RPW Exclusive: Podium Fight At Land Of Legends Goes Down To The Line; Rudolph’s Amazing Charge

Column By: MARTY CZEKALA / RPW – CANANDAIGUA, NY – Tuesday night at Land of Legends Raceway, some seven seconds behind the winner, was a wild battle everyone watched for third between veterans Matt Sheppard and Stewart Friesen against series rookie Alex Payne.

While Payne was hanging on, Friesen made a run to the inside in turn two to take third.

Entering the final set of corners to the checkers, Friesen left the bottom open for “The Slidejob Express” to work his magic. Payne cleared immediately, but Friesen crossed him over to edge out Payne for third by just about a tenth.

“Good racing at the end,” said Friesen. “I went into three and tiptoed, good, hard racing. Once we got rolling it was good. Built the notebook and keep prepping for DIRT Week. This seems similar to what DIRT Week will be.”

“Sucks we lost it there on the last lap, but it was good racing,” Payne said. “When I got to the lapped car, I started using the right rear too much. I knew I was in trouble. Once he got by me, I figured I drive down there.”

The third is the second straight top five for the No. 70a in SDS action.

In other SDS action, Erick Rudolph, past track champion at Land of Legends, was quiet in preliminary action. One of the slower cars in hot laps and qualifying, Rudolph then suffered a flat tire in his heat, forcing him to the back in LCS 2. Finishing third, the No. 25 made the show via provisional in the 28th and final spot.

Rudolph gained a whopping 22 spots to finish sixth Saturday night. The second highest was Payne and Anthony Perrego each up 10.

“Can’t start in the back with these good cars,” explained Rudolph. “As the race went on, my car was getting better and better. That seems to be the case with this car. We come out of the trailer and don’t have any speed and then if we can make it into the feature, we’re fast.”

358 Modifieds also appeared on the undercard at Land of Legends and some drivers pulled double duty in separate cars. But Dave Marcuccilli in the No. M1 used his 358 Modified in both the SDS and small block. Keep in mind that each race would have to meet a different weight, with the SDS race heavier at 2500 lbs. Marcuccilli finished 27th in the big block feature while 15th in the 358 feature.

The Super DIRTcar Series also debuted a brand-new command center, a totor similar to what the World of Outlaws brings. Series Director Dean Reynolds and Executive Director of Events Jeff Hachmann said they needed a new one as they ran out of room in the old trailer. Reynolds says they plan to use the old trailer for DIRTcar 358 Modified Series races.

SummerFAST provided some unique things this week for the fans. Before the races, kids got the chance to learn from SDS flagger Dave Farney in a “Flagging with Farney.” Farney taught children what the flags meant and brought them up to the flagstand to wave some silk.

In addition, the redraw wasn’t just picking a chip out of a tin can. This week, it’s choosing a Frisbee and throwing it in the crowd. If a fan caught a Frisbee, the fan would take a picture in victory lane with the driver if their driver won.

Finally, if a fan caught a T-shirt tonight before heat races that had a number on the tag, they were invited to take a few laps inside the Super DIRTcar Series Toyota Tundra pace truck.

Credit to the track crew at Land of Legends Raceway. Extended track work between heats and the B-Main concerned some fans tonight, but in the end, provided incredible racing during the 75-lap feature.

The final night of SummerFAST is Wednesday at Fulton Speedway.