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Just a few weeks after his 2nd place finish at the Fort Wayne
Rumble (Fort Wayne, Indiana), NYMM driver Erick Rudolph showed
once again that he can race and beat some of the nations best.
After arriving late Friday evening in Columbus Ohio, Erick used
every second of his practice session Saturday morning to tune in
the 2006-1/2 Lafler Chassis. After a semi disappointing 8th
place qualifying finish, Team AHR made some adjustments just in
time for Erick's heat race, and wow what adjustments they made.
John Ivy had set the track record during his qualifying with a
7.105, but Rudolph would find himself running .20 faster then
Ivy during his heat, lapping almost the whole
field. Even with his heat win, Erick would find himself starting
8th in the A-Main.
Unfortunately, as good as the
night was going and possibilities endless, it ended just as
quick as it started. As the initial green flag dropped, someone
in the front of the pack never fired causing a massive multi-car
pile up. When the rubber settled, Erick seemed to somehow avoid
the wreck. As the car came around, it slowly pulled into the
infield. No major damage could be seen at a quick glance, but
Team AHR later found that a break line was broke in the wreck.
It was a tough break for Rudolph and Team AHR who was figured to
compete for the win.
But even with Erick out of the
race, Team AHR turned its attention to the other Lafler Chassis
driven by ABC ESPN Broadcaster Jack Arute. Jack missed the
automatic qualifying position in his heat by 1 spot, but came
back in the B-Main to take the last qualifying spot into the
A-Main. Jack had a rough go of things in his last 2 indoor
events (Atlantic City, Ft Wayne), but this was Jacks chance to
prove he'd learned a few things in his 20+ years broadcasting
the worlds greatest and fastest drivers. And learn he did taking
home a Top 10 finish with the 8th spot.
Rumble in the
Buckeye State Notes:
Fast qualifier – John Ivy,
7.105 seconds (establishes track record).
Heat winners – Ivy, Timmy Nye, Andrew Prather, Erick Rudolph.
Semi-feature winners – Danny Shirey, Howard McCormick.
Feature (50 laps) – 1. Joey Payne, 2. Jack Spence, 3. John Ivy,
4. Danny Shirey, 5. Todd Keiser, 6. Mike Iles, 7. Ben Gaerte, 8.
Jack Arute, 9. Larry Joe Sroufe, 10. Rusty Strausbaugh, 11.
Howard McCormick, 12. Michael Kettnich, 13. Timmy Nye, 14. Russ
Belt, 15. Andrew Prather, 16. Chris Malaterre, 17. Cap Henry,
18. Erick Rudolph.
Lap leaders: Keiser 1-11, Payne 12-22, Iles
23-24, Payne 25-50.
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