If anybody can attest to the fickleness of the TD Bank 250, it’s Tommy Ricker.

Just two years ago, Ricker earned a spot on the pole only to be knocked out of the race after leading the first two laps. It was just more frustration for a guy that earned the moniker “Two Lap Tommy” for his string of feature races that ended too soon.

“One guy slips up and somebody runs into you or you run into somebody,” said Ricker. “You can finish your day in the first 10 laps. You just don’t know.”

In his decades of racing, the Poland driver has seen plenty of unpredictable days. He’s watched good days turn bad and lousy races turn great. He doesn’t see Sunday’s race being any different.

“This is like betting on the horses,” said Ricker. “You never know what’s going to happen. It changes through the whole day.”

Ricker’s been feeling like a thoroughbred this year, however, and hopes that carriers to this weekend. Ricker is the points leader in the Oxford Networks Late Models and has two wins this year in addition to being runner-up twice.

“We just found a good balance in the car, and it’s  been performing real good,” Ricker said.

He said his run of success actually began more than a year ago.  After finishing 38th in the 250, things started to come together, and he finished the season strong. It made him hopeful for a good year to follow.

“Last year, when we got to July, it was right around the 250, we thought we had the car going pretty good,” said Ricker, who won the 60-lap Late Models feature in late July. ” We broke in the 250, but we came back and won a couple of races. We were pretty excited. We thought we had a pretty good chance this year of, maybe not doing as well as we have been doing, but we thought we’d be there.”

In addition to his two wins, he finished second to defending 250 champ Eddie MacDonald in the ACT 150. He placed sixth in the other ACT 150 race. Having that kind of success has Ricker feeling a little momentum going into this weekend.

“That’s a big factor,” he said. “To run the 150 and finish second to Eddie MacDonald and then you’ve got Brian Hoar behind you, that boosted my confidence so high that I’ll try driving in the dirt if that’s what I need to do to qualify. Even in the second 150, we did pretty good.”

Ricker has finished 38th, 41st and 32nd in the last three 250s, but he’s never entered the event feeling this good about himself or his car. He hopes that can make a significant difference this weekend.

“I feel a lot better this year than I ever have, that’s for damn sure,” he said. “We’re pretty excited about it. Traditionally, being the points leader, I think we’ll get a provisional, if we need it. We don’t plan on using it. We’ve always been lucky in the past to qualify in the first race, and that’s what we’re hoping is going to happen.”

Ricker knows that trying to qualify and struggling to do so can foul up a racer’s whole day. He’s even aware that points leaders have had a history of struggling in the heat races. So getting the qualifying done early is a significant step.

“All the pressure’s off you when you qualify in that first race,” he said. “That’s the biggest thing. Then you can settle down a little bit. 250 laps is a long race. I think this year, we’re going to have a chance, if we’ve got a problem, to be able to make a lot of adjustments in the car and still be able to come back and do something.”

Ricker has been racing for more than 30 years. He won races in the Charger division back in the late 1980s. He subsequently made the jump to the Limited Sportsman division and started winning there in 1998 and totalled 13 victories there through 2006.

He has since made the Late Models his home. He finished second in a rookie of the year battle with Travis Stearns and has been a consistent contender ever since.  He’s taken his game up a notch, earning his 18th and 19th career wins this summer. He hopes that bodes well for Sunday.

“We’ve always said it’s 50-percent luck and the rest of things fall into place,” said Ricker. “If we can have a little luck, we’ll have a good day, I’m sure.”

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