Track notes: Personal pride drives Rudd's Cup streak

NASCAR's normally predictable Winston Cup Series has served up back-to-back "feel good" first-time victories involving rookie sensation Tony Stewart and veteran journeyman Joe Nemechek.

Fresh faces invading Victory Lane landscapes always are welcomed this late in the season. But here's a vote for a familiar face to win at least one race during the season's final two months.

Here's a vote for Ricky Rudd to extend The Streak.

Rudd has won at least one Cup race for 16 consecutive years. It is the longest active streak in NASCAR's premier series and the longest of the sport's "modern era," which dates to 1972.

Rudd's streak began in 1983 with a victory for car owner Richard Childress, who found fame and fortune with seven-time Cup champion Dale Earnhardt. Rudd since has added victories while driving for NASCAR pioneer Bud Moore, NHRA drag racing champion Kenny Bernstein, high-profile Rick Hendrick - and most recently - for Ricky Rudd.

An owner/driver since 1994, Rudd has recorded six of his 20 career Cup victories while racing for Rudd Performance Motorsports. Rudd never has lit up the scoreboard with wins, like Darrell Waltrip during his prime, Earnhardt at his intimidating finest or Jeff Gordon as recently as last year.

Rudd never has won more than two races in a single season, a feat he accomplished in 1983, 1986, 1987 and in 1997 in his signature No. 10 Tide Ford. That is a remarkable run of consistency, considering that during his tenure as an owner, both single-car teams "and" single-car teams operated by owner/drivers have become endangered species.

Rudd reluctantly joined that list last week, when he abandoned the idea of finding a replacement for primary sponsor Tide and signed a multiyear contract with Robert Yates Racing as teammate to Cup points leader Dale Jarrett. That is a "feel-good" story of its own, because the move will relieve Rudd of the hassles of running a Cup team day-to-day. And Yates' famed horsepower figures to make Rudd a bonafide championship contender.

But that will run its course in 2000.

This weekend's MBNA Gold 400 at Dover Downs International Speedway in Delaware is the first of eight chances Rudd has to keep The Streak on the books.

"I'd love to go out of here with a win record as an owner - something that not many owners can say they came in and ran six years and left with a win record intact," Rudd said. "One thing is it would show that the people we've got assembled are not rolling over and giving up. I've never given up on anything I've ever tried yet. The ownership role didn't take the course I anticipated, but I'm still fighting it right down to the end to produce results."

Rudd is mired in 34th in points through 26 events. But Dover's "Monster Mile" has been decent to Rudd, who is tied with Mark Martin among active drivers with four pole positions there. Rudd also is tied with Bill Elliott for victories among active drivers at Dover, also with four.

"I'm not ruling out Martinsville," said Rudd, who scored his last Cup victory on the flat half-mile bull ring in his native Virginia on Sept. 27, 1998. "But I look at a track like Dover, that's a strong racetrack. Rockingham (N.C.), Phoenix, Homestead - I've tested at Homestead (Fla.) and I like that racetrack. I think the key is being able to have a Robert Yates motor under the hood, and I don't see that coming for three or four weeks now."

Perhaps Yates will find a way to slip his driver-to-be a qualifying and/or race engine quicker than all of that. Because it would look really good for Rudd to bring a 17-year winning streak over to RYR, and Texaco, next season.

Don't you think?

"And you never know what I might want to do down the road," said Rudd, 43. "Five to 10 years down the road, I might want to be a 100 percent owner again. And I think that win record - I wouldn't say would be money in the bank - but an asset to you one day.

"But just the personal pride, to be honest with you. Forget all that. It's just personal pride."

SPOTLIGHT ON...BRUCE ALLEN

It didn't happen soon enough to save his sponsorship deal, but Arlington's Bruce Allen is the latest member of one of drag racing's exclusive clubs.

Allen's quarter-mile qualifying lap of a career-best 6.905 seconds at 200.17 mph at Maple Grove Raceway on Saturday earned him a spot in the Speed Pro 200 Mile-Per-Hour Pro Stock Club. Allen is the 12th member on a list reserved for the first 16 drivers who surpass that magic barrier.

Allen earned $1,000 and will receive a commemorative ring for the achievement, which was recorded during the National Hot Rod Association's True Value Keystone Nationals at Mohnton, Pa.

"You're not doing it for the money," said Allen, who rode the lap to a season-best fourth qualifying spot. "You're just trying to run as fast as you can. Getting in is a prestigious thing, but it's not the same as being the first person to do it - like Warren Johnson."

Johnson, the four-time and reigning Winston Pro Stock champion, notched the first 200-mph pass in a factory hot rod (200.13 mph) on April 26, 1997 at Dinwiddie, Va.

"It shows we're making progress with our engine program," Allen said, "and the people at the shop are as responsible as much as (crew chief) Dave Reher and myself. It's a reward for them to see some progress."

Reher, a founding partner of Reher-Morrison Racing Engines, said he thought the 200 mph mark would have fallen earlier this season.

