RUDD FINISHES 26th AT DARLINGTON DARLINGTON, SC (May 13, 2007) 

Ricky Rudd and the #88 Snickers® Ford Fusion finished 26th in Sunday’s Dodge Avenger 500 at Darlington Raceway. After the second consecutive weekend of postponed races, Rudd and the Snickers Racing team finally got the green flag for the weekend on Mother’s Day in Darlington.

The Dodge Avenger 500, which was scheduled to run Saturday night under the lights, was postponed due to rain and thunderstorms that swept through the Darlington area Saturday afternoon and into the evening. NASCAR Officials had hoped to catch a break in the weather, but Mother Nature did not cooperate. Fans and team members waited two hours in the rain, after what should have been the start of the race on Saturday, as NASCAR Officials postponed the race until Sunday afternoon at 1:00pm EST.

Rudd started the race alongside Jeff Green on row 20 from the 40th starting position. Rudd’s Robert Yates Racing teammate, David Gilliland, began the race from the 38th position next to Mark Martin in row 19. Sunday’s weather was an improvement over Saturday night, but overcast conditions at the start of the race still appeared to threaten overhead. Eventually the afternoon would clear to sunshine and temperatures in the upper-70’s. Bud Pole Winner, Clint Bowyer led the field to the green flag and continued to lead for the first 16 laps of the afternoon before losing the lead to Carl Edwards.

Following the first lead change of the day, Rudd was called in to make an immediate pit stop. The #88 crew had spotted a tear-off from another race car blocking the front grill of Rudd’s Snickers Ford. The tear-off sheet was blocking the air flow to the engine and started to cause the water temperature in the radiator to rise. Fearing the threat of an overheating engine, Crew Chief Butch Hylton also made the call to have more water pumped into the engine during the pit stop. Due to the green flag pit stop, the #88 lost two laps to the rest of the field and would spend the remainder of the race fighting to make up that track position.

The first caution of the afternoon came on lap 40 for a Competition Caution issued by NASCAR. Rudd came into the pits on lap 40 under the yellow flag to have more water added to his engine as a precaution and also received four new tires. Tire management and engine care were the two issues teams had to focus on at Darlington during Sunday’s race.

Rudd called in over team communication on lap 81 that the only thing he could use in the form of adjustments was more front grip. On lap 94, Rudd stopped for fresh tires and fuel which lead improved handling due to the new tires. No adjustments were made to the #88 other than minor changes with tire pressure. When the sun finally came out late in the race, track conditions changed due to the heat of the sun. New tire pressure settings were necessary to adapt to the car’s change in handling.

On lap 183 during a series of green flag pit stops, Rudd found himself on pit road completing a stop for new tires and fuel when the caution flag came out lap 184 for debris on the track. Rudd would restart in the 39th position after being stuck on pit road during the caution. The remaining 130 laps of the race Rudd would spend maneuvering through the field methodically claiming track position. Hylton used pit strategy to his advantage in gaining spots and also made sure that the pit crew continually checked the front grill and the water temperature of the radiator to avoid any potential situations later in the race.

With 20 laps remaining, Rudd called into Hylton that his water temperature gauge was starting to rise and the team’s concern for completing the race once again came to the forefront. Luckily two more caution flags came out for debris and the team was able to add more water to the engine ensuring that Rudd was able to complete the race while other’s on the track weren’t quite as fortunate and witnessed their car’s overheat. “We had somebody’s tear-off wrapped around our front end,” commented Rudd following the race. “I think that happened before lap 20 and we had to stop. The engine boiled over and so we had to stop to put water in it on that same pit stop. We lost two laps there and then we ended up losing another one on the track. At best we were a mid-pack car today, but after that tear-off deal we weren’t good enough to get our laps back, so we just went into the survival mode.”

Teammate Gilliland who had started from 38th at the beginning of the afternoon spent the majority of the day running around in the 32nd position. On lap 342, Gilliland called into his team that his #38 M&M’s® Ford’s engine was starting to overheat. The #38 pit crew attempted to correct the water temperature, but in a difficult end to the day, Gilliland’s car overheated from the rigors of racing at Darlington.

After Sunday’s Dodge Avenger 500, Jeff Gordon continues to lead the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series driver point standings and increased his lead over fellow teammate Jimmie Johnson who remains second in the standings. Rudd gained a spot climbing to 34th in the driver point standings, while Gilliland gained one spot in the point standings moving to 27th place.

Jeff Gordon won Sunday’s Dodge Avenger 500 making it his third victory of the 2007 season. Gordon overcame an overheating car to hold off Denny Hamlin who had led a total of 179 laps and held the top spot for the majority of the afternoon. Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson finished third, followed by Ryan Newman and Carl Edwards in the fourth and fifth-place finishers.

Next weekend the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series travels to Lowe’s Motor Speedway for the NEXTEL All-Star Challenge. Pre-race coverage of the NEXTEL All-Star challenge begins on Saturday, May 19th at 7:00 p.m. EST on SPEED. Radio coverage will be provided by the Motor Racing Network (MRN).