RUDD AND #88 SNICKERS FORD FINISH 11th AT SONOMA  

SONOMA, CA (June 24, 2007) – Ricky Rudd and the #88 Snickers® Ford Fusion finished 11th Sunday afternoon in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway. The eleventh-place finish marked Rudd’s best finish for the 2007 season in a Car of Tomorrow race. The race weekend in Sonoma, California also marked a celebration for Rudd’s accomplishments as one of NASCAR’s top road course drivers when he was inducted into the Infineon Raceway Wall of Fame in a ceremony on Friday morning.

Rudd began the Toyota/Save Mart 350 from the 28th starting position on the outside of Matt Kenseth on row 14. Robert Yates Racing teammate, David Gilliland, began the race from row ten in the 35th position alongside Denny Hamlin on the 18th row. The green flag flew at 2:21pm PST as Bud Pole Winner, Jamie McMurray, led the field to the green flag but lost the lead on the first lap to Robby Gordon who started the race from the second position and jumped out to an early lead.

On the opening lap, Rudd maneuvered his way through traffic up to 25th, but the caution flag came out early as the #91 stalled out in turn eleven. The restart on lap five found Rudd battling for the 24th position with Juan Pablo Montoya who eventually passed Rudd on lap seven. Robby Gordon continued to lead followed closely by Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Jamie McMurray. The second caution of the day came on lap 15 as the #14 spun in turn eight. During the yellow-flagged laps, Rudd called in to Crew Chief Butch Hylton that the Snickers Ford felt a little pushy during turns to the left but that it wasn’t a major issue since the #88 wasn’t losing any speed because of it.

Lap 17 found the field restarting for the second time, and Rudd had once again gained a few spots up to 21st while Gilliland was in 25th. Rudd would continue to methodically work his way through the field and after the third caution on lap 28, found himself restarting in 18th. The #88 Snickers crew had calculated fuel mileage and decided to remain out on the track for as many laps as possible in an effort to grain track position over those who had to stop for fuel more frequently.

Rudd’s first pit stop of the day came during green flag racing on lap 37 where the Snickers Ford took four fresh tires and fuel without any adjustments to the car. Rudd had entered pit road in 13th, but after returning to the track, found the #88 back in 35th as another caution appeared on lap 43 for debris. Rudd spent the next 22 laps quietly logging laps in his Snickers Ford but on lap 65, a call for help came over team communications as Rudd called in that the #88 was bouncing around and felt as if something had broken. Hylton made note of the call and asked Rudd to drive it for another few laps in order to stay in the fuel window goal of only pitting twice for the day.

On lap 68, during the seventh and final caution of the afternoon, Rudd came in to pit road and took four fresh tires and fuel. No repairs or adjustments were made to the car during the stop and Rudd did not mention any more issues with the car’s handling for the remainder of the race. Green flag pit stops began around lap 72 for the majority of the field and as the lead cars began to cycle through pit stops, Rudd and Gilliland continued to climb the ranks in the standings. By lap 77, Rudd was in 15th and Gilliland’s M&M’s Ford was in 24th as Jamie McMurray was once again the race leader.

McMurray’s day was interrupted on lap 103, as Juan Pablo Montoya captured the lead followed by the #29, #99, and #31 all vying for the top spot. On lap 108, last weekend’s race-winner, Carl Edwards, ran out of fuel in his #99 Ford. The following lap would find an end to McMurray’s day as he too ran out of fuel in his #26, dashing his hopes of victory. Montoya would hold on to the lead for the remaining laps in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 proving that his #42 Dodge had played the fuel strategy card correctly for the afternoon.

Rudd finished 11th and Gilliland finished 25th in the Toyota/Save Mart 350. Gilliland and his #38 crew had used fuel strategy to their advantage all afternoon as well gaining valuable track position. Following his final pit stop of the day, Gilliland was spun out by David Ragan dropping Gilliland down to his 25th-place finish.

“We weren’t fast and couldn’t get through the corners like we needed to today,” commented Rudd following the race. “The Snickers Ford didn’t handle how we had wanted it to, so we just played the strategy on the fuel and that’s what it took for us to make up track position. Our pit strategy kind of started a while back trying to get some mileage and trying to do this race in two stops. The guys really made a great call on our pitting strategy and it really helped us finish strong. I also don’t think we got a mark on the car today so we were able to stay out of trouble. It wasn’t a real pretty race for us today, but we’ll take it.”

Juan Pablo Montoya won Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 making this is first NEXTEL Cup Series victory and also the first race of the 2007 season in which he had led a lap. Montoya began Sunday’s race from the 32nd starting spot and methodically worked his way through the field using fuel strategy to garner his first NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series win. Montoya only led a total of seven laps in Sunday’s race. Daytona 500 winner, Kevin Harvick, finished second after Jamie McMurray ran out of fuel in the closing laps of the race. Jeff Burton finished third and was followed by Clint Bowyer and Greg Biffle in the fourth and fifth positions.

After Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350, Jeff Gordon continues to lead the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series driver point standings and Denny Hamlin remains second. Jimmie Johnson is third, Matt Kenseth held on to his fourth-place foothold, and Jeff Burton is in fifth. Rudd gained four spots moving up to 29th in the driver point standings, while Gilliland moved up one spot in the driver point standings moving to the 31st position.

Next weekend the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series travels to New Hampshire International Speedway for the LENOX Industrial Tools 300. Pre-race television coverage begins on Sunday, July 1st at 1:00 p.m. EST on TNT. Radio coverage will be provided by the Motor Racing Network (MRN).