Erick Rudolph Leads Most Laps, Finishes Second in Doubleheader Weekend
Scores First NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Pole

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (July 19, 2010) - Heinke-Baldwin Racing (HBR) driver Erick Rudolph had a busy weekend, competing in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour (NWMT) race at Monadnock Speedway on Saturday and the Race of Champions Modified Tour (RoC) race at Chemung Speedrome on Sunday.

Despite leading 138 of the 179 laps in his first trip to Monadnock Speedway, Rudolph finished second behind NWMT veteran Ted Christopher in Saturday's race. This marked Rudolph's best finish of the season, his first top-five and third top-ten in seven starts in 2010.

The day started off slowly for Rudolph, as the young driver navigated the high banking of the quarter-mile Monadnock Speedway for the first time. Rudolph finished Saturday's first practice session with the 14th-fastest time. He steadily improved as he got more experience at the track and laid down the seventh-quickest time in final practice.

Prior to qualifying, the HBR team made a significant change to the No. 98 Mohawk Northeast/Original Pizza Logs Chevrolet. This change combined with Rudolph's growing confidence at the track led to the Ransomville, N.Y, native's career-first 21 Means 21 Pole Award presented by Coors Light, with a time of 12.423 seconds (72.446 mph). Already the youngest winner in NWMT history, Rudolph became the series' second youngest pole award winner.

Rudolph was fast when the green-flag dropped, quickly building a lead of several car-lengths. Rudolph avoided trouble and led every lap until the No. 36 of Ted Christopher slipped by on the lap-95 restart. Rudolph stayed with Christopher and took advantage of a restart to retake the lead on lap 110. During their battle, Rudolph and Christopher both avoided trouble, narrowing missing a wreck on lap 133.

Rudolph again took off on the restart, keeping the lead, but succumbed to Christopher during the lap-152 restart. Rudolph continued to battle with Christopher but was unable to pass him over the remainder of the race. Following a Green-White-Checkered finish, Rudolph completed the 179-lap race in the second-position, just half a car-length behind winner Christopher.

"It was good to finally avoid the bad luck this weekend," Rudolph said. "This was our first time at Monadnock, so when you go to a track you're not familiar with, you get better as the day goes along. We made the right changes, I got more comfortable and we went out and got the pole. The race was a lot of fun. It was pretty cool battling with a veteran like Ted Christopher for the lead."

Rudolph and the No. 98 HBR team followed Saturday's race with a trip to Chemung Speedrome on Sunday for the RoC 150-lap race. After winning his heat race, the 18-year-old redrew the pole position. Rudolph went on to lead the first 145 laps but again was forced to settle for second-place after a late-race pass by winner Matt Hirschman with fresher tires.

"It was a really good weekend but also kind of a disappointing one too," explained Rudolph. "We had two second-place finishes and led the most laps in both races. It would have been nice to win one of them, but I can't complain too much about two seconds. I've got to thank my sponsors for their support, and my team for getting the car ready for both races."

Rudolph moved up to ninth in the overall NWMT point standings, following his strong finish at Monadnock Speedway. The young driver will return to NWMT action on Saturday, July 31 at Riverhead Raceway.

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.