Eric Ruppel - TORC Antigo Race Report
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ruppel Smokes Competition with a Consistent Run in Antigo Chetek, WI (June 8, 2009) - The opening Sportsman weekend of the Traxxas TORC Series presented by AMSOIL was held at a familiar location for many veteran off-road racers, the Langlade County Fairgrounds in Antigo, Wisconsin. Eric Ruppel and his #837 Phil's Inc. Art Carr King Shock BFGoodrich Tire Ford F-150 were glad to go racing at the track that brought him his first Super Stock truck win. The Antigo track incorporated almost the entire ½ mile clay oval along with a lengthy infield section with a nasty rhythm section that made suspension setup key to a fast truck. The grid for the opening round of the season was determined by a blind draw. Luck was on Ruppel's side as he drew the outside spot of the front row. The start saw the white and blue Ford grab the lead coming out of Turn 2. The fifteen lap event saw Phil's Inc. machine take an early lead, but the reigning class champion Scott Beauchamp made a perfect move to grab the top spot heading into the mandatory caution lap. When the racing resumed, all the other top racers in the class had made it to the front of the pack. Ruppel found himself in a real dogfight for the second place spot. Scott Beauchamp and Mitch Dorr were challenging the Art Carr Transmission equipped truck. After several laps of back and forth action, Eric Ruppel crossed the finish line in fourth place. "I made a couple of miscues out there today, and that's all it took for Dan and Mitch to get by," remarked Ruppel. "This class is so evenly matched, and today there wasn't any room for error." Round 2 The lineup for Round 2 had Ruppel starting in the middle of the thirteen truck field. The rain that fell the night before had created a rather sloppy track for the early races, but by the time the Super Stock Trucks took the green flag, the clay surface had optimum grip. The first few laps were uneventful for the BFGoodrich equipped truck as Ruppel quickly moved into third place. Then white smoke began to come out of the back of the #837 Ford F-150. In Round 1, a few puffs of white smoke came out of the engine due to too much oil in the engine, but this time it was from the transmission. Regardless, Ruppel pressed on. Then on lap seven, the engine lost a cylinder, but the Phil's Inc. Art Carr King Shock kept rolling along in the third spot. Then #818 Bob Gremler went wide through Turn 2 and Ruppel put all the Wolverine Power through the BFGoodrich Tires and move into second place. While all this was going on, the white smoke began to thicker and thicker. At times it looked like Ruppel was working for the Langlade County Mosquito Abatement Program. Nevertheless, the White and blue Ford continued to turn quick lap times, taking the checkered flag in second place. "Wow, yesterday's smoke issue was just too much oil in the engine," commented Eric Ruppel. "Today, we somehow clogged the tranny cooler, causing the transmission to overheat, and then a spark plug wire came loose. Even with the clogged cooler, our Art Carr Transmission filled with AMSOIL got us on the podium. Thanks goes out to my crew chief Kramer, this winter cut we off the front and then back of the truck, and rebuilt everything. The new three inch King Shocks and they worked incredible right out of the box." After two rounds of racing in the TORC Super Stock Championship, Eric Ruppel sits in second place. Next Race: June 19-20 in Crandon, Wisconsin. You can watch all the TORC racing action on the internet, live or at a later time, @ www.usacracing.com/usac_live/usac_live_main [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103464940063&s=547&e=001Z8VvpZXIfo754Kmkcjm4k1K-f4n0Dn5NnYVQMgZbSw6FQNFVVYUevsS_wN0ECecSV6DNsBPETSBGIFxlDAElAioaE2NjuzgIJyfPSfeuZiZS8q4-wjQWISunitpcEE3WxErPunxdSDPbtCy3fe3BoA==] Ruppel Motorsports thanks all their supporters, including: Phil's Inc. - Auto Parts Warehouse, Art Carr Transmission, BFGoodrich Tires, Halama Synthetics - AMSOIL, A & J Landscaping, , Chetek Off-Road, King Shocks, Trail Ready Products, Optima Batteries, MSD Ignition - www.ericruppel.com [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103464940063&s=547&e=001Z8VvpZXIfo5bErNPxRJHGjCbWAVRGuN6JAaGOpzX-IUgRRg4lQz3Wgs10dPxstqu-KEe1_10swIQHnRHPtTwgZPjww6C6zJHBShg5j-P_pbi-ZntQhPeIQ==] Mike Reusche, marketing - www.mt-graphics.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Forward email http://ui.constantcontact.com/sa/fwtf.jsp?m=1102918733605&ea=submit@theautochannel.com&a=1103464940063 This email was sent to submit@theautochannel.com by mtgraphics@ymail.com. 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