Ricky Rudd, the Iron Man of NASCAR Winston Cup/Nextel Cup, was born on September 12, 1956, in Cheasapeake, Va. Throughout his career he has been an owner of his own team, and has driven for several times. Currently Rudd drives for Wood Brothers Racing as #21, with title sponsor being Motorcraft.
Rudd started driving at an early age, with wins in both motocross, during his teen years, and go-kart, with his first win coming at age 9, and the Busch Series. Rudd won his first race at North Carolina Speedway in 1975 and earned Rookie of the Year in 1977. In 1980, Rudd took a family-owned car to Charolotte Motor Speedway and qualified on the outside pole and finishing fourth. This race provided his first contract, driving for DiGard.
After driving for DiGard for one season, Rudd signed up with Richard Childress Racing where he would continue until the end of the 1994 when he became his own team owner. It was while he was racing for himself he won the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
In 2000 Ricky Rudd moved over to Robert Yates Racing where his 16 year streak of winning at least once each season ended. (Rudd shares this record with Rusty Wallace.) During this time Rudd was racing the #28 Texaco/Havoline Ford and in 2001 broke his four-year losing skid.
Rudd continued to race for Yates and in 2002, he earns the IRONMAN title at Charlotte with his 656th consecutive start. (Think about all the times he must have raced with injured or broken body parts, sickness, or just didn't feel like racing.) In 2002, Rudd ended his association with RYR with his 3rd top ten finish in the point system. For the 2003 season, Rudd joined forces with the Wood Brothers. Rudd continues racing and will begin his 30th year behind the wheel.
Information for this node came from: http://www.rickyrudd.com/aboutricky.html, http://www.nascar.com/drivers/dps/rrudd00/cup/bio.html, and http://www.woodbrothersracing.com/ricky_story.cfm