The Early Years
| Happy days for Rudd BY REA McLEROY LapbyLap/Media General News Service "I couldn't ride it by myself," he said. "You'd have to wait until the football game was over, and we'd go out there and ride around until it was dark. You're talking about two or three hours just riding around in the circle. I was entertained." At the time, he didn't know much about racing and stock cars. He didn't even know go-karts existed. He just liked to ride. "My dad made a mistake and took me to a regular go-kart race one time," Ricky said. "After that, I wanted to go fast." The boy from Chesapeake was hooked. "He had it in his blood," Al Rudd said. "I used to race years ago. Then my wife put a stop to it. She made me choose between her and the car." He chose his wife and a life of helping his sons race. Ricky was the only one to take him up on the offer. "I knew really early, nothing else really interested me," said Rudd, who will turn 45 next week. "I did some sports. I was decent at them, but I didn't really get interested in anything but racing." So Al fudged a bit on Ricky's age. "He was 8 years old, and you were supposed to have to be 12," Al said of getting Ricky into go-kart racing. "I had to lie about his age to get him to race. He went to Indy three times, and the last time he won the national title." The elder Rudd still sounds almost awed by his son's prowess. "They ran over 100 miles an hour," he said. That was the beginning. When he was 19, Ricky got his first shot at racing against NASCAR's elite drivers. An owner named Bill Champion was getting ready to retire, and he gave Rudd the chance to run three races. The next year, Rudd's career became the family business. Al bought a team and started working on the car bodies. Ricky's brother, Al Jr., was in charge of motors, and Ricky was the designated driver. "It was a lot of work," Al said, chuckling gently. "A lot of money I didn't have." They managed. Ricky and Al were a tough pair. Ricky was rookie of the year in 1977 in his dad's car and finished 17th in points. But the next season there was less money and the family could run only 13 races, still managing four top-10 finishes. The family's racing business struggled. Ricky and the crew tightened their belts and tried to find a way to make ends meet. Skimping on meals and traveling in vans, he avoided luxuries. "We wanted this and we wanted that, and we couldn't buy it," Ricky said. "We would sleep six in a hotel room so we'd have enough money to spend on the race car. We didn't think it was roughing it. It was just the way you went to a race." Of course, they drove everywhere. If they did have to stay overnight, they crammed everyone into one room. "We had a choice of getting two hotel rooms or getting one hotel room and getting new tires. We'd get one," he said. "We'd sacrifice a lot of luxuries for the car." Sacrificing for the car became a pattern. He drove to races for years, first with his dad's team and later when he signed on with Junie Donlavey. The crew drove nonstop coast to coast, trying to schedule arrival times so it matched up with the first practice. After the race, he signed autographs for a couple of hours and headed home. That was the life. "Everybody did it, and you didn't think anything of it," he said. "He worked his way up," said his nephew, Jason, who is trying to emulate Rudd's career. "They started with nothing just like we have now. Everybody thought they couldn't do it." They did for a while, but Rudd's dad couldn't afford the team, and Ricky moved to Donlavey's operation. The main difference there was he drove to races with his wife, Linda, instead of his crew. When they moved into the "big time" and started flying, Rudd thought his road-trip days were over. He was wrong. He and Linda were heading to Nashville for a race on Friday morning, a good 14- to 16-hour drive in the "old days." But when they went to pick up their plane tickets at 8t o'clock the night before, they discovered the flight had been canceled. "We didn't have anything but the clothes on our back," Ricky said. But they did have Linda's Datsun B10. "At the Norfolk Airport, we looked at our watch. We had enough time to leave right then -- if we were lucky -- and to get to Nashville as practice started," he said. "So off we went. We didn't even have time to go home and get clothes. We bought clothes when we got there." He doesn't have weekends like that anymore. Years later, Rudd bought his own team and began stretching dollars again. The experience wasn't quite the same. As an owner, he worried more about the dollars and cents. The sport had changed. Maybe Rudd had to as well. It just wasn't the adventure it was in his younger days, this business of finding ways around the money. His team didn't survive, either, and Rudd sold his shop. He signed on to drive for Robert Yates and began an even more high-pressure schedule of appearances and a championship chase. But his mind sometimes drifts back to those early days, times when he stood shoulder to shoulder with his brother and father, sweating over the race car. They worked hard. They worked a lot. They loved it. "I