The final six-lap sprint was the point where Ruble first let himself think he might have a shot at closing the deal.
“I didn’t want to think about it before that, but I knew Stockon was behind me and I knew he was fast. I knew Cummins was out of contention, though,” said Ruble. “I had time to sit there (under yellow) and think about what I needed to do with my shocks and what I needed to do going into turn one to help keep everyone at bay if someone wanted to throw a slide job or something. So I played with my shocks a little bit and finally got those right … and it turned out pretty good for us at the end.
“I had to keep calming myself, you know, because I didn’t want to think too much about it and overdrive the car to the point that I dialed myself out of (a shot to win).”
Then came the checkered flag and a celebration with his Martins Motorsports crew the likes of which even Ruble wasn’t prepared.
“I always expected the first win at Haubstadt to be an MSCS race or something like that. I didn’t really expect it to be a big show or one with a bunch of USAC guys there, especially with $10,000 on the line when everybody’s going to bring their A-game to the table. I was not expecting going into this that we’d come out ahead of everybody.
“In a way, though, I think that kind of helped because it gave me a level head to think about what I needed to do just to get a podium. And that was just enough to keep me calm so I could figure out how to win the thing.”
Considering his family has raced at Tri-State Speedway in some capacity for more than six decades, Ruble felt strongly that a win there would come eventually. He just wasn’t sure when it would happen.
“We’ve had a decent amount of chances to do something good in the main, but it always seemed like we’d either mess up or something silly would happen and we’d get screwed in the end. Everything finally worked out for us, though, from the beginning to the end of the night,” Ruble said. “We didn’t have any issues at all, other than that cylinder being out in hot laps and the heat race. But we were still pretty fast in the heat.
“That win was huge for everybody,” he added. “It was the first time a Ruble won at Haubstadt, and my grandpa was there to see it. I was real happy about that. I think we made his week. My grandpa started racing in 1958, so it’s been a long time coming and I’m happy I was the one to be able to do it.”
With a victory under his belt and $10,000 in winnings, Ruble is riding high as he starts to look toward next season.
“Finally closing the deal on a win has taken a huge weight off of my shoulders,” Ruble explained. “We needed it and I think I needed it. We’re going to run a few more races this year and do some indoor stuff, I think, but I’m going into this winter feeling good about the direction that we’re headed in. That big check is going to help us out with getting some new stuff on that car because all that stuff on the car is between three and five years old.
“If we can go in there and tweak on some stuff, update everything and maybe throw some new sponsors on the side, we’ll do all right next year. But this is good. I love where we’re at right now.”