven point-paying races to earn the 2008 DTRP SST Track Championship. He followed that up by winning his third Modified feature to capture the 2008 DTRP Modified Track Championship.
   "It ended up being a pretty good night for us," smiled Rudolph, "two wins and two track championships. I'm very happy with the results. It will definitely give us a boost for the rest of the weekend. Winning another race or two would be something really special."
   The 16-year-old driver followed that up by winning the 75-lap SST Special on Saturday night to complete his undefeated SST season. He also qualified for the Race of Champions Modified Tour 100 on Sunday. His third place finish in his heat race earned him a spot in the redraw for starting positions in the Modified feature.
   "It was the longest 200-lapper I've ever been in," he joked after the SST race. "It was 75 laps but we were out there so long it seemed like 150 laps. It took forever to get a long run under green - every couple of laps there was another caution. It got frustrating, especially being out front. When you're leading you want to keep racing and get to the end. You need a longer stretch of green to see how good your car is and if you can pull away to a decent lead or they are going to be all over you. Once we did get a long run under green it seemed like they couldn't keep up with us. I could get in a rhythm and start to pull away little by little. It was a relief to finally see the checkered flag.
   "It's been a good weekend for us so far. What we have been able to do in the SST here this year is a huge accomplishment and we are really proud of ourselves as a team. A lot of work went into it and I'm really proud of everyone involved. I'm looking forward to the Modified 100 tomorrow to see if we can keep it going."
   Unfortunately the chance for Erick to test himself in the #45 Original Pizza Logs/PrimeTyme Motorsports/Brigham Concrete Modified will have to wait another week. Persistent rain showers on Sunday forced the postponement of the race until this Sunday, October 5.
   This coming weekend will be a busy one for DeLange Racing. On Saturday Rudolph will be at Chemung Speedrome in the Southern Tier of New York to compete in a NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event. After that race the team will head back home for Sunday's rescheduled Race of Champions 100 at Dunn Tire Raceway Park.

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