remember being tired, but I remember looking forward to going to the racetrack because they ran you out of there," he said, laughing. "Four or five o'clock and you were done. At home, we worked all around the clock. It was a luxury going to the racetrack because you knew you were going to get some rest. You certainly didn't do it for the money." They did it for the fun, for the pleasure of sitting behind that wheel and running against those cars. Of running to the front and maybe grabbing one of those elusive victories. That joy is still there for Rudd, even after all this time. His dad saw that first, that glimmer of joy in a little boy's eyes. "I knew he was good," he said. "He sure did good for himself." Al still fondly remembers those early days with Ricky. He doesn't need the trophies or victory photos to show him his son can race. He carefully has kept the evidence stored away for 40 years. "I've still got that cart," he said. "It's kind of rusted away, but I've got it." |
| Family Focus
Ricky Rudd Stays on Track
by A.W. Muller
Moments after narrowly finishing second to teammate Dale Jarrett in the Virginia 500 at Martinsville Speedway in early April, Ricky Rudd was greeted with a hug from his wife, Linda, as the team loaded the #28 Texaco/Havoline Ford into the hauler. In a race dominated by Rudd until the final laps, with their embrace they recognized the day's achievement and moved on. There were no tears, no excuses, just the realization that the team fought hard and the next win was at least a race away. From his earliest recollection as a child growing up in Chesapeake, Virginia, to his present day status as one of NASCAR's premier drivers, the importance of family has remained a constant throughout Ricky Rudd's racing career. From his parent's initial support to his wife's constant companionship, from car owners to crews, Rudd has dedicated himself to his profession and has tried to live out his boyhood dream. He raced as a kid. At the age of five he was driving. His father built a scaled down car for his older brothers and sisters, but if someone pulled the rope to start it, he'd jump in. "My dad owned and operated a salvage yard in the Norfolk area for years and still does," recounted Rudd. "His interest in cars and motors, I guess, got me interested." Bitten by the Bug When that car was no longer quick enough Ricky began racing go-karts. After a visit to a local track, "I saw what racing go-karts looked like and I had to have one," said Rudd. "We used to run at a small track over in Hampton called the Blood Bowl. They didn't have a kid's class so I raced adults. It was a pretty tough deal. A lot of guys from the shipyard raced over there for a trophy and not a lot of money. You'd just get run over if you were in the way." Ricky's desire to race continued to grow. "We went on a national go-kart tour," said Rudd. "It was a family deal. Everybody traveled together. All over the eastern half of the United States." But with the karts only scheduled to race once every three weeks Ricky needed something else to stay busy. "I started racing dirt bikes. We didn't travel as much. We mainly ran Virginia and Carolina. My dad wasn't too fond of the motorcycles. He was afraid I was going to get banged up, which I did, but my mom was okay with it." Ricky met Linda in elementary school; they dated in high school and were married in 1979. "In high school I had a van and we'd load our stuff up and hit all the tracks together," Rudd fondly remembered. "She's the person who's helped me through my career the most. She's developed a pretty savvy eye on what to do and what not to do. I don't know if it's a woman's intuition, but it works." A lot of the Indy stars of that time raced against Rudd in the national go-kart series. "That was the direction it looked like I'd be headed," said Rudd. "But I didn't know anybody, and I lived a little too far south for Indy racing. I knew I wanted to race, but I didn't exactly know much about professional racing." Opportunity Knocks In 1975, Ricky's brother, Al Rudd, was working with Bill Champion's team when he heard Bill was looking to retire. Al told Bill that little brother Ricky was a real good race driver and that Bill should give him a chance. "One weekend I was racing karts and motorcycles," explained Rudd, "the next weekend I was in Rockingham, North Carolina, racing against Richard Petty and Cale Yarborough. It was intimidating in a way, but I was 18-years-old and didn't know any better. I got after it, tried not to tear anything up, and got a chance to learn." Drivers had to learn by experience. "I'd get up on top of the truck and watch the guys drive off into the corners," Rudd recalled. "Trying to find out when they lifted and how they drove it so deep. I couldn't wait to get out there and race with 'em." It was a different time back then. Only about five powerful teams had a chance to win. In 1977, Rudd ran 25 races with his family team and won Winston Cup Rookie of the Year. "We ran almost the entire circuit with one race car," said Rudd. "My brother worked on engines full-time and I worked part-time delivering auto parts for my