R U D E E N Racing

8/23/08

Alger, WA - Travis Rutz and the Rudeen Racing Team are "en fuego" as the race season winds to a close at Skagit Speedway. Following his 360 Nationals win, Rutz led all 25 laps of the yourgreengoods.com Outlaw 410 Sprint main at Skagit Speedway on Banner Bank / Angel of the Winds Casino night. Rutz took the lead from the pole position after a six car invert and was unchallenged for the duration of the main. "I have to thank my crew...these guys are the best!...I always believed in defending your home turf, so when they (the World of Outlaws) come to townnext week, I think we have something for them" remarked Rutz in his post race interview.

RUTZ IS 2008 BOB’S BURGERS AND BREW 360 NATIONALS CHAMPION

(Alger, WA) 8/2/08 by Kelly Hart

Add the name of Travis Rutz to the list of repeat winners of the
Bob’s Burgers and Brew 360 Nationals. Rutz also won the event in 2006. He
joins Steve Kent, Jason Solwold, Rick Fauver, Jay Smith, and Mark Huson as
multiple winners of the 19 year event.

Rutz from Langley, B.C. passed Cory Chamberlain coming out of turn 4
and into the lead across the line. Rutz lead the remaining thirty-four laps
for the $10,000.00 win. Colton Heath charged from a 13th place start to
finish second. Mitch Olson rounded out the podium with the third place
finish.

( 6/24/08 10:55pm | CHarris ) It was a jam packed weekend of 410 sprint car action. Travis Rutz put on a great show over the 3 nights of racing. On the first night Travis set fast time. On night number two after a mid race crash Travis battled back to place 16th in the A-Main event. Going into Saturdays Dirt Cup Race Of Champions Travis was locked into 7th place. He would have to battle through some talented drivers to reach the front of the pack. By about lap 20 Travis had advanced to 3rd place. With a large amount of lap traffic separarting the top 5 travis droped to 4th place and crossed the finish line 4th in the Dirt Cup Race Of Champions. Team-mate Tayler Malsam finished 11th.

( 6/21/08 8:30am | CHarris | Alger WA ) Full Results: Dirt Cup Race of Champions (40 laps): 1. 9 Jayme Barnes, 2. 7N Roger Crockett, 3. 10 Tim Kaeding, 4. 26 Travis Rutz, 5. 4 Brock Lemley, 6. 98m Mitch Olson, 7. 6 Kyle Hirst, 8. 24 Tyler Walker, 9. 88 Jesse Whitney, 10. 69 Brent Kaeding, 11. 26r Tayler Malsam, 12. V8 Jeff Hodgson, 13. 0 Jonathan Allard, 14. 66 Barry Martinez , 15. 73 Danielle Huson, 16. 59 Eric Fisher, 17. 29 Bud Kaeding, 18. 7o Colton Heath, 19. 11 Marc Dupperon, 20. 15 Aaron Fell, 21. 18 Steve Kilcup, 22. 93 Mike Henry, 23. 33e Evan Suggs, 24. 38 Jason Bloodgood.

( 6/16/08 | Gary Thomas | Alger WA ) Travis Rutz will head into the 37th annual Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup this week with possibly his best shot yet at winning the crown jewel of the Skagit Speedway season. When the youngster joined Rudeen Racing in the off-season everything pointed to this weekend as he guns for the $25,000 top prize.

Rutz has put together a solid season so far and has shown a strong amount of consistency over the last month, a sign of the maturity he has gained this season while driving the Rudeen Racing, Fire Down Graphics No. 26. This past Saturday night saw him set fast time in the annual Dirt Cup Tune-up race at Skagit Speedway and lead 22 laps in the feature, before bringing home a second place finish.

The week prior to that Rutz picked up his second 410 victory of the season at the Skagit Speedway clay when he passed Aaron Fell on the 18th circuit in the main event. A third place finish on May 31 at Skagit and another third place run on May 25 at Elma in the inaugural ASCS Northwest Series weekend, show that Rutz has come into his own during the ’08 season.

The young Canadian put on a show in last year’s Dirt Cup 40 lap finale when he charged from the rear of the field up to the top five, before a fuel issue took him out of the running. Rutz’s career best finish at the prestigious event came in ’05 when he started from the pole on Saturday night and finished in the fourth spot, impressing all in attendance and giving everyone a glimpse of his talent behind the wheel of a 410 winged sprint car.

The 37th annual Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup presented by Camping World RV will go green this Thursday night with the opening round of preliminary action to gain points towards Saturday’s finale. Another prelim will be held on Friday night with everything coming to a conclusion on Saturday, which will be capped with the 40 lap, $25,000 to win A-main.