"We've been running as good or better than a lot of the cars already in the club," Reher said. "I'm just glad to have it."

Unfortunately, Allen and The Outlaw Fuel Additives Pontiac Firebird were eliminated in Round 1 by Richie "The Kid" Stevens. Allen said he and Stevens both had completed their burnouts and were backing up to the starting line when a disabled car at the top end of the track caused a delay.

"They shut us off, and after two or three minutes, we had no choice but do another burnout," said Allen, 49. "That changed the clutch dramatically. It went through low gear and then started wadding the rear tires up. Our setup is a little suspect. And when we miss it, we shake."

Meanwhile, Allen confirmed that Pennzoil's Outlaw brand will not renew its two-year sponsorship at season's end.

"Pennzoil wasn't happy with the NHRA TV package," Allen said. "So Eddie Hill, Mike Thomas and us are all looking for sponsors."

MONTOYA NEAR CART TITLE

Prolific rookie Juan Montoya has won three of his Championship Auto Racing Teams FedEx Series-leading seven races on temporary street circuits this year. So it is probable that Montoya could clinch the title at the second annual Texaco Grand Prix of Houston this weekend.

Montoya has a 28-point lead (199-171) over second-place Dario Franchitti heading into the 100-lap/152.7-mile race over 1.527 miles of city streets on Sunday. If Montoya exits Texas with a lead of 44 or more points, he would clinch and make Target/Chip Ganassi Racing the first team in series history to win four consecutive championships.

"I've tried not to think about the points," said Montoya, who has six poles and led 929 laps this season. "But I kind of like going to races where I've never driven on the course before."

Race updates are available at www.texacogp.com.

RAY EYES IRL CROWN

Plano's Greg Ray needs to tack 12 points onto his Pep Boys Indy Racing League lead to clinch his first championship at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday.

Winner of three of the last four IRL events, Ray has forged a 44-point lead (246-202) over runner-up Scott Goodyear heading into the Vegas.com 500. Ray can clinch the Pep Boys Million if he has a lead of 56 points after the event on the 1.5-mile LVMS layout. If not, the championship will be decided at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth on Oct. 17.

While Ray and Goodyear will occupy most of the attention, only 30 points separate Goodyear from 12th-place Sam Schmidt.

Ray said he plans to attack the race lap-by-lap during the 312-mile/208-lapper.

"I've done a really good job about not thinking about it," said Ray, alluding to the championship math. "Basically, I'm trying to forget about that stuff as much as I can - and avoid questions like this."

IRL ADDS KENTUCKY

The under-construction Kentucky Speedway has been added to the 2000 IRL schedule. Florence, Ky., will play host to the inaugural Belterra Resort 300 at the 1.5-mile trioval on Aug. 27, 2000.

The resort, a property of Los Angeles-based Hollywood Park, Inc., is being built 35 miles south of Cincinnati. The $152 million motorsports complex will feature the racetrack, seating for 65,000, 50 luxury suites and a glass-enclosed restaurant. The operation can be expanded to 150,000 seats with 120 luxury suites on a 1,000-acre site, said businessman/owner Jerry Carroll.

The Kentucky venue joins the Indianapolis 500 on May 28 and events at Texas Motor Speedway on June 10 and Oct. 15 as the only officially announced IRL races on the 2000 schedule.

CARR CLINCHES AMA TITLE

Chris Carr secured his second American Motorcyclist Association Grand National Dirt Track Series title with a victory at the Sacramento (Calif.) Mile on Saturday night. Carr, of Fleetwood, Pa., led all 20 laps of the main event around the one-mile Cal-Expo State Fairgrounds.

Carr spent most of last week at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas with the critically injured Toby Jorgensen and his family. Jorgensen, 17, was hurt in a wreck at Lone Star Park at Grand Prairie on Sept. 11.

Carr, who rides Harley-Davidsons prepared by Decatur resident Kenny Tolbert, has been keeping fans and the motorcycle community updated on Jorgensen's condition through a Web site. Updates can be found in the forum section of www.flattrack.com.

PETREE REGROUPING

NASCAR Winston Cup team owner Andy Petree says he was blindsided by Ken Schrader's decision to leave his team for the No. 36 M&Ms Pontiac Grand Prix in 2000.

"It hurt me personally and took a few days to get over it," Petree said. "But we plan on finishing the season together."

Petree's No. 33 Chevrolet Monte Carlo is losing its Skoal sponsorship at season's end and will be replaced by Oakwood Homes.

"They (Oakwood) signed on with the expectation of Ken Schrader, or a driver equal to him," said Petree, who is rumored to be considering NASCAR's newest winner, Joe Nemechek, for the ride. "I've got to put somebody real good in front of Oakwood."

LAST WORDS

"Kenny has an urgency to make all the right moves to get into Victory Lane. I don't feel betrayed by any means."

- Kenny Wallace, on the exit of teammate Ken Schrader from Andy Petree Racing at season's end nn

archive