Perhaps the most amazing thing about Ricky Rudd, apart from his 23 Cup Series victories, is the fact that Rudd's first time in a stock car was in 1975 at North Carolina Speedway. He was practicing for his Cup Series debut.
Incidentally, Rudd made that race and finished 11th.
Rudd's racing career started at the age of nine. He ran go-karts and motocross through his teens. His Cup Series career began in 1975 with four starts for owner Bill Champion. His reputation as a championship-caliber driver started to come together in 1977, when he ran 25 races for his father. During that first campaign, Rudd garnered one top-five and 10 top-10 finishes en route to rookie of the year honors.
Rudd would start 160 Cup races before taking his first victory in 1983 at Riverside Raceway. He won again later that year in Martinsville. Those victories would start a stretch in which Rudd won at least one Cup Series race for each of the next 16 seasons, a Cup Series record Rudd shares with Rusty Wallace.
In 2003, Rudd passed two impressive career landmarks. In July, Rudd made his 700th consecutive Cup Series start at Pocono Raceway. The ending was not storybook, as Rudd's ailing Ford was pushed back to the garage area early, the victim of a blown engine.
"It was a neat weekend," Rudd said. "I just wish the outcome would've turned out a little bit different, something we would remember 700 by. We'll remember it, but not in a real super positive way because we didn't finish."
In October at Atlanta, Rudd made his 800th career Cup start. In spite of the accomplishment, Rudd was reserved about the feat.
"I'm proud of the fact that we're at 800, but by the same token, I'd rather low-key it because it seems like so many things have been about the number of starts."
Despite all the accolades, Rudd says wins are the thing.
"I've got a couple of years left in this business, and I would rather be thought of for the win streak and things like that, than the guy that went out there and ran 10,000 races."
When he's away from the racetrack, Rudd, a former member of the National Junior Honor Society, enjoys racing his shifter-kart, listening to Elton John music and following the Washington Redskins. He also is the proud owner of a 1932 Ford Deuce Coupe and is an avid flyer.
Rudd resides in North Carolina with wife Linda and his son Landon, who was born in 1994.