More information on the Dirt Cup can be found at www.skagitspeedway.com or by calling (360) 724-3567

We are just a little over a week away from my favorite race of the year - The Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup. What makes this race special you ask? Well for one it pays $25,000 to the winner, the most for any non-World of Outlaw event. The second thing that makes this race special is the format. Thursday and Friday night's races are my favorite of the year. They will feature four invert 6 take 4 heat races. The B-Mains tend to be loaded because of this format and they are action-packed as the drivers have to battle for the last 4 transfer spots. Then come the A-Mains which feature a 16 car invert with the fastest guys in the back which always makes for exciting racing.

During both nights drivers accumulate points for qualifying, heats, mains, plus passing points. Saturday night features just main events lined straight up by points. It all concludes with the 40 lap Dirt Cup Race of Champions.

Every year the rumors fly about who is going to be at this event. While some have mentioned Sammy Swindell and Randy Hannagan to name a few, I haven't seen any confirmation on these drivers. The most up to date info on my unofficial driver roster can be found here.

Now lets take a look at some of the competitors for the 2008 version of the Dirt Cup: (The following is what Fonz had to say about the Rudeen Drivers)

FAVORITES - 26 Travis Rutz - In his first year with Rudeen Racing, Travis has 2 wins in the 410 class at Skagit Speedway. He also has 4 quick times out of 5 starts in that division. Rutz finished 16th in last year's A-Main.

COULD SURPRISE/KEEP YOUR EYE ON - 26r Tayler Malsam - Malsam has had a busy season running in the ARCA series and also sprint cars in the NW. Tayler has made steady improvement and he got his first win earlier this year in a 360 at Skagit. Finished a very respectable 9th in last year's A-Main beating out teammates Bud and Tim Kaeding.

POSTED BY FONZ @ http://members4.boardhost.com/sprintfonz/msg/1213131760.html

(6/7/08 Skagit Speedway Media - Kaleb Hart Alger, WA)

Travis Rutz drove like a man on fire en route to his second win of the year in the Rudeen Racing #26. Aaron Fell held serve for the majority of the race, firing out to the lead in his Falcon Equipment #15. As the race progressed, it was clear the Rutz was the man to watch, as he methodically worked his way over, under and around the cars in front of him to snag second place by lap 14. With only Fell in front of him, Rutz hooked his car up hard on the inside of turn one and powered past Fell for the definitive pass on lap 18. It was the second win of the year for Rutz, as he and the Rudeen Racing team gear up for the Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup presented by Camping World on June 19th, 20th and 21st.

(5/25/08 | Elma, WA)

It was another strong race fot the number 26 Rudeen Racing Crew at Grays Harbor Raceway. Tayler Malsam finished 2nd and right behing him was Travis Rutz in 3rd place. The race was won by Seth Bergman of Snohomish, WA. Below is the top three finishers for race two of the American Sprint Car Series Northwest Region. There was a lot of moisture on the track thanks to showers that passed through this morning. Crews did a great job of getting the track back in shape. It was pretty much “follow the leader” in the heat races like the previous night. However, drivers in the A-Main provided fans with a lot of side-by-side action.

(4/26/08 Skagit Speedway Media - Kaleb Hart Alger, WA)

Rudeen Racing swept Skagit Speedway's opening night of 2008 in impressive fashion. The historic 3/10 mile clay oval provided race fans with a 410 main for the ages. Martinez would lead until lap 14 when Travis Rutz made his move, putting a similar slidejob on Martinez to what he served Solwold earlier. For the laps that followed, Rutz would trade slides with Martinez , while Martinez simultaneously held of challenges from Solwold and Seth Bergman. In the end, Rutz held on for his first win under the Rudeen Racing banner, followed by Bergman then Martinez . Fans were still shaking their heads exiting the track, remarking on the huge amount of passing the occurred in the top five. Rutz had fast time and won his heat race, completing his 410 sweep of the night. ... Taylor Malsam, the other member of the Rudeen Racing team, brought home his first career win in the Budweiser 360 Series. Following the theme of big turn four slidejobs, Malsam executed a textbook slide on returning veteran Alan Munn on lap nine and was virtually unchallenged the rest of the way. Munn and Brock Lemley staged an epic three lap battle for second near the end of the race, with Munn powering around the outside of Lemley on the final corner to retain second place. Malsam set fast time.

(March 14th 2008) -

Travis Rutz set the pace in race number three of the Golden State Challenge gaining fast time for the night.( See Below Video). After a late race repair from debris on the track Travis finished in 11th place . Full results are not available for this race.

(March 8th 2008)

Travis Rutz pulled away with a impressive 10th place finish at this years 2008 Mini Gold Cup at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico California. Up against the tough and talented California crowd Travis "The Canadian Kid" Rutz started the season off with solid finish. Full results and a race recap can be viewed here.