Ruttman excited to be back behind the wheel at Kansas

As the Craftsman Truck Series gets back into action Saturday in the O'Reilly Auto Parts 250 (5:30 p.m. ET, SPEED), a gone but not forgotten face will return and get behind the wheel for the first time since 2002.

Joe Ruttman was with the Craftsman Truck Series from the beginning. In NASCAR since 1963, when the Truck Series began in 1995 he proved his racing career was far from over. Two wins at Bristol and Martinsville, 10 top-fives and 18 top-10s in 20 races, Ruttman finished second in the points standings behind inaugural series champion Mike Skinner.

By the Numbers

The 2007 season has been one non-stop party for Mike Skinner. In Kansas he looks to do something no one in the Truck Series has done before, win four consecutive races.

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In eight seasons in the Truck Series, Ruttman racked up 13 wins, 68 top-fives and 111 top-10s in 168 races. He finished no worse than sixth in the points standings six of his eight seasons. On top of all that, he's the oldest driver to win a Truck Series race when he took the checkered flag at Pikes Peak at the age of 56 in May 2001.

Now at the age of 62, Ruttman is back in the No. 18 Dodge for Bobby Hamilton Racing, racing in seven events this season, and he can't wait to get behind the wheel again, especially for his old friend.

"The employees at BHR have made it a point to make sure that Bobby Sr.'s wishes be fulfilled," Ruttman said. "He worked his tail off his whole racing career to build this really, really good race team and he wanted to continue it. He didn't want to say, 'OK, I'm checking out, the heck with everybody else.'

"He was so loyal to all the employees, especially those who had been with him since day one. That place was his life and I'm honored to be with them again."

Ruttman spent his last three full seasons with Bobby Hamilton Racing from 1999-2001. Although some of the faces have changed since the last time he was there, Ruttman was there when the team was successful, and he looks to bring some of that success back to BHR again.

"I'm at the shop every day, kidding with the guys about all the races we had in the past," Ruttman said. "Why we lost the ones we did, why we won particular races and what it's going to take for us to get back to the same level again when Bobby won the championship and we won races. (Continued)