Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 - Ricky Rudd Notes

RICKY RUDD: "... to arrive at 800, a lot of guys never see it because age gets them first."

Ricky Rudd, driver of the No. 21 Motorcraft Taurus, will reach another milestone on Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway when he becomes just the fourth driver in NASCAR Winston Cup Series history to make 800 career starts. Earlier this season, Rudd became the first driver in series history to make 700 consecutive starts at Pocono in July. Rudd, who competed in his first NWC race in 1975, also shares the modern-era record for consecutive seasons with at least one victory, 16 (1983 - 1998).

RICKY RUDD, No. 21 Motorcraft Taurus - "The numbers are adding up. I would rather be talking about going to Atlanta with five wins, and obviously we haven't done that this year. I'm proud of the fact that we're at 800, but by the same token, I'd rather low-profile it because it seems like so many of things have been about the number of starts, and I'm proud of it. But I'm more proud of my win streaks, like the 16 years in a row. My career is winding down, there's no secret about that, 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."

"It's nice the fans have supported me all these years. I think they're really proud of that - that and the Iron Man. And I am, too, but I'd rather not be remembered in a couple years when I step aside as a guy that ran all these races. The consecutive start is something to be proud of. I'm more proud of that than I am, I guess, of getting 800 races."

TO PUT 800 STARTS INTO PERSPECTIVE, YOU'RE STILL ONLY TWO-THIRDS OF THE WAY TO RICHARD PETTY'S RECORD OF 1,177. "I don't see guys in the future running as many races. You know, I got started in this business running Winston Cup when I was 18, so to arrive at 800, a lot of guys never see it because age gets them first. In this sport, until recently, you were considered in your prime in your mid-30s and your peak wasn't until your late 40s. So, those numbers are changing a little bit now, with a lot of the young guys coming in today. When I say young, most of these guys who are called young are in their low-to-mid 20s, the majority of them. So I don't think you'll see the younger guys today pile up 800 starts or 700 consecutive. I don't think you'll see that just because they're getting a little bit later start and I don't see them going and driving as long as I have or the guys before me have."

IS ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY STILL CONSIDERED THE FASTEST TRACK THE SERIES VISITS? "It was when it was newly surfaced. The track has slowed down some because it has weathered, and it has weathered out quite a bit. You know, it's still pretty quick in qualifying trim. But, actually, by the track itself slowing down naturally with just the wear and tear on it, I think the competitors like it better because, it's not just speed-related. The track has got grip in the upper grooves, and I think that's the key. I think by it slowing down because of the wear, it's forced guys to go to the top of the race track some. So I guess what I like more about Atlanta now is the speeds are down a little bit, which allows for better racing because you can run side-by-side because the track is not a bottom-groove only track, it is a multiple-groove track. And when it was really fast, it wasn't multiple groove it was right on the bottom."

FROM A RACER'S PERSPECTIVE, WHEN YOU SEE ATLANTA ON THE SCHEDULE, WHAT'S THE FIRST THING THAT POPS INTO YOUR MIND? "I look it and I say, 'Oh, no.' Everybody's got their strong tracks and weak tracks, and Atlanta has been one of my trouble tracks for years. I've won there, years ago on the old track, but the new track, I just seem to struggle with getting the car set up correctly to run there. Hopefully, it's time to change that, and we're optimistic when we go back, I think some of the things we've learned in recent weeks, I think, can help us there. Again, it's probably the only track on the circuit that when I see it coming up on the schedule, I look at it and say, 'Man, I really struggle with that track.' That's the only one on the circuit that I can think of that gives me a fit like that."

800th Career Start and career statistics

Ricky's first Winston Cup career start came at North Carolina Speedway on March 2, 1975. He started 26th and finished 11th.

Rudd will mark his 800th career start at Atlanta Motor Speedway on October 26, 2003.

Rudd began his consecutive-race streak at Riverside International Speedway on January 11, 1981, where he started 3rd and finished 19th. It was his 88th career start.

