By Lou Modestino<\/p>\n
Redemption will be on the mind of top Three Quarter (TQ) Midget driver Erick Rudolph at the New Year\u2019s Eve Indoor races in Providence, R.I.\u2019s Dunkin\u2019 Donuts Center. Rudolph slammed into the concrete barrier at the end of the
\nstraightaway on December 8 at 1st Mariner Arena in Baltimore, Md.
\nFans who missed the crash heard the concussion. That\u2019s how terrifying the crash was that heavily damaged one of the fastest Indoor TQ Midgets. The Ransomville, N.Y, driver was bruised and confused – but not hurt.<\/p>\n
The Dunkin\u2019 Donuts Center Coffee Cup race is the second of three events that make up the Fatheadz Eyewear Indoor Racing Series.
\nThe Indoor auto racing events are produced by Len Sammons Motorsports Productions.<\/p>\n
Rudolph\u2019s car owner and constructor Mike Lafler, also of Ransomville, subsequently diagnosed the problem as a stuck throttle
\ncable. \u201cThat will not happen again,\u201d Lafler has assured his driver. Rudolph finished second in both Dunkin\u2019 Donuts Center races in March of 2012 and was a winner in Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City in 2012 as well. Over forty TQ drivers have entered the Dunkin\u2019 Donuts Center Providence Indoor race.<\/p>\n
Notables, in addition to the out-for-redemption Rudolph are NASCAR Modified past champion Ted Christopher, Plainville, Ct.; Modified
\nTouring Series star and late season Seekonk Speedway race winner Rowan Pennick, New Egypt, N.J.; Modifed Tour and Wall Stadium sensation Jimmy Blewett, Howell, N.J.; SK Modified racer Glen Reen, Wilbraham, Ma.; Chris Allen., Jr., Old Bridge, N.J.; 2012 ARDC Midget driving champion Tim Buckwalter, Pottstown, Pa.; NASCAR Modified past Rookie Of The Year Patrick Emerling; and second and third place Baltimore TQ finishers Matt Janisch, Nazareth, Pa. and Ryan Smith, Kunkletown, Pa.<\/p>\n
The TQ Midgets will be joined in Dunkin\u2019 Donuts Center by Champ Karts – caged go-karts that are slightly less fast, but much more
\nnimble – than the TQs. Among the top entries is Frank Duquette. Duquette. 28, of Fall River, Mass., races stock cars each Saturday night during race season at Seekonk, Mass. Speedway.<\/p>\n
\u201cI enjoy racing wherever I can,\u2019 said Duquette, who owns ten career feature victories over the years at Seekonk. \u201cWhen my friend Jay Dimond asked me if I wanted to try Indoor racing last March with his kart, I said, \u2018why not?\u201d \u201cWe ran pretty well in March but have a long way to go to be in contention to win,\u201d admitted Duquette. \u201cBut I think we learned enough in the spring race to move up this time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another top Kart entry is D.J. Shaw of Center Conway. N.H. Shaw will be looking to repeat his December 8 win in Baltmore\u2019s 1st Mariner Arena. It was Shaw\u2019s first career Indoor victory.<\/p>\n
Duquette and Shaw will be challenged in their quests by past Champ Kart Dunkin\u2019 Donuts Center winner Glen Meisenhelder, Feeding Hills, Mass.; Brandon Rusczek of Wallingford, Ct.; Daniel Gamache Jr., of Woonsocket, R.I.; Mike Perry of Dighton, Mass.
\nThe Providence race in the Dunkin\u2018 Donuts Center is the fifth Indoor race meet at that venue promoted by Sammons. The December 31 scheduling – on New Years Eve – has provided race teams and their followers with a rare opportunity to compete against one another, then party the night away and herald the coming of the New Year.<\/p>\n
A two-race weekend finale is scheduled for February 1-2, 2013 in Atlantic City\u2019s Boardwalk Hall. Tickets are available in advance at Tickemaster.com or on the day of the race at the Dunkin\u2019 Donuts Center box office. Information is available by calling 609-888-3618 or by visiting the comprehensive website at aarn.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Lou Modestino Redemption will be on the mind of top Three Quarter (TQ) Midget driver Erick Rudolph at the New Year\u2019s Eve Indoor races in Providence, R.I.\u2019s Dunkin\u2019 Donuts Center. Rudolph slammed into the concrete barrier at the end of the straightaway on December 8 at 1st Mariner Arena in Baltimore, Md. Fans who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[15172],"tags":[15179],"class_list":["post-11289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-new-england-motorsports-north","tag-new-england-motorsports-north-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11289"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11289\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}