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DEARBORN, Mich. – July 23, 2003 - Ricky Rudd, driver of the #21 Motorcraft Racing Ford Taurus reaches a milestone in NASCAR racing at Pocono Raceway on July 27, 2003 in Sunday’s Pennsylvania 500. He will be making his 700th Consecutive Winston Cup start. No other driver in the history of the sport has ever come close to reaching this plateau of consistency.
In honor of the occasion team sponsor Motorcraft commissioned an artist to create a special paint scheme for this weekend’s race.
The predominately yellow, green and red design, highlighted with flames and a blue speed streak on the hood of the Taurus, came from the eight-year-old imagination of Ricky’s son Landon.
“We wanted this weekend and this car to be a special memory for Ricky and his family,” said David Principato, Marketing Communications Manager, Ford Customer Service Division. “And this was a way that Ricky’s family could participate in this very unique event in his career celebrating a record that probably will never be broken. It was important to Motorcraft to include the family in this project because our whole racing program has been based on family. The Ford family is the foundation of our company. Our race team – Wood Brothers Racing – is a family organization, and we know that family is Ricky’s primary consideration.”
“When Motorcraft presented this idea to us, I was sure that the car would be black,” said Ricky’s wife Linda. “Landon’s favorite color is black, but when he draws he usually likes to use a lot of color. Landon drew a yellow car and he used the flames and the blue lightning bolt across the hood to show that the car is fast.” The car also carries a personal message from Landon to his father behind the car number and on the back of the car that says, “Go, Dad!”
Although Linda said that the whole paint scheme came from Landon, she did provide guidance regarding the location of NASCAR mandated decals and number placement so that “the rules” would not get in the way of Landon’s creativity. Linda explained, “Landon worked on the design when Ricky was on the racetrack or out of the house on business so that we could keep it a secret until the car was unveiled. Ricky didn’t even know there was a special paint scheme for this weekend until he saw the cover pulled off the car in the television studio.”
The first time Ricky viewed the newly painted racecar was when it was unveiled on the “Totally NASCAR” set. Show is scheduled to air Wednesday night – July 23.
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07-22-03
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- Ronald Reagan was President, Charles and Di got married and the first space shuttle was launched.
That was 1981, the year that Ricky Rudd began a record string of consecutive Winston Cup starts that will reach 700 Sunday in the Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono International Raceway.
Rudd, who doesn't seek the spotlight, is a bit surprised to find himself in this position.
"There are no guarantees that you can ever reach 700," he said. "You never know when you smack a wall if you're gonna break a body part that's not healable in a short period of time.
"When we started the season, I hated to kind of get too optimistic about it, but it looks like it's here."
Rudd became NASCAR's reigning "Ironman" when he broke Terry Labonte's record of 655 consecutive starts in June 2002.
Getting No. 700 means more to Rudd.
"I think there's something a little bit magical about the number 700. It just sounds like a lot -- 656 doesn't sound like a lot -- but 700 in a row means a lot to me.
"When I look back, I didn't realize the stats because you're racing and looking forward, but what someone pointed out was that nearly 50 percent of those races were top-10 finishes. So I guess I'm kind of more proud of that than I am of the number 700."
Rudd said building such a streak takes personal sacrifice.
"When you get in this sport it demands 120 percent of your time," he said.
"There are some family get-togethers that I've had to miss -- weddings, funerals, things of that nature -- that you just simply can't do. ... My son is 8 years old and I've missed a few of his elementary school plays and things of that nature that don't seem huge but, to me, they're pretty big."
He acknowledges that getting to this point also involves some luck.
"There have been a few injuries along the way, but I was fortunate enough that none were serious enough to the point that I couldn't get in the race car that particular weekend," Rudd said. "On the days that I was injured, there wasn't really any thought put to it about just getting in the car to keep this streak alive.
"It was more about getting patched up and trying to win the race and, if we couldn't win the race, try to get as many Winston Cup points as we could."
Even with all that sacrifice and good fortune, No. 700 would not have come if Rudd had followed through after considering retirement as he went through a contentious season in 2002 with Robert Yates Racing.
