Ruppel Motorsports - TORC Oshkosh Race Report

    Ruppel Doubles Up in Oshkosh ? Just One Point Behind Stock Truck Leader

Chetek, WI ? (July 27, 2009) - Eric Ruppel was looking for another  
solid finish to backup his Round 4 win at Bark River. The two weeks  
since that win Ruppel Motorsports went through the #837 Phil?s Inc.  
Art Carr Trail Ready BFGoodrich Tires Ford F-150 with a fine tooth  
comb, realizing with only six rounds of racing left in the season,  
there is no room for error if the team wants to repeat as Stock Truck  
champion.

For the second year in a row the Oshkosh Speedzone has hosted short  
course off-road racing under the lights on the half-mile clay oval.  
Earlier in the year, this race almost didn?t happen, but TORC listened  
to its fans and its racers, and put the event back on the schedule.  
The result was incredible side by side racing, and the fans from the  
Fox Valley returned to watch the most intense motorsports in the world.

Round 5 ? Friday evening
New for the Midwest TORC Sportsman racers was implementation of the  
USAC rolling start and the competition caution at the halfway point of  
the race.

Eric started on the second row and when the green flag came out, he  
put all his Wolverine Performance horsepower through his Art Carr  
transmission into his BFGoodrich tires to quickly challenge for the  
lead.

On lap three, the white and blue Ford F-150 grabbed the lead and never  
looked back. This was Ruppel Motorsports second win of the season.

Once again, the Ruppel Motorsports crew, Kramer, Ewert, and Scott,  
checked the truck over, washed the body, and deemed the #837 Ford  
F-150 ready for Round 6.

Round 6 ? Saturday evening
Starting from the fourth row, Eric was looking to stay clear of  
trouble the first half of the race. Once the field got rolling again  
after the mandatory caution lap, the Chetek, Wisconsin native would  
get to work. The strategy almost didn?t work. As the field entered the  
final lap of the race, Eric had the Phil?s Inc. Art Carr Transmission  
Ford in fifth place.

Then with just three turns until the finish, all ?heck? broke loose.  
The top five trucks all entered the turn leading back onto the clay  
oval, a whole bunch of pushing and banging went on. Suddenly Rupe  
found himself battling for second place with #817 Dorr. At the flag,  
Rupe edged out Dorr by about three feet to finish in second.

As the top three finishers headed for the podium, the winner #826 Dan  
Beauchamp had not served a black flag penalty and was moved back three  
positions,. This put Eric Ruppel into first place, his third win in a  
row this season.

?This weekend put us back into the Championship chase,? noted Eric  
Ruppel. ?There was a lot of banging out there tonight, and somehow I  
avoided almost all of it. The win last night gave me the confidence  
that we can still win the points battle this year. Tonight?s win sort  
of fell into our lap. We made the right move at the right time, and  
thought we had a second place finish. Then the officials made the call  
and moved three of us up a spot. I?ll take then win, but it?s not the  
best way to earn the top spot.?

After six rounds of racing in the Traxxas TORC Series presented by  
AMSOIL SRT Stock Truck division, Eric Ruppel is only one point out of  
the championship lead. Ruppel Motorsports thanks all his supporters,  
including:

Phil?s Inc. ? Auto Parts Warehouse,
Art Carr Transmission,
Chetek Off-Road,
BFGoodrich Tires,
A & J Landscaping,
Trail Ready Products,
Halama Synthetics ? AMSOIL,
Optima Batteries,
3DCS Video,
Fox Shox, R & R Crane Services, Ringers Gloves, MSD Ignition, Team  
Tech Motorsports, and Summit Racing.

The next race for Ruppel Motorsports is August 8-9 in Bark River, Michigan.

- www. ericruppel.com

   - Mike Reusche, marketing - MTG

- Mike Reusche, MT Graphics
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