Ricky Rudd and Wood Brothers Racing will mark milestones this weekend, one week after the Wood Brothers made their 1,200th all-time start. The legendary Wood Brothers made their NASCAR debut in 1953 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, site of this weekend's Subway 500. The race will mark the Woods' 100th all-time start at the .533-mile paperclip-shaped track, which is located not too far from their longtime home in Stuart, Va., and also will be the 50th career race there for Rudd. Questions from Ricky's fans this week center on the track, which was re-paved after the spring race, and range from the team's recent test there to Ricky's brave performance under difficult conditions en route to a victory in 1998.
How did the test go at Martinsville? "It went pretty good. I wish it were a two-day test; we only had a one-day test, I guess, available for that track. They did a great job on the race track, but they almost did too good of a job. The track is sort of even for everybody, it doesn't take a lot of experience as far as set-ups - a lot of the old set-ups won't work anymore. So, I'm a little bit concerned to see how that plays out. Martinsville has always been a tricky little track to set up for and now it's made it very easy to set up for, so I think you'll have a lot of guys running about the same speed."
Are you gonna start running with a car that Fatback built this coming weekend at Martinsville? "Yeah, we've tested it, like I say, once and it went pretty good. It is a car that they have built in the shop, you know, at Fatback's direction, so I'm kind of excited about that. It ran good, don't get me wrong, we ran good, but everybody there ran about the same speed."
Do you think Martinsville will stay on the NEXTEL Cup schedule? "I'm pretty sure of it now with ISC owning it."
It seems Martinsville is a track where you excel, and, in general, veteran drivers usually run in the top 10. What is it about this track that gives the younger drivers such a hard time? "Experience used to count for a lot at Martinsville. A lot of it was your brakes wouldn't survive running one hundred percent every lap, so you had to learn how to pace the brakes and know when to run and when not to run. A lot of that's not the same anymore, especially with the new track surface. We're all rookies again on a new track, but because they just didn't resurface the corners, they changed a lot of things about the race track. So, again, a lot of the little things you could do with your shocks and your springs to gain a little advantage, it's not the case anymore. So, everyone is starting really with a clean slate and everyone's even right now. The concern, I guess, I have is that you have 43 cars that are starting that race even, and hopefully we don't end up with another Bristol, but we'll see."
How do you prepare yourself for a race at Martinsville, where it seems like you have to be on your toes all race because it is such a tight race track? "It's close racing all day, for sure, but if you make a mistake and misjudge a little bit and you ease into somebody, you're not paying real super-good attention, and you ease into somebody or they ease into you, it's not the end of the world there. There's not a car that usually finishes the race that doesn't have wheel marks all over it. A lot of those are not intentional, a lot of that just sort of happens from just close racing. The biggest thing that you have to pay attention to are the re-starts, and five, 10, 15 laps after a re-start, because everyone is so close, bunched up, side by side, that if one person checks up in line, like three or four cars in front, the chain reaction, usually the guy three or four cars behind the guy that did check up is the guy that usually gets spun. It's just kind of an accordion-type effect. The spotters have to be on top of it all day and the driver has to be on top of it. Kind of the more danger-zone area is shortly after re-starts."
What has been the toughest win during your career? Was it the 1998 win at Martinsville when your cooling system malfunctioned? "That was definitely the most physical. I can't ever remember running a race hurting so bad, and having to be in Victory Lane on your back, but it was all worth it. If I had to, I'd do it all again just to get a win. The circumstances were difficult that day, but it was an awfully good race car that day, also. That would definitely have to be the most physical race I ever won."
