Ricky Rudd will admit his first tenure with Robert Yates had its rough spots. Credit: Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images

Rudd's return to RYR surprising, wins won't be

Had YouTube existed way back in the fall of 2002, one of the best videos in its arsenal undoubtedly would have involved Ricky Rudd. Seriously.

Rudd has accomplished a lot in his long NASCAR career, but I still maintain that one his greatest achievements happened in Richmond in the fall of 2002. Rudd, all of 5 feet, 8 inches, hurled a water bottle at a member of his team, striking the man in the face.

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It was a beautiful throw, something insanely well-executed under tremendous pressure. Because Rudd is not a tall man, he threw the bottle while leaping at his adversary. The man he struck required 12 stitches, and he was also fined $10,000 because he had provoked the attack on Rudd.

Did I mention that this was an inter-team fight? Rudd was gone from Robert Yates Racing only a few months later. It was not the most pleasant of divorces. It wasn't as bad as the Ernie Irvan-RYR split in 1996, but you get the idea.

"I think maybe the way we handled those disagreements, we might face them a little earlier instead of letting them fester like maybe we did last time -- bring them to the table," Rudd said. "Let's discuss them and that's something we probably didn't do a very good job of last time."

In short, not many people ever thought Rudd would ever be back driving for RYR, and yet it appears that he will have one final season in the sun.

	Ricky Rudd, a.k.a. The Rooster Credit: Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images
	RETURN TO ROOST Ricky Rudd is returning to the team for which he drove from 2000-02 when he won three races for Robert Yates Racing.  •   Complete story, click here •   Q&A: Rudd and Yates

That is a good thing, by the way. Anyone who steps into a RYR machine will have at least three very good chances to win races, because RYR's restrictor-plate motors are without peer in the garage right now. Welcome to the Bud Shootout, David Gilliland, and do not forget to thank engine builder Doug Yates on the way to driver introductions.

We all know that RYR has experienced two bad years in a row, and it is a stretch to think that Rudd, 50, has much of a chance to make the Chase. He does, however, have a legitimate shot at winning multiple races.

Here is why.

Besides the obvious chance to win any of the first three restrictor-plate races, Rudd is always going to be tough at the two road-course events.

But there's more.

Several drivers I have talked to are adamant that the incoming Car of Tomorrow, which debuts in 16 events this season, will ultimately produce some upsets. Whenever a new variable is introduced in NASCAR, whether it be a track, a manufacturer, whatever -- it increases the chance of unpredictability.

Rudd already has a lot of laps in the Car of Tomorrow -- he tested a Toyota COT with Wyler Racing, and Yates needs his expertise with the car. Rudd is one of the few drivers you will find that has nice things to say about the COT, and because Rudd is a phenomenal test driver, expect him to help close RYR's learning curve in the COT.

Ricky Rudd got a feel for the COT at Talladega, and liked it. Credit: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images

"We tested that Toyota down at Talladega several months ago and it was very stable," Rudd said. "It's just a little bit different animal. A lot of the things that used to work on cars, say a few years back, now you can kind of dig up some of the old notebooks and start applying some of that to it because the cars are different.

"They don't corner quite as good as the old cars, but yet everyone is going to be equal."

Rudd said that he considered running a part-time schedule for Yates, but part-time programs almost never work at the Nextel Cup level. That is what made Boris Said's limited schedule in 2006, when he scored two top-10s in four races, so impressive.

"There's a big difference between a part-time schedule versus a full-time schedule with Robert Yates Racing," Rudd said. "I think you have to be in the trenches week in and week out on a real regular basis."

Many details of Yates' future uncertain

	Which car number would you like to see Ricky Rudd drive in 2007? 28 88 New number

• During Thursday's announcement of the Rudd hiring, Yates and Rudd danced around questions as to how long Rudd will drive for the team, which means that a guaranteed two-year contract was not signed.

That gives Yates another year to find more financial backing if he needs because Masterfoods, which owns the M&M's brand, was also elusive when asked how long it would back two cars at the Nextel Cup level.

• Interestingly, word had already filtered out that several longtime employees of Robert Yates Racing had already left to go to other teams. Yates himself confirmed that his employee count had shrunk from 150 to 125 people, but he also said that his payroll had already increased.

"I was just expecting mass exodus, but it turned out that we were able to retain the really key people and put more key people in place," Yates said. "So it really surprised me, but I think now we've taken an organization program that's very different than we had ... a lot more focus on the performance side and a lot less on the media side."

• Rudd's number? Who knows?

There obviously has been talk that Yates will switch his second car from the No. 88 to the No. 28, which Yates ran from 1989 to 2003. Rudd's win at Sonoma in 2002 was the final victory for the No. 28, but Yates refused to dispel talk that the No. 28 might return.

Had Yates planned to run Daytona in the No. 88, I would think that he would have gone out and said it, but he didn't.

Daytona testing is just two weeks ahead, so we won't have to wait long for the confirmation.

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.