Rudd frustrated with team changes as career comes to a close
2 Comments Quote selected text Published October 31st, 2007 in NASCAR News
Ricky Rudd only has three races remaining in his NASCAR Nextel Cup Series career, but as he heads into those he sees a lot of changes within his Robert Yates Racing team.
Rudd recently united with crew chief Cully Barraclough. Raymond Fox moved over from teammate David Gilliland to become Rudd’s car chief this past week.
“It’s a little bit disappointing because the team itself is going through a lot of changes,” Rudd said. “A couple of weeks ago I got a new crew chief, and now I’ve got a new car chief. They’re good guys, but it wasn’t like we were really clicking as a group and doing great things, but the communication still takes a little while to build, so it’s kind of like starting the season all over right now.
“Even though we’ve got just three races to go, it’s like going to the race track with a new team, and it tends to change. In two weeks it’s a different team than it was two weeks earlier, and it’s just a major realignment going on right now to get ready for next year. So from that standpoint of it, it kind of keeps you off balance, and I haven’t had too much time to reflect that this is my last three races that I’m going to run.”
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This story makes me feel a little crappy. I have been following Ricky for many years and was just on a Bus Trip from Lancaster, Pa to Martinsville and there were 6 Ricky Rudd Fans on the Bus. We were hoping that Martinsville would shine on our Buddy . Listening to him on the scanner was a delight I have really enjoyed him over the years on the scanner and as a person… Hopefully he Knows there were Rudd fans all over Martinsville.. I know he id going to have tough time the next few races with emotion.. I just hope like Bill Elliott and Mark Martin he will do some races next year with better equiptment…\
Look at the bright side Ricky. You’ll be done with them in a few weeks. Then you can become a test driver and part time TV personality and you’ll be better than half of the clowns that have microphones now. You are and always will be one of NASCARS’s greatest drivers. Thanks for all the memories.