"THE MOTORIZED MADMAN" DARRYL RUGGLES AND THE CHECKERBOARD EXPRESS RIDE AGAIN IN 2001

Many drivers dream of claiming their first checkered flag. It is truly the crowning moment of any driver's career, especially when you can conquer the best in the business to reach that pinnacle. On May 27, 2000, one year ago on Memorial Day weekend, Darryl Ruggles from Hopewell did just that in the annual Taney Memorial 50 lap DIRT Modified event. The 35 year old Ruggles, or "The Motorized Madman" as he has been named, is now in his 7th season behind the wheel of a potent Modified ride and continues to be a threat to claim his second career victory competing against the upper echelon of competitors that call "The Land of Legends" home each Saturday evening.

Darryl Ruggles may have visited victory lane for the first time in his career behind the wheel of a DIRT Modified on that night, but he had become accustomed to it in the past first starting in 1981 behind the wheel of a Street Stock and then moving to the open wheels of a DIRT Sportsman. Between 8/15/92 and 9/3/94, Ruggles visited victory lane at Canandaigua 10 times in the Sportsman ranks. He ended his Sportsman career with 17 total victories and also wore the point's crown as Sportsman champion at Rolling Wheels Raceway Park in Elbridge in 1993 following that up at "The Land of Legends" in 1994 before making the move to the headlining Modified class in 1995.

Upon entering the Modified ranks in 1995, Ruggles had shown flashes of greatness, but came up just short on many occasions. As the 2000 campaign initially got underway, Ruggles had decided not to run, but changed his mind after working with Steve Paine on his potent TEO chassis that had been dominate early last season. This lead Ruggles to purchase a new TEO from Paine and the rest became history, allowing "The Motorized Madman" to add his name to the list of winners in the DIRT Modified ranks at "The Land of Legends". As the season ended in 2000, Ruggles also managed to finish 10th in the Modified point standings.

Ruggles began his assault on the 2001 season early as he made trips to both Hagerstown, Md., and then to Charlotte, NC. to compete at the Dirt Track at Lowe's Motor Speedway as part of the Advance Auto Parts Super DIRT Series. His ride for 2001 is once again a TEO chassis powered by an engine machined by Finger Lakes Machine and built by Ruggles and Mark Zona. Sponsors on the #48jr. include Ruggles' World of Auto Body (Darryl's business & livelihood), P&J Lawn Care, Canandaigua Carpets, and many individuals who have purchased checkers on Ruggle's "Checkerboard Express" as his car has become known. Each checkered spot cost $10 and can be purchased at the speedway allowing you to add your name to Ruggle's car making you a sponsor for the season. Along with your name being added to the car, you will also receive a certificate naming you as a sponsor on "The Checkerboard Express".

The Ruggles crew includes the efforts of Pat Thompson, David Tuttle, Bob Thomas, Jeff Lovejoy, Kevin Perry, Vern Colf, Eric Heffernan, Dana Ruggles, Taunya Lovejoy, Bonnie Thomas, and Darryl's wife (Wendy) and children (Geoff-16, & Alysha-7). Plans for the 2001 season include weekly appearances at Canandaigua and Cayuga County Fair Speedways along with as many of the Advance Auto Parts Super DIRT Series stops as financially possible for the team. Initially the Ruggles planned on following the entire series, but financial restrictions have made it impossible at this point, but if sponsors step up to help "The Motorized Madman", he will once again add that to his plans. The team has very modest goals for 2001, which include a top 5 finish in the season ending point standings at Canandaigua Speedway.

"We are going to do the best we can this season with what we have to work with. I love to race. It is hard to be highly competitive with the budget we have to work with, but we will keep doing it as long as we continue to have fun. We have a great crew and a lot of fantastic support behind us", Ruggles would explain to me.

Wendy Ruggles, Darryl's very supportive wife would explain to me, "Darryl's done this as long as I have known him and we will keep plugging along despite our budget. We enjoy this sport so much. We also want to specially thank, and we have this spelled out on the back of Darryl's car, Terrific friends, Excellent family, and Owesome fans…yes, the Owesome is spelled wrong, but if you look at the first 3 letters of each, it spells out TEO, the name of our great chassis. Without these three things, we wouldn't be in this sport and we will always keep that fact in mind for as long as we continue to compete."