But an offer to join the Wood Brothers -- one of NASCAR's oldest and most respected teams -- was too good an opportunity to pass up for the 46-year-old driver.
Eddie Wood, co-owner of the team, is happy to be part of another historic racing event, but Rudd has mostly played down the significance of the Pocono race around the team.
"You'd like to have a big party and stuff for him, but he's kind of a low-key guy," Wood said.
"He's not interested in having the rock star status; he just wants to drive race cars. To be honest with you, I had not heard him mention the 700th race until today. He just wants to race."
Along the way, there have certainly been highlights for Rudd, who has 23 career victories and won at least once each year from 1983 through 1998.
"I'd have to say probably that first Winston Cup win, which came in 1983 driving for Richard Childress," Rudd said. "That was his first win as an owner and my first as a driver. Then I remember winning the IROC championship (in 1992), and then winning the Brickyard with our own car in 1997. And there are others that just don't come to mind right now."
For Rudd, who first raced a Winston Cup car in 1975, retirement is still a cloud off in the distance.
"There have been a lot of guys that have come and gone that have been older than me, but it's nice having that mileage under you," he said. "I'm definitely not the youngest kid on the block, but not the oldest either."
Rudd doesn't have any specific plan for leaving the sport.
"I'm sure when it comes time to exit, it will probably be pretty quick -- (hopefully) on a high note," he said. "It would be great just to finish your last race and go out in Victory Lane and then leave the sport. That would be my dream.
"It's probably unrealistic to have it happen that way, but my goal is to try to go out on top if it's possible -- at the top of my game anyway."
700th Consecutive Start and career statistics
· 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, dating back to March 2, 1975 at North Carolina Speedway where in his first career Winston Cup race he started 26th and finished 11th.
· Rudd's consecutive start streak will extend to 700 at Pocono Raceway on July 27 for the Pennsylvania 500 - Ricky's 787th Winston Cup career start. Rusty Wallace is second at 608. Pocono will be his 609th consecutive start - over two and one third seasons behind Ricky.
· Won his first career NASCAR Winston Cup race at Riverside in 1983 driving for Richard Childress Racing. It was his 161st career 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.
· 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, 189 top fives and 358 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 787 career starts (including the Pocono 500), 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.
· Only two other drivers, currently competing on the NASCAR Winston Cup circuit, have a career total of more than 700 starts - Terry Labonte (765 through Pocono) and Bill Elliott (715 through Pocono).
· 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.
· 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 the 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.
Pocono Raceway Stats
His 700th consecutive start on July 27 will be his 49th career start at Pocono Raceway
Ricky has completed 8,268 laps at Pocono (not counting practice and qualifying laps)
He has 20,670 racing miles on the 2.5 mile Pennsylvania tri-oval
Of his 23 victories the only win Ricky has from the pole came in Pocono on June 17, 2001
Ricky has one pole and one win at Pocono
Rudd has nine top five finishes and 21 top tens at Pocono
Ricky has led 22 times in 14 events at Pocono
44 of his 49 Pocono starts count toward Ricky's 700th consecutive start record. His first four races there in 1977, 1978, 1979 and 1980 came before the streak started.
U.S. Air Force Related Stats
It would take the B-2 Stealth Bomber, tail number 0700 that will do the fly-over at Pocono, 37 hours, 36 minutes (one day, 13 hours, 36 minutes) to complete Ricky's 20,670 racing miles at Pocono at a cruising speed of 550 mph.
Ricky has completed 251,980 racing miles since January 11, 1981 through New Hampshire July 20, 2003. It would take the B-2 Stealth Bomber 458 hours, 9 minutes (19 days, 2 hours, 9 minutes) at cruising speed (550 mph) to cover that distance. It would take an U.S. Air Force Thunderbird F-16 at Mach 2 (1500 mph) 167 hours, 58 minutes (6 days, 23 hours, 58 minutes) to make the same trip.
Ricky's career total miles, since 1975 - 281,980.362 equals 511 hours, 32 minutes (21 days, 7 hours, 32 minutes) flying time in the B-2 Stealth at 550 mph or 187 hours, 34 minutes (7 days, 19 hours, 34 minutes) in the F-16 at Mach 2.
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