Erick Rudolph's Strong Weekend Comes to Disappointing End

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (June 30, 2010) - Heinke-Baldwin Racing (HBR) driver Erick Rudolph's bad luck continued at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in the New England 100 on Saturday, June 26. Although the weekend started off well, the young NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour driver was forced to settle for a 28th-place finish, after transmission trouble early in the race.

Rudolph was eighth in Thursday's practice session in the No. 98 H.D. Segur Insurance/Original Pizza Logs Chevrolet. The team continued to work on the car, and Rudolph qualified in the fourth position, with a time of 28.896 seconds (127.402 mph).

The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour had no on-track activity scheduled for Friday, but Rudolph took to the track early Saturday morning for final practice. The Ransomville, N.Y., native was strong in the No. 98 Chevrolet, laying down the fastest lap at 29.602 seconds (128.667 mph).

Rudolph, who has had success at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in the past, was excited to get the race started. Rudolph immediately began moving towards the front, gaining a position on the first lap. He remained in third position, when the first caution flag waved on lap 3.

When the green flag was shown to restart on lap 7, Rudolph had trouble with his transmission and was forced to pull out of line. Once he got back to the garage, the HBR team immediately went to work and changed the transmission. By lap 49, Rudolph was back on track and spent the rest of the race logging laps and trying to gain positions. He finished the race in 28th position, 42 laps down.

"We were really fast," Rudolph said. "Then, the race started, and we had trouble right away. It popped out of gear a few times, when we first went out. I knew something was up, and it was just a matter of time. The transmission blew up because of a faulty part. There wasn't anything we could do to prevent it."

Rudolph, who missed his high school graduation for Saturday's race at New Hampshire, chose not to focus on his bad fortune. Instead, he looked on to his next race.

"We've been having some tough luck," stated Rudolph. "Hopefully, it'll turn around for us at Lime Rock."

Following his disappointing race at New Hampshire, the young driver currently sits 14th in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour point standings. He will return to Tour action on Saturday, July 3 at Lime Rock Park.

About Heinke-Baldwin Racing

Heinke-Baldwin Racing was formed in 2009 by H&H Motorsports owner Al Heinke and Tommy Baldwin Racing owner Tommy Baldwin. Both Baldwin and Heinke grew up racing in New England and saw an opportunity to work together to help young drivers pursue their dreams to race.

In 2010, the team's freshman year, HBR is fielding the No. 98H for driver Jimmy Phelps in the Super DIRTcar Series, with sponsorship from Wave Energy Drink. They will also be fielding the No. 98 for driver Erick Rudolph in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, with additional sponsorship from Pizza Logs, Brigham Concrete and PrimeTyme Motorsports.