dad. Now, all the teams have $10 million budgets and there isn't a weak team in the garage." After he won Rookie of the Year, nothing came of it right away. A bit surprised and a little demoralized, the team had hoped to pull in a deep-pocketed sponsor and ride the wave of momentum into the 1978 season. The following year, 1979, Rudd raced for local NASCAR legend and car owner Junie Donlavey. "Junie never had the backing to be the biggest team," said Rudd, "but he always had good equipment and you always had a chance to win with Junie's stuff. I had run very few short tracks when I came to Junie and he gave me a chance." All in the Family In 1980, Rudd was back racing for his dad's team. In October of 1980, Ricky's racing career was forever changed at Charlotte Motor Speedway. "Linda and I showed up with a car that had been sitting since we shut our family team down in 1978," explained Rudd. "My sister's husband gave us a garage stall to for free, because we didn't have any money. Linda took a job at the speedway selling tickets and I guess I sponged enough parts and stuff to put the car together in about three months." Robert Yates, car owner of the #28 Texaco/Havoline Ford that Rudd currently drives, remembers that fall afternoon in 1980 all too well. "This kid that we hadn't really seen much of before qualified on the outside poll and ended up finishing fourth," said Yates. "He just ran awesome and turned everybody's head. The next year I asked him to drive the DiGard/Gatorade car and he's never looked back." There has been a tremendous growth in NASCAR in a short period of time but the future looks bright. "The key is real simple," said Rudd. "As long as you have good, exciting racing and the [ticket] prices stay economical, where the fans can afford to come, and people don't get too greedy, the sport will continue to grow. NASCAR has had to overcome a lot of adversity to get to where they are today." The same could be said for Ricky Rudd himself after 20-plus years of success throughout the Winston Cup circuit. Rudd ensured that he will continue to provide exciting racing when he renewed his old association with Robert Yates before the 2000 season by signing on to drive for Robert Yates Racing. "Robert recognized the driving talent was there," smiled Rudd. "When the chance came along to run first class winning equipment again, and not have to worry about paying the bills. It's like a perfect marriage." Yates believes in Rudd because of the experience Ricky brings to the team. "This guy knows the drill," said Yates. "He knows how important it is to take care of the sponsor. Ricky's had to do all of these things by himself. He established a great team. We bought his race shop and hired his people. He's still like a little kid who loves to race. He has fun doing it. If we raced only for trophies, he would be just as excited." Michael McSwain served as Rudd’s crew chief in his final year as owner/driver in 1999 and Rudd brought McSwain along when Rudd came over to the Yates team. It was a big plus to come back last year and finish fifth in the points race,stated McSwain. I’m sure when we win races it will be well deserved and it will make it that much more joyful. We’ll win. It’s just a matter of when.’ Racing has always been a team sport and successful teams are built around drivers like Rudd. From the fans to the sponsors, from the car owners to the crews, NASCAR is a big part of the family. And Ricky Rudd is a big part of NASCAR’s family. Neither Ricky Rudd, nor NASCAR, would have it any other way. Family tradition thrives in a Chesapeake garage By FRANK VEHORN, The Virginian-Pilot © July 2, 2002 CHESAPEAKE -- The future sometimes is blurred by the past when Al Rudd Jr. peers into the garage at the family's used auto parts business on Military Highway and sees the two race cars inside. The brightly colored Dodges are driven by his son, Jason, on the American Racing Club of America circuit, which Jason hopes to use as a stepping stone to Winston Cup racing. That's the future. The past? It was here three decades ago that Al Jr. built the engines and prepared the cars that helped his brother, Ricky, begin what many believe is a Winston Cup Hall of Fame career. ``Sometimes when Jason and I are working on his race cars, I have a hard time not calling him `Ricky,' '' Al Jr. said. ``I have slipped up a few times.'' Before Al Jr. became the wrench behind his brother's early racing ventures, he was interested in driving, too. According to legend, the two brothers, who grew up racing go-carts and Enduros, agreed to determine who would get the opportunity to drive in a Winston Cup race by taking a car to Langley Speedway in Hampton. Al Jr. spun out, Ricky had the fastest lap, and the rest is history. A good story but not exactly true, says the boys' father, Al Sr., who once raced the local tracks with NASCAR greats Bill Champion and Joe Weatherly. ``They did go over to Langley, made a few laps and Al Jr. did spin out,'' he said, ``but that did not decide who was going to drive.'' Ricky was a good driver, but his brother was the one with the mechanical skills. Indeed, the family