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RICKY RUDD, SNICKERS® RACING
DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
JUNE 3, 2007
#88 SNICKERS FORD LOOKS TO CONTINUE SUCCESS THIS WEEKEND IN DOVER
CHARLOTTE, NC (May 30, 2007) – The NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series travels to Dover International Speedway this weekend for the Autism Speaks 400 Presented by Visa. Coming off his best finish of the 2007 season, in last weekend’s Coca-Cola 600, Ricky Rudd and the #88 Snickers Racing team aim to continue the momentum from last weekend as they head into Dover. The Car of Tomorrow will return to action this weekend and the Robert Yates Racing organization feels more confident heading into the Autism Speaks 400 race weekend after a series of Car of Tomorrow tests at both Nashville Superspeedway and Virginia International Raceway within the past two weeks.
Quoting Snickers Driver, Ricky Rudd:
How exciting was it to have your best finish of the season this past Sunday?
“We knew we had a great car going into the Coca-Cola 600 this past weekend. Our team felt very confident coming off the Charlotte test days earlier in the month and it was a tough race this past weekend, but if felt great to come away finishing seventh. We had some challenges with the alternator during the race and the car was a little tight as the evening went on, but the guys did a great job in the pits to help adjust the car. Overall it was a great result for our Snickers Racing program.”
Now that you’ve run a few Car of Tomorrow races, how do you feel about the new car going into Dover?
“We had a great test at Nashville the week before the Coca-Cola 600. David (Gilliland) and I went up to Nashville to run a COT (Car of Tomorrow) test and we just came back from that test feeling pretty good about what we learned. The COT has been really tough for us to truly figure out so far and I know the guys have been working really hard to get it figured out to try and be a little more consistent. The challenge is that we have been radically changing the COT each time we run it, that on paper things look great, but once we get out on the track we find that there are things we haven’t quite perfected yet. I’m actually looking forward to see the car at Dover this weekend. I feel that the car is going to sit well out on the track since it’s not so bumpy of a track”
Quoting Snickers Crew Chief, Butch Hylton:
What do you look forward to heading into Dover this weekend?
“I really love the racing action at Dover. It’s such a fast track normally that I think this weekend is going to be a lot of fun with the Car of Tomorrow racing there for the first time. We just had such a great finish in Charlotte last weekend for the Coca-Cola 600 that I hope we can carry that energy over to the race this weekend and just have another great finish.”
# NOTES OF INTEREST: Rudd has an average starting position of 13.0, and an average finish of 13.9 at Dover
# Rudd has 55 starts at Dover, which is the most all-time starts of all NEXTEL Cup Series drivers
# Rudd has completed 23035 of 25804 laps at Charlotte (89.3 percent) and has led 1019 laps
# Rudd’s best start at Dover has been from the pole position which he has accomplished four times (1981, 1982, 1984, and 1986)
# Rudd has won at Dover four times in his career (1986, 1987, 1992, and 1997)
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