Rudd's 700th consecutive start was celebrated at Pocono Raceway on July 27 for the Pennsylvania 500 - Ricky's 787th Winston Cup career start. Atlanta will mark his 713th consecutive start.

Won his first career NASCAR Winston Cup race at Riverside in 1983 driving for Richard Childress Racing. It was his 161st career start.

Only two other drivers, currently competing on the NASCAR Winston Cup circuit, have a career total of more than 700 starts - Terry Labonte (777 through Martinsville, October 19, 2003) and Bill Elliott (727 through Martinsville, October 19, 2003).

Ricky collected at least one victory every season from 1983 to 1998 (16 seasons), a Modern Era record tied by Rusty Wallace, who recorded at least one victory from 1986 to 2001 (16 seasons).

Rudd has amassed 23 wins, 191 top fives and 361 top tens during his career. He also has collected 28 pole positions and won over $30 million.

Ricky is 24th on the NASCAR Winston Cup all-time win list.

Ricky is 11th on the NASCAR Winston Cup all-time pole list.

During his 700 consecutive start streak, Ricky has finished in the top-10 46 percent of the races and during his career 45.6 percent of the races.

Rudd has finished inside the top-10 in points 19 times since 1981.

Total, Rudd has acquired 800 career starts (including the race this weekend at Atlanta), placing him fourth all time behind NASCAR legends Richard Petty (1,177), Dave Marcis (882) and Darrell Waltrip (809). Rudd is one of 25 drivers to total 500 or more starts in their NASCAR Winston Cup careers.

Rudd surpassed Terry Labonte's record of 655 consecutive starts that ran from January of 1979 to August of 2000 at the 2002 Coca-Cola 600 when he made his 656th Winston Cup start.

Rudd's two biggest possibilities of the streak ending came in 1984 when he flipped violently while running in the Busch Clash at Daytona and in 1988 when he wrecked while competing in The Winston.

During his career, Rudd has competed in NASCAR Winston Cup events at 28 different racetracks around the country and won at 14. He ran at least one race at each of those tracks during his consecutive start streak, except Ontario Motor Speedway.

This is Ricky's 29th season on the NASCAR Winston Cup Circuit.

Ricky was the NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year in 1977.

Rudd is one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers.

Atlanta Raceway Stats

His 800th career start on October 28 will be his 52nd career start at Atlanta Motor Speedway Ricky's first start at Atlanta on March 23, 1975 was his third career start Rudd's made his 500th career start at Atlanta on November 13, 1994 Ricky has completed 14,881 laps at Atlanta (not counting practice and qualifying laps) He has 22,916.74 racing miles on the 1.54 mile Atlanta Motor Speedway Of his 23 victories one win came at Atlanta on March 15, 1987 Rudd has seven top five finishes and 22 top tens at Atlanta Ricky has led 14 times in 11 events at Atlanta 45 of his 51 Atlanta starts counted toward Ricky's 700th consecutive start record. His first six races there in 1975, 1977, 1978, 1979 (2 races) and 1980 came before the streak started. U.S. Air Force Related Stats

Two types of U.S. Air Force planes will participate in fly-overs at Atlanta this weekend - the A-10 and the F-117.

It would take the A-10 at a cruising speed of 420 mph, 54 hours, 30 minutes (two days, 6 hours, 30 minutes) to complete Ricky's 22,916.74 racing miles at Atlanta. The F-117 has a cruising speed of 600 mph and it would take 38 hours, 12 minutes to cover Rudd's Atlanta miles or one day, 14 hours, 12 minutes.

Ricky has completed 285,894.495 racing miles since March 2, 1975 (his first career start at North Carolina Motor Speedway through Martinsville October 19, 2003. It would take an A-10 Warthog 680 hours, 42 minutes (28 days, 8 hours, 42 minutes) at cruising speed (420 mph) to cover that distance. It would take an U.S. Air Force F-117 at 600 mph, 476 hours, 30 minutes (24 days, 20 hours, 30 minutes) to make the same trip.

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