Wrong side of the track: the combination of old-school driver Ricky Rudd and old-school owner Wood Brothers Racing has Rudd in a new position: back of the pack

Sporting News, The, August 16, 2004 by Stephen Thomas

OK, but why?

"In 1988, when I started my team,' Roush says, "Leonard (Wood) was standing by. He had a number of things that he thought an upstart owner and a fledgling team needed to know about, and he carried that stuff to me--with great generosity and at a time when nay survival was not assured. This is (merely the latest) chapter, with me trying to help out a little on the other side."

Thus far, Roush Racing's support hasn't resulted in much on-track success. "We're getting everything more in line with where Roush Racing is," says Rudd's crew chief, Ben Leslie, a former Roush employee. "But we haven't had near the results the Wood brothers deserve. That's been frustrating. We're both kind of just pulling our hair out, trying to figure out where we're missing it at."

For his part, Rudd thinks the team is missing it less and less each week. Two weeks ago at Pocono, where Rudd won a race in 2001, he ran near the top 10 for much of the day and finished a decent 12th, the team's best finish in a month. Rudd is convinced things will look even brighter in the coming weeks as the outfit continues to integrate Roush's technical information and all-important aero information into the program. However optimistic he might he, Rudd is by no means certain the No. 21 team shouldn't be shaken up. "When I had my own team (in the mid-to-late 1990s)," Rudd says, "I made the changes I needed to make to get results. I wouldn't label myself a Steinbrenner type, but I made changes, and things usually worked out."

That statement can and probably should be read as a shot toward crew chief Leslie; rumors have been flying hot and fast that Rudd has reached out to his crew chief from his days with Yates and the No. 28, Michael "Fatback" McSwain. Eddie Wood would make no statement on the matter.

"I sort of feel like I've paid my dues," says Rudd, "that I've spent enough time with C-level equipment and that I don't want to be there again. This isn't meant to be derogatory to our team right now, but we're sort of performing at a C-level. If I was the owner, I'd be making some changes, but I'm not."

Rudd's contract with the Woods runs through the end of the 2005 season, and regardless of what happens in the near term, he says he will honor his obligation; there are, however, at least a few longtime NASCAR observers who wouldn't be surprised if he retired before then. Regardless, Rudd--and the Wood brothers, for that matter--certainly don't want to end on such a down note.

"If I had the perfect scenario," Rudd says, "(I'd like) to see the team performance go from the bottom to top 10, build on top 10s the rest of the year and come out next year and try to win some races. Go out on a high note. I'd just like life to be simple. Give me fast racecars and let me do my job at the racetrack."

And, in the process, return both himself and Wood Brothers Racing to a position in the sport that each has earned--and deserves.

The Rudd rundomn

Robbie Loomis, crew chief for Jeff Gordon, assesses Ricky Rudd: