Trouble in Turn2

For many NASCAR fans, Ricky Rudd and Tide are tied together. It was such a noticeable paint scheme with the orange, yellow and white with the large Tide letters bursting off the hood. Even after Rudd left for Yates Racing leaving the scheme for others to drive it, the Tide car still felt like Rudd’s. Even as a casual NASCAR fan during the 90’s and early 00’s, there were certain paint schemes I could always recognize. Dale Earnhardt’s black Goodwrench, Jeff Gordon’s DuPont and Rudd’s Tide scheme were all on the shortlist.

As the Rooster winds down his career, it’s worth taking the time to appreciate his career. He has seen nearly everything in NASCAR. He’s driven boxy cars that placed the emphasis on driver skill, to aerodynamic cars that perpetuated manufacturer battles, sleek models built in engineering departments and now boxy cars the supposedly place the emphasis on driver skill. All the while Rudd has basically stayed in the background, done his job and done it well.

A 32 year career spanning four decades and 906 starts (through Homestead). Ricky Rudd was rarely considered one of the elite drivers at the Cup level, but to hang on that long he had to have done a few things right. Rudd raced in every single race from 1981 through the end of 2005, an amazing 788 straight races. That includes the legendary 1984 Daytona 500 race when he taped his eyelids open after a bad crash in the exhibition race at Daytona. Fans might not be able to experience racing at 200 mph, but a serious fan should try simply driving to the grocery store with their eyes taped open. He finished 7th.

It isn’t simply about longevity with Rudd, though. He has 23 career wins placing him 26th all time while his 374 top 10’s is sixth best all time. He has 19 top ten points finishes in his career including a best of 2nd in 1991. It’s fitting that his career is bracketed with road course wins on either side be cause Rudd will likely be remembered as being one of the best road racers ever in NASCAR. Rudd’s first win at Riverside in 1983 while his (likely) final trophy came at Sonoma 2002. Rudd’s 6 road course wins leaves him second to only Jeff Gordon on serpentine tracks.

Everything began for the Virginian at Rockingham as an 18 year old in 1975. He finished 11th, albeit 58 laps down to the winner, Cale Yarborough. Things really took off for Rudd in 1981 when he drove the full season scoring 14 top 5’s and 17 top 10’s on his way to a sixth place finish. Aside from an attempt at ownership, Rudd finished in the top ten in points with great consistency. From 1981-2002, Rudd had only four seasons with point finishes outside the top ten. While his ownership exploits did not pan out, he did score one of the biggest wins of his career in 1997, the Brickyard 400. Other highlights included a win at Darlington, 3 wins at Martinsville and 2 at Richmond.

Two years ago Rudd decided to step away from Cup racing. While other drivers like Rusty Wallace, Terry Labonte and Mark Martin (remember when he was retiring?) had large, year long, merchandise-driven farewell tours, Rudd quietly slipped away after the season’s final race. Now after returning for a swan song in 2007 it’s time for someone to look out for Rudd and give him his due. It would be great if Tide and Yates Racing could arrange to sponsor Ricky Rudd at the final race at Homestead. Tide is not a current Cup sponsor and Yates is losing Masterfoods after 2008. It’s probably too late, but it would be a fitting end for someone that has done a lot for both Yates and Tide not to mention NASCAR as a whole.