Ricky Rudd, driver of the No. 88 Snickers Ford Fusion, will be making the 906th—and final—start of his NASCAR Nextel Cup Series career on Sunday. Before practice on Friday, the 1977 Rookie of the Year reflected on a career that spanned more than 30 years. Rudd, who made his first series start in 1975, did not miss an event from 1981-2005, a span of 788 races—and an all-time series record.
Rudd stepped away from full-time racing after the 2005 season, but at that time he never said he was retiring. After returning for 2007, though, he is saying that will be it. David Poole, ThatsRacin.com
“It really hasn’t sunk in,” he said of his final race. “It’s been kind of a crazy year. Starting off, we were struggling on the race track and then getting hurt and then sitting out about five weeks and coming back. All of a sudden, the season’s over with. Like I said, it’s been a little struggle as a team, the last couple, three weeks.
His competitive fire hasn’t been dampened, though. As Rudd looks at what could understandably be an emotional weekend, he says that the level of nostalgia he feels will depend on how well the weekend goes.
He took last year off to decide if he was ready to walk away before returning to RYR this season. Now, he’s made the decision to leave racing for good. The 51-year-old Virginian has 23 wins, 194 top-five and 374 top-10 finishes in 905 career starts.
It’s difficult to imagine what it will feel like to make that final start. SceneDaily.com
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