Erick Rudolph Back To Super DIRTcar Series After 4 Years

Erick Rudolph Back To Super DIRTcar Series After 4 Years

Erick Rudolph has once again attempted to run fulltime with the Super DIRTcar Series this season, having last competed regularly in 2014.

Aug 30, 2018 by Mandee Pauch
Erick Rudolph Back To Super DIRTcar Series After 4 Years

At just 26-years-old, Erick Rudolph has once again attempted to run fulltime with the Super DIRTcar Series this season. The hot shoe out of Ransomville, N.Y. last competed as a tour regular in 2014 at just 22-years-old. The third-generation driver has been shining bright and leaving his mark all across the northeast. This is his story as told to me…

"From five to ten years old I did a bunch of different sports and raced go karts. I tried football and found out I was too weak and too small. Everyone started growing and I wasn’t so that didn’t cut it. I was a middle of the road student even going up through college. Maybe an average B student here and there.

Love at First Sight

"I remember asking my dad to get me a go-kart after going to the Niagara Falls Convention Center and watched the TQ midgets run indoor. I nagged and nagged until I got a car.

"When I was 13 or so I raced TQ midgets outdoors. After that I started racing sportsman on asphalt then I did the asphalt modifieds from 17-21.

"While I raced throughout high school I also played lacrosse. I was going to play on the lacrosse team in college but realized I was going to miss either a lot of games or a lot of races. I didn’t see me supporting myself by being a lacrosse player. I could have gone pro, but I decided to do the racing thing as my priority.

College Life

"After high school I went to a community college for business administration. I went for two years and got an associate, which I’m pretty proud of. I thought two years was enough for me. After that I worked fulltime in a factory at Snyder Industry’s for a little while. I really hated it and that made me decide I didn’t want to hate what I was doing my whole life. I knew I had to find something I really truly enjoyed and was going to be able to make work, so I decided to continue on with racing.

Dirt vs. Asphalt

"With where I lived, in order to race as much as I wanted to and do it at a professional level I had to go to Connecticut every weekend. It wasn’t a good fit for me I guess. There’s asphalt modifieds that run out here but maybe once every other week. I knew I couldn’t be a professional doing that.

"That’s when I decided to go dirt racing. It consisted of Ransomville and Merrittville pretty regularly. We took a beating. We got our head kicked in for a while. We did get a win or two the first year. The next year we really turned it on. We were good. Ever since then we’ve been getting better year by year. The cars have been better. I’m getting a little bit better too. Now we’re starting to branch out and run different places and travel and run a competitive series running against the best competition there is.

Three Generations of Knowledge

"My dad retired from racing when I was really young before I could even remember. My grandfather raced in the 60’s too, both ran dirt and asphalt.

"Obviously, my dad and grandfather are largely instrumental in my whole life including racing and life lessons and what it takes to go fast and keep our car together. My dad and my grandfather are in the shop just about every day. My dad knows the cars inside and out. He’s really good with the setup stuff. My grandfather is the one who wears the different hats, he has many skills. He’s the motor head in the family. He knows the motors inside and out. I don’t think I’d even be close to be able to do what I want to do if it weren’t for them.

Being a Fulltime Race Car Driver

"It’s a lot of work especially the way I’m doing it. I’m pretty much running all my own stuff. It’s a lot of work and a lot of fun too. I have a lot of help that makes it possible for me to do it. It’s time consuming but the summer months are all racing all the time. It does slow down a little bit during the winter that way you can catch up on stuff that you normally don’t get to do during racing season. I wouldn’t trade it for anything else.

Different Skills

"I think the more different tracks you run you get different skill sets. That’s why I still do the indoor TQ midget stuff. I feel like it keeps me somewhat sharp during the off season. There might be different things there I acquire skill wise that apply to the things I do outside.

The Transition to Dirt

"Everything is going according to plan. I knew it would be hard and we’d get our head kicked in for a while. Sometimes we still do. I also knew that we were capable of being able to run with the very best.

Following the Super DIRTcar Series Tour

"The series has been good. We’ve been to a few new tracks I’ve never been to before. I was nervous about it because I didn’t have any experience, but I think as a team we’ve surprised ourselves with our decent runs we’ve had at these new tracks. I think we’ll be able to get even better yet. It’s a good group of drivers to run with. So far, it’s been a lot of fun.

Suggestions for Future Racers

"I would offer up what it may look like. It’s not really easy. It’s a lot of work. It’s more work than say just going to work and coming home. Some people, no matter how bad they want to do it, some people just can’t do it. Obviously, I knew there was going to be a learning curve so I don’t get upset when I get whooped on. Slowly but surely, I wasn’t getting whooped on as bad. Eventually you’ll start to be right with the best. So, in a nut shell, you have to put in a lot of work and not give up."