Ricky Rudd's 2006 driving plans are in limbo as the Wood Brothers search for a new full-time sponsor. Credit: Autostock

Rudd is rarin' to race in 2006, but where?

BROOKLYN, Mich. -- A number of factors have NASCAR veteran Ricky Rudd still sitting on the fence regarding a decision on continuing his driving career in 2006.

Based on the performance of his No. 21 Motorcraft Ford in Bud Pole Qualifying Saturday at Michigan International Speedway, where Rudd qualified ninth -- his third top-10 start in the last four races -- being competitive is becoming less and less of an issue to Rudd, 48, who will make his 58th career start at the two-mile oval in Sunday's GFS Marketplace 400.

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"My whole deal is I'm not a movie star, don't claim to be and don't want to be -- and I'm not a TV star, don't claim to be and don't want to be," Rudd said. "I'm a guy that enjoys racing because of the fun of driving a good-driving racecar [and] the more weekends we have where the cars really perform good and run good, the more fun I have in this sport.

"A lot of the other things I don't enjoy about this sport, but I do enjoy race day and having good racecars under me -- and to me I have to have good racecars under me to get through all the other crap there is to this sport."

Rudd said the recent performance of his car, which have brought him from 33rd to 25th in the standings, have him enthused.

"We would be sitting here talking about our run for the top-10 had we just finished races like the way we were running in the races themselves," Rudd said. "On the same token, we've had good racecars, averaging 8th to 12th place cars, every week -- and we've got another good one here at Michigan this weekend."

The factors that have Rudd waffling on what he'll do are largely related to finances. His Wood Brothers Racing team Friday announced a partnership with ST Motorsports owner Tad Geschickter.

Len Wood, co-owner of the family team that Rudd drives for, reiterated statements made at Friday's news conference announcing the deal that indicated the Woods had more racing expertise while Geschickter, a former Procter & Gamble marketing executive, is much more adept at securing sponsorship dollars.

Rudd said primary sponsor Motorcraft's financial cutback for 2006 was weighing his decision.

"I don't really have an answer for that," Rudd said in response to a question about his timeframe for making a decision on continuing his driving career. "I'll probably wake up one morning and say what's going to happen.

"Right now I'm real supportive of what the Wood Brothers just announced yesterday [because] that's a big plus -- a big asset -- for them and it's going to help all the teams, though I'm not sure the period of time it's going to take before we start seeing some results.

"Tad is a brilliant fellow -- I worked with him when he was at Procter & Gamble and Tide was our sponsor -- and he was one of their sharp guys in the marketing department who is recruited by companies all over the United States and worldwide.

"Right now the Woods are trying to raise money for a second team, and from what I understand Motorcraft is cutting back to a smaller degree of sponsorship next year -- so there are a couple of other key things that I [would have to consider].

"I don't know that I would have a job or that the team has a job opening, right now. Hopefully they'll be here as they've been in the past, but a lot of that is going to depend on whether or not they can raise the proper funds to have a Cup team for the full deal instead of a limited schedule."

Wood said the team was committed to fielding a car for Rudd, but that his brother, team co-owner Eddie Wood's son, former Craftsman Truck Series Rookie of the Year Jon Wood, was the organization's proverbial ace in the hole.

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"Motorcraft is cutting back, and we think we have two-thirds of the money we need, to run next year," Wood said of plans for the 21. "So we just need a small piece, because it's very hard find the whole piece with one company, any more. You've watched a lot of people do [a season] with two or three sponsors.

"We have been working on several [sponsors] that could happen at any time, and finish the 21; and possibly run a second Cup team, though I don't see that happening. I see a truck team being much more likely.

"The priority is to finish [the sponsorship] on the 21. We're not looking to run a partial schedule or to just run trucks or anything like that -- we're looking to keep the 21 going. And as far as a driver is concerned, like I say we haven't talked to Ricky about it, but my view is it's not a panic situation, because we kind of have a built-in replacement with Jon -- so it's not like we have to be in the market to steal somebody's driver."

Wood said Jon Wood could end up in the 21 car, but Rudd was a key to whatever occurred.

"Yes, that's a possibility," Wood said. "I can't say what percentage, but that is a possibility.

"If [Rudd] wants to stay we'll work it out one way or the other. That could be -- and I say 'could be,' a second car. It could be a partial season for Jon. I would be pretty sure Jon would run another year of Busch -- whether he was in Cup or not -- full or limited."

Wood said he had not yet talked to Rudd about possibility running any kind of limited schedule, a la Terry Labonte's 10-race schedule this season.

"No, not yet," Wood said. "Like I said, that's kind of up to him to decide what he wants to do. Like we said at the beginning of this year, it's up to Ricky. And now he knows more of our plans, because we needed more of the multi-car thing that we had tried other ways, and it just did not work out." Rudd's primary concern this weekend is winning his second career event at Michigan. His last victory here was in 1993.

"We've had good runs all year, it's just our qualifying runs haven't been that good," Rudd said of only six top-10 starts in 23 races. "We've been in over 10 wrecks this year that have cost us a [poor] finish every time -- and we didn't cause any of it, we were only the victim of a multi-car wreck; and you can't overcome that [in the standings]."

Starting near the front, Rudd feels, should help the tendency to get tied up in other drivers' messes.

"The farther to the back you qualify the more susceptible you are to getting in accidents, and there's been record numbers of accidents at the beginning of these races," Rudd said. "You put yourself back there, and it happens all the way through the field, but sometimes in the beginning of the race the adrenaline's flowing and they're in over their head -- the tire pressures haven't come up and the cars get unpredictably loose.

"A lot of these guys haven't learned that yet -- they're good drivers but they haven't learned everything there is about racing yet, and unfortunately that's what triggers a lot of these multi-car wrecks."