Stateline Speedway to Induct Brian Ruhlman into the Wall of Fame
Brian Ruhlman - Stateline Speedway Wall of Fame Inductee
For four decades, Brian Ruhlman has built a racing career defined by versatility, longevity, ingenuity and winning. From a 15-year-old teenager beginning his career in Stateline Speedway’s Cadet division to becoming one of the most accomplished and well-traveled racers to ever call Stateline home, Ruhlman’s journey has taken him to more than 100 racetracks across 38 states and Canada, producing more than 250 feature victories and 22 track and series championships.
It all began at Stateline Speedway in 1986.
Ruhlman was just 15 years old when he climbed behind the wheel of a Cadet for the first time. Like so many young racers, his early years were shaped by the people willing to share their knowledge and experience. Bill Nobles was instrumental in helping Ruhlman get started, while his time working at Toby Jordan’s, fellow Stateline Wall of Famer, “Tobber Racing Chassis” at ages 15 and 16 gave him an education that extended far beyond race cars.
Ruhlman credits Toby with teaching him not only about racing, but about life and business. Decades later, Ruhlman sees many similarities between the business he operates today and the operation Toby built during those formative years.
Another major influence came from Chub Frank.
In 1991, Frank put Ruhlman in his spare Super Late Model to compete at Stateline and Eriez Speedways. At the same time, Ruhlman continued campaigning his own Limited Late Model. The results offered an early indication of the career that was ahead.
Ruhlman won the 1991 Limited Late Model championship at Stateline while also capturing the Late Model championship at Eriez in his rookie season driving Frank’s car. More important than the equipment itself was the education that came with it. Ruhlman credits Frank with teaching him how to race intelligently - when to attack, when to be patient and how to put himself in position to win.
As a youngster, Ruhlman was also a fan of Stateline standout Lars Huling, fellow Stateline Wall of Famer, and particularly admired Huling’s creativity and ingenuity with race cars.
What makes Ruhlman exceptionally rare is that he not only won behind the wheel, he has built race and championship winning cars for nearly 4 decades
Ruhlman built his first stock car, a cadet, for a good friend, Mike Schleyer in 1987, at only 16 years old, long before earning his Engineering Degree from Penn State University.
In 2026, after 11-years as Senior Manager of Engineering firm, Applied Technologies, Inc., in Toledo, Ohio, Ruhlman put 100% of his focus into building Ruhlman Race Cars, feeding his lifelong passion for race car design and fabrication. For the past 20 years, he has built race cars for a living, combining an engineer’s precision with the experience of a championship-winning driver. The result is a legacy that extends beyond his own 22 championships: Ruhlman isn’t simply a championship racer—he builds the cars that help others become champions.
Those early lessons helped form one of the most diverse racing careers produced by a Stateline competitor.
Ruhlman has raced - and won - in Stock Cars; Cadets, Limited Late Models, Super Late Models, UMP Modifieds, asphalt Stock Cars, RUSH non-wing Sprint Cars, 410 USAC-style non-wing Sprint Cars, 410 winged Sprint Cars, 360 winged Sprint Cars and USAC Silver Crown Championship Cars.
Of them all, Ruhlman says the 410 non-wing Sprint Car stands alone as his favorite, describing it as both the most fun and the most challenging race car he has ever driven.
While Stateline provided the foundation, Ruhlman’s success eventually spread throughout the country.
He accumulated seven championships on the Stateline-Eriez circuit across the Cadet, Limited Late Model and Late Model divisions. He added a Late Model championship at Raceway 7 in 1995, three Late Model championships at Oakshade Raceway in Ohio and four championships with the American Late Model Series.
At Eldora Speedway, one of the most demanding and prestigious dirt tracks in America, Ruhlman became a fixture. He earned seven Eldora championships across the Modified and Late Model divisions and established himself as the winningest Modified driver in track history while also setting the division’s track record.
His touring accomplishments included earning STARS Rookie of the Year honors in 1994 and competing successfully against many of the best dirt Late Model racers in the country.
Among the signature victories of Ruhlman’s career was his triumph in the 2000 Hagerstown Oktoberfest 350. Two years later, he captured the 2002 UMP Fall Nationals Late Model event at Eldora Speedway. He also qualified for some of dirt Late Model racing’s biggest events, including multiple appearances in Eldora’s Dream and the Dirt Track World Championship in 2004.
But numbers alone do not fully explain Brian Ruhlman’s place in Stateline Speedway history.
His career represents the path generations of racers have dreamed of taking - beginning as a teenager at a local short track, learning from the racers and builders who came before him, winning championships at home and then carrying that experience onto some of racing’s biggest stages.
More than 250 feature victories. Twenty-two championships. More than 100 racetracks. Thirty-eight states and Canada. Victories and championships in cars ranging from Cadets and Late Models to Modifieds and Sprint Cars.
And through it all, one of the places where the story began - and where Brian Ruhlman developed into a champion - was Stateline Speedway.
For his accomplishments at Stateline, his success throughout dirt-track racing and a remarkable career spanning 40 years, Brian Ruhlman takes his rightful place among the legends of the Stateline Speedway Wall of Fame.