VIVIAN, La. – Erick Rudolph raced to a $4,000-plus payday during round two of the Bob Hilbert Sportswear Short Track Super Series Fueled By Sunoco Cajun Swing at Ark-La-Tex Speedway Wednesday.
“The track changed a lot during the race… later in the going it seemed like the car came to life,” explained Rudolph of his late charge for the win.
Rudolph’s triumph was the fourth of his STSS career, three of which have occurred outside the STSS home in the Northeast.
After a runner-up finish the previous night, Rudolph is tied with Ryan Godown atop the Cajun Swing points standings with three races remaining.
Rudolph’s chase for the Bayou State victory began from the 11th starting position for the second night in a row.
Rocky Warner started on the front row with the previous night’s winner – Godown – alongside.
Godown used the topside momentum to take the lead and set the pace in the early going, while Warner raced in second and Derrick McGrew Jr. battled for third with Mike Mahaney.
After a pair of early yellows, Mahaney shook off McGrew and brought Stewart Friesen with him in the battle for third.
Friesen would work by Mahaney and set his sights on Warner for the runner-up spot before a lap-13 caution restacked the field.
Friesen’s assault continued as he worked around Warner on lap 18 and began reeling in Godown as the two carved through lap traffic into the second half of the feature.
Friesen stalked Godown before a moment came that changed the complexion of the race. As the leaders completed the 26th circuit, lapped traffic was three-wide directly in front of the top two.
Friesen darted to the inside of Godown just as Godown was moving to the bottom, both searching for a way by the lapped cars. The contact sent Friesen into an infield tire, breaking his front end and terminating his night prematurely.
The lap-26 restart was when Rudolph suddenly broke into contention. Rudolph restarted from the fourth position and ran his way into the runner-up spot, slipping by Savannah, N.Y.’s Matt Sheppard and Rocky Warner.
From lap 29 to the checkered flag, Rudolph and Godown were trading slide jobs for the Ark-La-Tex win.
Rudolph outdueled Godown and claim night two of the Cajun Swing for his fourth-career STSS triumph in his Revive Spine Center No. 25.
Godown brought home a runner-up finish in his R&M Motorsports No. 26 and Rocky Warner rounded out the top-three in his Jason Simmons Racing No. 98.
McGrew’s up-and-down night ended with a fourth-place finish in his family-owned No. 26 and Willy Decker rounded out the top-five in his No. 1x.
The finish:
Erick Rudolph, Ryan Godown, Rocky Warner, Derrick McGrew Jr., Willy Decker, Matt Sheppard, Mike Mahaney, Steve Davis, Jack Lehner, John Lutes, Jon White Jr., Caleb Dillard, Eric Williams, Darrell ‘Brother’ Fowlkes, Richard Holt, Tommy Rascoe, Thomas Holt, Corey Oltz, Danny Baglio, Mike Krompegal, Kodey Keimig, Stewart Friesen, Glenn Stone, Brent Buckley, David Forbis, Keith Badiali, Korey Keimig, Greg Dillard.