As the NASCAR Hall of Fame gathered its voting members last May to consider and select which of the sport‘s worthy former competitors would be part of the Class of 2025, a letter arrived at the Hall for the voting committee and an identical copy in the mailbox of retired NASCAR Cup Series superstar Ricky Rudd.
The six-page letter was unsigned but included a long list of Rudd‘s career achievements — from his streak of 16 consecutive years with a victory in the NASCAR Cup Series to his 19 years ranked among the top 10 in the final championship standings to becoming the then-youngest Daytona 500 pole winner in 1981 at age 24.
And yes, Rudd confirms — still touched by the anonymous supporter‘s meticulous research — all the stories included in this passionate petition are true. From when Rudd famously raced with his eyes taped open in the 1984 Daytona 500 to the time when the sport‘s iconic “tough guy” still showed up in Victory Lane in 1998 at Martinsville Speedway despite suffering second-degree burns in the race.
Rudd won the Brickyard 400 in 1997 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and was one of the most renowned road-course racers of his time with six wins. He won the 1992 International Race of Champions (IROC) championship in his first year in the all-star series that pitted NASCAR, IndyCar and sports car greats against one another in equally prepared cars.
“All of a sudden, I got a huge percentage of the votes,” Rudd recalled of getting news he had been voted into the Hall of Fame. “When I looked at it [the letter], I said, I didn‘t even remember that. Those were some good numbers (laughing). I don‘t know if anyone ever read it or saw it. But someone was going to bat for me hard and I have no idea who it was.”
It turned out to be a home run in Rudd‘s grand slam NASCAR career.
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This Friday evening as Rudd is officially inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame (NASCAR Channel on Tubi), no doubt that supporter will be among the racing legions applauding the 68-year-old Chesapeake, Virginia, native as he is formally honored as one of the sport‘s very best.
The reality is that while Rudd appreciated that fan‘s effort, he probably didn‘t even need the extra push. His 23 career wins on every sort of venue — from short oval to road course to the big tracks; from Martinsville and Dover to Riverside and Sonoma to Michigan and Indianapolis — are impressive in full. So, too, are his milestones in consistency and longevity, highlighted by a then-NASCAR-record 788 consecutive starts from 1981 to 2005 that held until 2015.
But what so many will remember about this proud Virginian is his raw gumption and determination; his willpower and his massive talent.
Rudd didn‘t come up racing on the short tracks or transition from a decorated dirt career like so many of his future contemporaries. His first race in a stock car was in a Cup Series race at age 18 — something now unheard of in modern-day competition.
A family friend, Bill Champion, put Rudd in a car once owned by the late Dale Earnhardt‘s then-father-in-law Robert Gee. And the bright ambitious teenager Rudd immediately went out and finished 11th at Rockingham Speedway in his debut on March 2, 1975 — placing ahead of future fellow NASCAR Hall of Famers like Darrell Waltrip, Buddy Baker and Donnie Allison.
A week later on at Bristol Motor Speedway, Rudd finished 10th, the first of what would be 374 top-10 career finishes.
“There weren‘t many young people in the sport at that time and there really was no place for me at a big team at that time,” Rudd recalled. “What I felt was that I had a perfect opportunity to learn on the job because it wasn‘t difficult to qualify for races in that era. And what I‘m going to say [in my Hall of Fame induction speech] is ‘What better way to start your career?’
“I learned from the best teachers in the world. I learned from the Pettys, the Pearsons, Baker, Yarborough, the list goes on. Those were basically my teachers because when I would screw up they would come find me and say, ‘Ricky, you should have done this or you should have done that.’ So I felt like I had a unique opportunity. I learned from the best in on-the-job training. The downside of that was [competing in that era] it was like 160 races before I won one.”
Rudd‘s beginnings in the sport are as interesting as his unlikely ascension to superstardom. Unlike many of his competitors, Rudd‘s family had no direct association in NASCAR‘s big leagues. His father — who owned a tire store — raced sporadically at the local Virginia short tracks. Rudd‘s first taste of competition came from a miniature dirt track his dad built on the cul-de-sac in the subdivision where the family lived.
