LATE WRECK SPOILS STRONG RUN FOR RUDD

TALLADEGA, AL (April 29, 2007) - Ricky Rudd felt confident all weekend long about his team's chances for a strong finish on Sunday. His #88 SNICKERS Ford Fusion was fast and easy to drive every time he climbed in the cockpit. The team was able to overcome many adversities throughout the race, but a wreck in the late stages of the Aaron's 499 spoiled the great finish Rudd and his team needed to get their season pointed in the right direction.

Ricky Rudd began Sunday's race on the inside of row three in the fifth position. The 43-car field took the green flag for the start of the race and quickly formed into a three-wide pack. Within only a few laps Rudd was shuffled back to 23rd but worked his way comfortably back into the top-10 just three laps later. The #88 SNICKERS crew was one of many teams that were experiencing problems with NASCAR's scoring and timing system in the early stages of the race. As a result, the crew could not monitor Rudd's position on the track.

As that issue was quickly resolved, the crew was made aware of another problem, this time with their race car. On lap 35 Rudd reported in that his car was losing power. The volt meter only showed nine volts from the battery, when a healthy battery usually shows 12 volts. Crew Chief Butch Hylton instructed his driver to turn off power to everything on the car except the ignition and the rear end blower. It was a temporary solution until the team could change the faulty battery, and a caution on lap 72 for debris allowed Rudd's crew the opportunity they were hoping for.

Again, once one problem was resolved another obstacle stood in the way of the team's success. This time Rudd reported to his crew that the cockpit was extremely hot and that he needed something to cool him off. Another caution on lap 80 gave the crew a chance to install an extra hose through the driver's-side window. The additional hose was there to force more air to the driver to provide the much-needed relief from the heat. The installation was a success and the team was eager to get back in contention for the win.

As fate would have it, Rudd and his crew would have to put their dreams of victory away for another week. On lap 130, as the pack exited turn two, the #96 car slid up into the #48 and forced him into Rudd's #88 SNICKERS Ford Fusion. The contact pushed Rudd into the outside wall, causing substantial damage to the entire right side of the car. Rudd had to return to his team's garage stall as they made extensive repairs to the car. After more than 30 minutes of work, Rudd re-entered the race with enough laps remaining to gain one more position. The result however was a disappointing 33rd-place finish, 37 laps down to the winner.

"We were passing them," Rudd explained. "The outside line was going on by that middle line and all of a sudden the #48 made a hard right-hand turn into me. I don't know what that deal was about. I guess maybe somebody hit him, I don't really know, but we were on the outside and he just jammed us in the wall. I'm really disappointed because we had a good car. This crew works really hard every week and I just wanted to bring them a good finish."

Jeff Gordon continued his recent run at the record books with a victory Sunday at Talladega. The win was an historic event, with Gordon picking up his 77th career victory to move ahead of the late Dale Earnhardt in total career wins. Gordon's teammate Jimmie Johnson came home second, while Kurt Busch, David Gilliland and Jamie McMurray rounded out the top-five. With his fourth-place finish, Rudd's teammate, Gilliland, moved up four spots in the driver's point standings to 25th. Rudd's unfortunate finish dropped him two spots to 34th.

Next weekend the NEXTEL Cup Series will travel to the Richmond International Raceway for some exciting racing under the lights in the Crown Royal Presents the Jim Stewart 400. The FOX television network will provide live coverage beginning at 7:00 p.m. EDT Saturday night, with the green flag at 7:30 p.m. Radio coverage of the race can be heard on the Motor Racing Network (MRN).