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- Stan Creekmore MARTINSVILLE, Va. The only things hotter than the sun at Martinsville Speedway were Ricky Rudd’s backside and his Tide Ford Taurus. DIGS DEEP With the seat in his Tide Ford a hot iron and his helmet filled with scorching air, Rudd dug deep within himself for 500 laps, winning the NAPA Autocare 500 and extending his streak of consecutive seasons with a NASCAR Winston Cup victory to 16. You earned it today, said crew chief Bill Ingle as Rudd took the checkered flag. Rudd, the enthusiasm of the moment lost in the pain of his burning body, simply replied, Get somebody to get me out of this thing. Four hundred laps past wanting to get out of the car, Rudd collapsed in victory lane after being helped from his car. This (victory) was a long time coming, Rudd gasped between deep breaths from an oxygen tank. I had a heckuva race car all day, but I tried a different helmet today, a different cool-suit helmet, and the thing froze up on lap two and it just cooked me all day. As he was receiving oxygen, Rudd was also wrapped in wet towels and cold compresses. At one point during the race, Rudd came into the pits for fuel and tires and was going to get cooled off with a hose. Unfortunately, the water from the hose nearly caused Rudd to pass out and pain the heat problem worse. “They ended up burning me up instead of cooling me off,” Rudd recalled. “The first stop they gave me a little glass of water down my back and I said, ‘Man, I need more than a glass of water. I need a garden hose.’ They used the cool down machine, which is basically ice water, but I guess they weren’t paying attention and the hose was lying in the hot sun so the hose was about 150 degrees and it just about cooked me. “I thought I was going to pass out when the water hit me in the spinal column.” The car cooked Rudd and in the end, Rudd cooked the competition. Not only did he extend his winning streak to 16 seasons, he put his team in position to be on NASCAR’s Winner’s Circle plan for 1999. For a single-car operation like Rudd’s, the $250,000-plus in guaranteed earnings can mean the difference between going home empty, extending the winning streak one more year or adding desperately needed personnel. Rudd, 20th in the points, the last of this season’s 10 different winners, needs to either jump considerably in the points or find another victory. Richard Petty won races in 18 consecutive seasons (1960-77) followed by David Pearson with a 17-season record (1964-80). Rudd has kept his streak alive five times by winning with seven or fewer races remaining. Rudd crossed the line .533 seconds ahead of Jeff Gordon, who was busy holding off Mark Martin. Rich Bickle was fourth and Jeff Burton fifth. Terry Labonte, Bill Elliott, Ernie Irvan, Johnny Benson and Bobby Labonte rounded out the top 10. |
| I want to congratulate Ricky Rudd, said Gordon, looking to get his own body cooled down. He did what he set out to do. What a heck of an effort. Great desire from him and that team. They deserve a lot of credit. We were about a fourth- or fifth-place car today. We kept working and working on it. I got real worried. When we were going green for a long time with about 100 laps to go, I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it. I wasn’t sure my right rear tire was going to make it. Luckily, that yellow came out and we were able to cool me down and get some liquids in me and get four fresh tires. Martin, a towel draped over his head as he exited the speedway, lost ground on Gordon when he failed to lead a lap. All the credit goes to that Valvoline team and that car, he said. It was a hard day. We gave them all we had there at the end. I did my best to run third at Martinsville. Martin’s day included watching Gordon’s bumper for the last 200 laps. I just couldn’t get him. I saw him drive hard today. You don’t see that very often. He was driving the fool out of that thing today. While Rudd was struggling to keep himself and his car cool, his strongest competition fell one by one to misfortune. |