| By Mark Spoor, NASCAR.COM
June 1, 2006
11:08 AM EDT (15:08 GMT)
It's quite possible that the driver that will receive the most attention during Sunday's Neighborhood Excellence 400 won't show up anywhere in the final results. Ricky Rudd will practice and qualify the No. 20 Chevrolet for Tony Stewart on Friday and Saturday at Dover and he'll also be standing by Sunday in case Stewart cannot finish the race.  |  | | Tony Stewart and JGR will turn to Ricky Rudd for assistance at Dover. Credit: Autostock |
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| Inside the Numbers |
| Ricky Rudd at Dover |
| Starts |
55 |
| Wins |
4 |
| Top-5s |
14 |
| Top-10s |
26 |
| Poles |
4 |
| DNFs |
13 |
| Avg. Start |
13.0 |
| Avg. Finish |
13.9 |
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Stewart himself said Wednesday that he'll likely run only until the race's first caution. However, he will start the race. Therefore, he'll get all driver points earned. That could be quite an amount. Rudd has four wins at the Monster Mile, most recently in 1997. Rudd's led more than 1,000 laps of the 1-mile concrete oval and he has an average finish of 13.9 in 54 career starts there. Expect to hear a lot on Sunday's pre-race show about Stewart's condition and plenty of speculation on whether or not Stewart will complete all 400 laps. Al Shuford, a certified athletic trainer formerly with the NFL's Carolina Panthers, will work with Stewart to get him ready for his limited participation at Dover and beyond. Shuford joined Joe Gibbs Racing in October 2000. "Basically, we're just going to work with Tony to make him comfortable," Shuford said. "Tony's injury is something that only time and rest can heal. But we can help speed up that timetable with a rehabilitation program specific to his injury and his profession." Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Green are among the guests scheduled for Trackside this week from Dover (7 p.m. ET, Friday). If you're heading to Dover, the SPEED Stage will be outside the Turn 4 grandstand. |  | E-MAIL | |
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"Ask the Producer" takes a one-week hiatus this week, but will return next week in preparation for Pocono. Send your inquires to the link on the right. On to this weekend's busy schedule: Nextel Cup Series: Neighborhood Excellence 400 Track: Dover International Speedway
• 1-mile oval
• 24-degree banking in turns
• 9-degree banking on straights
• Length of frontstretch: 1,076 feet
• Length of backstretch: 1,076 feet Race length: 400 laps/400 miles TV schedule: (All times ET)
• NASCAR Live: 5 p.m. Fri.., SPEED
• Bud Pole Qualifying: 5:30 p.m. ET Fri. (tape), SPEED
• Trackside: 7 p.m. Fri., SPEED
• NASCAR Live: 1 p.m., 5:30 p.m. Sat., SPEED
• Final Practice: 2 p.m. Sat. (tape), FX
• NASCAR Raceday: 11 a.m. Sun., SPEED
• Pre-race: 1:30 p.m. Sun., FX
• Race: 2:10 p.m. Sun., FX One year ago, in a race slowed seven times for 33 of its 400 laps, Greg Biffle won in part because he avoided traffic problems that resulted in hard crashes. Among those taken from the field were four-time Dover winners Jeff Gordon and Ricky Rudd, and Ken Schrader and Dave Blaney. The most recent checkered flag went to Kasey Kahne, who held off Jimmie Johnson to end Johnson's three-year reign at Lowe's Motor Speedway as Coca-Cola 600 champion. In winning Sunday night, Kahne matched Johnson with three victories this season. Keep an eye on Ryan Newman. Newman has won three of the last six races at Dover and has scored seven top-10 finishes in his eight races at the Monster Mile. Busch Series: StonebridgeRacing.com 200 Track: Dover International Speedway
• 1-mile oval
• 24-degree banking in turns
• 9-degree banking on straights
• Length of frontstretch: 1,076 feet
• Length of backstretch: 1,076 feet Race length: 200 laps/200 miles TV schedule: (All times ET) • Qualifying: Noon Sat., SPEED
• Race: 3 p.m. Fri., FX One year ago, Martin Truex Jr. bided his time until the handling on Kevin Harvick's car went away, then passed him for the lead with 70 laps to go and eventually drove away to an easy victory. The most recent checkered flag went to Carl Edwards, who passed Casey Mears on the final restart to win the Carquest 300 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Keep an eye on Matt Kenseth. Kenseth leads all active Busch Series drivers in laps led at Dover with 628. Craftsman Truck Series: AAA Insurance 200 Track: Dover International Speedway
• 1-mile oval
• 24-degree banking in turns
• 9-degree banking on straights
• Length of frontstretch: 1,076 feet
• Length of backstretch: 1,076 feet TV schedule (All times ET) • Race: 8 p.m. Fri. (tape), SPEED One year ago, Kyle Busch got a huge break and won the Craftsman Truck Series race for the second week in a row after an error on pit road took dominant Ron Hornaday out of contention. The most recent checkered flag went to Ron Hornaday, who won the City of Mansfield 250 on Saturday for his Craftsman Truck Series-record 28th career victory, while former baseball star Mike Greenwell finished 26th in his NASCAR debut. Keep an eye on Dennis Setzer, who will make his 200th career NCTS start Friday at Dover. | 