Rudd was the second youngest of five children and the “yard kart,” as he calls his father‘s work, was intended for the older kids. But Rudd, who started turning laps on it as an 8-year-old, recalled: “I was the only one that really showed interest. I wanted to run that thing every weekend. I wanted to drive, drive, drive.”
Rudd‘s older brother AJ loved to work on the cars and ultimately ended up Rudd‘s mechanic. And in 1977, Rudd — with AJ‘s technical assistance — won Cup Series rookie of the year.
“I kind of stumbled into dirt bike racing and then stumbled into car racing,” Rudd said. “No plan. Just lucky I was able to move up through and be in the Cup Series. But there was no strategic plan, no money behind me. I tell people, I learned to be a mechanic. My dad and brother were genius mechanics. I just liked driving fast. That‘s what motivated me.”
It was also around this time that Rudd married his childhood sweetheart Linda. The two lived down the road from one another growing up and even rode the same school bus to elementary school. Eventually, they shared some classes in junior high and high school and became an item.
Rudd laughs, recalling their earliest days of dating.
“She was a few months older than me so she had her driver‘s license and I only had my learner‘s permit,” Rudd said. “So I would go pick her up, illegally I guess as I drove down the street, but then when she got in the car it was legal because she had her license.”
They married in 1979 and have been side-by-side at the track and in life ever since. They have a son, Landon, 30, who graduated from the New York University Steinhardt‘s Department of Music and Performing Arts with a master‘s degree.
Family was something crucially important to Rudd — a thread that does seem to run through so many of NASCAR‘s Hall of Famers. It was especially important during the four decades he competed full-time. And it‘s been a particularly cherished landing point for Rudd, whose time behind the wheel created some of the most well-known stories in the sport‘s history.
He was never afraid to run door-to-door with “The Intimidator,” the late Dale Earnhardt and although he says there was a lot of “mutual respect” between the two, there was sometimes extra friction because they were both contending for wins. Rudd remembers — with a laugh now — a famous incident at North Wilkesboro between the two when he was so mad he climbed out of his car intent to confront Earnhardt on pit road.
“He was out after the race with his people around him and Larry McReynolds was right behind him,” Rudd recalled. “And I was getting ready to leap into the pile and grab Earnhardt and probably McReynolds saved my life. He grabbed my belt buckle when I was mid-air and stopped me. So, I‘m sure I would have been jumped on by about six guys if not for Larry.”
And of course there is perhaps the most famous of all Rudd story lines, the 1984 Daytona 500 when Rudd, who was in an accident in the Busch Clash in the days leading up to the 500-mile race, had to tape his eyes open to finish the 500. True story, Rudd says, anticipating it to come up as it always does — legitimately legendary.
“There might be some discussion on who picked the tape up from the toolbox but that actually happened,” Rudd said, recalling that it was his debut for Hall of Fame owner Bud Moore‘s team, his first month on the job. And he was determined to make the most of this incredible career opportunity.
Rudd had suffered a concussion, had those swollen eyes and was bruised with a painful rib injury from the Clash days earlier. In the 500, he remembered during a pit stop, Moore looking at him intensely then tilting Rudd‘s eyes back and declaring, “man, your eyes are really swollen and that could be causing a problem.”
“And the next thing I know the tape came out of the toolbox and the eyes got taped open. … We go back out and I told him, ‘that fixed it, we‘re good.’
“The cool thing was we came back the next week and won at Richmond.”
It demonstrates exactly the kind of competitive spirit matched with natural talent that made Rudd one of NASCAR‘s stars. His alliterative name was easy to remember and his racing on track was impossible to forget.
He competed for legendary owners from Richard Childress and Kenny Bernstein to Rick Hendrick, Robert Yates and the Wood Brothers in a time when it was immensely challenging to own and drive a car.
