Eric Ruppel - TORC Bark River II Race Report
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ruppel Continues to Run Strong - Runner-Up in Round 10 Second Place in Championship Chase Chetek, WI (August 17, 2010) - As the season is winding down, Eric Ruppel knows there is no margin for error if he wants to capture his second Super Stock Truck Championship. The points chase is very close between the top three drivers in the class. With that in mind, Ruppel finishing on the podium both days during the return visit to Bark River would be a key element to winning the championship. Eric had the #837 Phil's Inc. Art Carr Transmission Halama Synthetics BFGoodrich Ford F-150 well prepared for battle, but mother earth put a rock in the team's path. The win and third place finish at Oshkosh really made the championship points chase a tight battle between Eric Ruppel and Scott Beauchamp. Two more finishes on the box at Bark River II would make the season finale very interesting at Crandon. Eric had his Wolverine Power built engine freshen up just for the second stop of the TORC World Tour in Michigan's Upper Peninsula to maximize his chances of a top finish. Saturday - Round 9 The land rush start of the sixteen truck Super Stock Truck field saw most of the field push and slam its way through the first corner. Somehow Eric bounced his way through without stopping or spinning. Then just as the Phil's Inc Ford completed the third lap, the engine lost oil pressure. Immediately Rupe turned the ignition off before any harm could be done to the engine. The end result was a twelfth place finish. "The contact from the start of the race tore the skid plate off the front bumper," remarked Eric Ruppel. "This exposed the front of the engine to all the rocks and gravel that comes off the other trucks. Ultimately a rock got into one of the pulleys and tossed the water pump belt. We shut everything down before any engine damage happened." Overnight the crew thoroughly checked the engine and the rest of the Ford F-150 and deemed it ready for Sunday. Sunday - Round 10 The traditional land rush start saw the #837 Phil's Inc. Art Carr Transmission Halama Synthetics BFGoodrich Ford F-150 grab the lead exiting the first turn and it looked like the blue and white Ford would lead the field to the checkered flag. Then with three laps to go Scott Beauchamp was applying pressure to Eric's bumper. Then with only two turns to go to the checkered flag, Beauchamp made a clean pass to take the lead and the win. "That's a tough one today," noted Eric Ruppel. "I made one small mistake going through the horseshoe turn and that was enough for Scott to get by me. All and all the truck came out of the weekend in good mechanical shape. The body is beat up pretty good, but we will have it looking pretty by Crandon." After ten rounds of racing Eric Ruppel is just eight points behind championship point's leader, Scott Beauchamp. With only two rounds of racing, the top three racers in the points, Scott Beauchamp, Eric Ruppel, and Mitch Dorr still have a shot at the title. The final weekend of racing in the TORC Super Stock Truck Championship is September 4-5 in Crandon, WI. 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=1103621598295&s=547&e=001Wmnvz3a7bmx1ZAMoWB02hZ9Q09iD5jv-jbvjOa9bSOGz6fFobenVUwvKAli00Rj9bRzfN59idmh7HNVTz_ITBDtWHtbFE5E8vd4fkZj9W8foKVhI2mS_KXTT2D3RV744eXSXcGdoRP_zhutQHlMojQ==] 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, Deaver, MSD Ignition On a special note, all the Super Stock drivers got together to bring awareness to Prader-Willi Syndrome [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103621598295&s=547&e=001Wmnvz3a7bmzmscEQFZsfJ4O9GqoNF1g5iJSm6KEuefmpE-JYS_Mn-J4qV4SokFXu5rRaA0rO8_Y18Fed146L9IhjEkMWm1jhut1L1ZBqbCo3mp9y_2hMmg==]. Luke Beauchamp, son of Super Stock driver Scot Beauchamp, has been diagnosed with Prader-Willi Syndrome. All the drivers in the class raced with a white hood during the weekend to the hopes that the public becomes more aware of this condition and additional research funds can be obtained to eventually find a cure that inflicts approximately 1:15,000 www.ericruppel.com [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103621598295&s=547&e=001Wmnvz3a7bmw-KM1Y4UzFTNdMhMpxpetk55GF-ym-BFabNGkxwsotZUwPxusT0u12ajIsLzoLoENq7aaPwFC79pf2PjT8CTyXxHz4hIHvcg44L3XPH8xZdQ==] - Mike Reusche, marketing - mtgraphics@ymail.com [mailto:mtgraphics@ymail.com] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Forward email http://ui.constantcontact.com/sa/fwtf.jsp?m=1102918733605&ea=submit@theautochannel.com&a=1103621598295 This email was sent to submit@theautochannel.com by mtgraphics@ymail.com. 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