still laughs about the time Ricky, then in high school, tuned up his girlfriend's car and she burned a piston on the way home. ``Ricky has never been mechanically inclined,'' Al Sr. said. ``If it had not been for his brother, he would not be where he is today.'' Ricky's years with the family team were a struggle. The car number was 22, representing the $22,000 that Al Sr. paid for the Chevrolet once raced by Bobby Isaac. There were a few highlights, like winning NASCAR's Rookie of the Year award in 1977. But without much sponsorship, times were hard. Once, Al Jr. made Ricky an engine from an old truck block. ``My dad has always told me not to worry about what other people have, but to do the best with what you've got,'' Jason said. Ricky's breakthrough came at Charlotte in 1980, powered by one of Al Jr.'s engines that already had three races on most of the key parts. The engine was so old, in fact, that respected mechanic Harry Hyde, who was helping the team, said they'd need tires for only one pit stop because the engine wasn't going to make it through the race. It did, though. Ricky, who qualified on the outside pole, finished fourth and caught the attention of DiGard, a top team at the time. DiGard hired him as a replacement for Darrell Waltrip the next season. Al Jr. did have his own fling with driving in 1979, when Ricky drove for Junie Donlavey's Richmond-based team. ``We had the family car sitting there and I said, `Let me try driving this thing,' '' Al Jr. recalled as he sat in his office at Al Rudd Used Auto Parts, where the walls are covered with pictures of him, his brother, his father, and now his son. Without having been on a big track before, Al Jr. towed the car to Pocono, Pa., and qualified 18th. But he never got to start the race. Waltrip wrecked his car after qualifying and, in need of points toward the season championship, asked Al Jr. if he could drive his car. ``They gave me enough parts to build an engine and paid for my tires,'' Al Jr. said. ``I couldn't pass up that deal.'' Waltrip led most the race in Al Jr.'s car before giving up the lead with 13 laps left. ``It was real funny, looking up and seeing ol' No. 22 leading the race,'' said Al Jr., who went on to get his first -- and last -- NASCAR start two weeks later at Michigan International Speedway. He qualified 23rd but lasted only 39 laps after spinning and damaging the clutch. He finished 32nd. He entered another race at Daytona but turned the car over to Ricky, who was not comfortable with the car he was driving at the time. ``I was just doing it to be doing it,'' Al Jr. said of his time behind the wheel. ``And I didn't like Daytona. It is not like what you see on television.'' Al Jr. had several offers to stay in Winston Cup as an engine builder. One was from Robert Yates, who owns the cars Ricky Rudd now drives. But, he said, this was about the time Jason, his first child, was born, and he wanted to spend more time with him. ``When I raced at Michigan, I had a picture of Jason pasted to the dashboard,'' Al Jr. said. ``I tell him as I looked at that picture, it went from a smile to a frown when I was going backward'' in the field. It was Jason who brought Al Jr. back to racing. He first helped his son in go-carts and Enduros, and later in stock cars at Langley and Southampton Motor Speedway. Jason, who entered some Busch Grand National races last season, is driving a limited scheduled on the ARCA circuit but already has had two top-10 finishes, including a third. Working on the car and driving it, too, Jason seems to have the skills of both his father and uncle. ``I think my father would have been really good at driving if he had stayed with it,'' Jason said, ``but he mostly liked the mechanical end. I enjoy doing both.'' Al Jr. is letting his son do most of the work and manage his own team to get experience. He says at this stage of his career, Jason already has an edge over Ricky. ``Ricky didn't start out being a real good driver,'' Al Jr. said. ``He had almost no seat time in one of those cars when he drove his first race at Rockingham in 1975, and no one knew who he was. Jason has run both local tracks and has built up fan support.'' Al Sr. believes his sons and grandsons -- Jason's brother, Chris, recently drove in his first race at Southampton -- got their love for racing from him. ``I wanted to race full time but my wife put a stop to that,'' Al Sr. said. ``She told me, `One of us has to go,' and that was when the kids were coming along. I took her over the car.'' As with Al Jr., watching Jason build his own team out of his garage brings back a flood of memories for Al Sr. ``I never envisioned Ricky doing all he's done when he started out,'' he said. He thinks Jason could have a good career ahead of him, too. ``He's got all the talent. He just needs the seat time,'' Al Sr. said. With Ricky considering retirement after this season, Al Jr. would like for Jason to make his debut later this season so he could race at least once with his famous uncle. It's not often a man can see the past, present and future together on the same track. |
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