Ricky Rudd Hall of Fame nominee bio

Known as NASCAR’s Ironman for more than a decade, the Virginia native held the premier series record for consecutive starts (788) before Jeff Gordon broke it in 2015. His 906 overall starts rank second in NASCAR history to Richard Petty’s 1,185.During his 32-year premier series career, Rudd posted 23 wins, 194 top fives, 374 top 10s (seventh all-time) and 29 poles. One of the few successful driver / owners in the modern era, Rudd won six races for his Rudd Performance Motorsports team he operated from 1994-99, including the 1997 Brickyard 400.

RELATED: Ricky Rudd’s career stats | Members of the Hall of Fame

Rudd, the 1977 premier series rookie of the year, earned a best points finish of second in 1991. He scored at least one win in 16 consecutive seasons (1983-98), which is tied for the third-longest streak in NASCAR premier series history.

As one of the NASCAR representatives in the 1992 International Race of Champions (IROC), Rudd came away with the Championship besting several of the top NASCAR Drivers of the day including Dale Earnhardt and Rusty Wallace.

In 1998, Rudd was named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers and was also included in NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Driver list in 2023.

Ricky Rudd bio

Born: Sept. 12, 1956
Hometown: Chesapeake, Virginia

Cup Series stats
Competed: 1975-2007
Starts: 906
Wins: 23
Poles: 29