His last victory came in 2002 on the Sonoma road course — holding off two other NASCAR Hall of Famers, Tony Stewart and Terry Labonte, for the victory in the famous No. 28 Robert Yates Racing Ford. His final full-time season was in 2007 at the age of 50 when he drove the No. 88 in a return to RYR, earning his final top-10 (seventh place) at the Charlotte 600-miler.
And yet for all he‘s accomplished in so many forms or the sport, Rudd shared that he’s only ever displayed one of his 23 trophies in his home outside Charlotte — that Brickyard 400 trophy … which now sits at the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
As with so many of the Hall of Famers, he is genuinely resistant to name one single career “highlight” which, of course, ultimately makes sense considering the body of work it takes to receive a Hall of Fame invitation.
“I guess the thing that sits apart is the 16 years in a row of winning races but to go with that it was with many different car owners,” Rudd said of his accomplished resume. “That was one of the main things. It was Richard Childress‘ first win as a car owner, Kenny Bernstein‘s first win as a car owner.
“And for some of those guys I worked with — when I came back with the 28 team it hadn‘t won races in a while. It wasn‘t ‘me.’ I happened to be the benefactor of a good team put together but we were able to come back and win after shutting that team down and won for ourselves so that was a first-time winner.”
Arguably, Rudd‘s success is even more remarkable when you realize his career included time racing against early NASCAR legends like Petty, Yarborough, Waltrip as well as the next generation of stars such as Dale Earnhardt, Dale Jarrett, Terry and Bobby Labonte, and ultimately champions such as Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson.
He competed door-to-door with all three seven-time champs, Richard Petty, Earnhardt and Johnson — something not many NASCAR drivers can say.
“I didn‘t know a lot about Ricky before I became his teammate because NASCAR was just so new to me and it all happened so quickly,” said fellow Hall of Famer and current Hendrick Motorsports executive Jeff Gordon.
“I just knew Ricky was the guy competing against Earnhardt and then I became his teammate [at Hendrick] and realized just how good and how talented he was. That‘s why I think he‘d still thrive in today‘s world. He had the work ethic. He had the mindset, the patience and the aggressiveness and I just think when you do have those qualities it does transcend time.
“Now that I know more about the history and Ricky‘s history in the sport, I appreciate he made an impressive impact right from the beginning. He was this young, talented race car driver that could just about do anything with the race car so he got people‘s attention and I think that‘s what gave him these opportunities to really thrive in the sport.
“But then, you quickly found out how tough he was too with that crash at Daytona and that wasn‘t going to keep him out of the car. He got this reputation of being very talented, very calculated but also just an incredibly tough and respected driver, then you put in the Iron Man [consecutive starts] stuff, too.”
It all speaks to Rudd‘s contribution to the sport — one of the most memorable and remarkable competitors in NASCAR history. Now, he will be remembered and honored in perpetuity.
“It‘s amazing looking back now,” Rudd said. “It‘s really always been all about looking ahead. This Hall of Fame has forced me to look back whether I wanted to or not, finding old photos the Hall wanted for exhibits and it‘s allowed me to go back and reminisce a little bit.
“Kind of neat to look back and wonder, ‘How did we do it?’ Not how did I do it, but how did we do it. We didn‘t have a lot of money, we just made it work.”
“As a kid growing up you don‘t think about ‘Hall of Fame.’ You don‘t think down the road and first of all, there wasn‘t a NASCAR Hall of Fame when I started racing. So, your goals are different and when you‘re in a sport, you don‘t look back at yesterday. You‘re always looking forward to the next race. You really don‘t have time to really get caught up in ‘I want to accomplish this in my career.’ There was never a plan. You want to do the very best you can and drive the very best equipment and let the results fall where they may.
“It was a tremendous honor just being asked to be one of the original 50 voters in the Hall of Fame. That alone was neat and then as time went on, I thought, I might have a shot at this one day. … Once you‘re done with racing and the smoke‘s cleared, you think that would really be neat to be in there with the legends you looked up to, your friends in there. What a neat deal.”
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