RUDD FINISHES 38th UNDER THE LIGHTS AT BRISTOL

BRISTOL, TN (August 25, 2007) – Ricky Rudd and the #88 Snickers® Ford finished 38th Saturday night in the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. After a strong qualifying effort Friday afternoon, Rudd found himself in the shadow of bad luck for the majority of the race. Rudd began the Sharpie 500 from the eighth starting position and Saturday’s start was his 58th start at Bristol and his 899th all-time career start.

The green flag waved at 8:19pm as pole-sitter Kasey Kahne led the field to green and continued to hold on to the lead for 36 laps before he lost the lead to Carl Edwards on lap 37. Rudd started the Sharpie 500 from eighth on row four alongside Ryan Newman. Rudd’s teammate, David Gilliland, rolled off in row 14 from the 27th starting spot.

During the opening lap, Rudd powered ahead in the pack and worked his way up to sixth, but a few laps later found himself back in eighth as drivers were jockeying for position. Carl Edwards took the lead on lap 37 as he ducked under Kahne on the low-line in an effort to pass lapped traffic and Rudd continued to run in eighth.

On lap 45, Rudd called in over team radio communications that his earphones had fallen out of his ears into his helmet and he was no longer able to hear the spotter. Rudd could only speak into his microphone and was unable to hear the spotter’s necessary guidance as well as any information from his pit crew. Unfortunately, the #88 had to continue with green flag racing without making a pit stop in an effort not to lose valuable track position. Rudd had to wait for the first caution of the day in order to replace his earpieces.

Finally on lap 126, the first caution flag of the night came out as the #70 of Johnny Sauter slowed down along the top of the race track. The yellow flag was exactly what Rudd needed in order to restore his earpieces after 81 laps without team communications. The Snickers pit crew also made adjustments to the left front tire after Rudd commented that he was continually waiting for his front tires to grip the track. Rudd took on four fresh tires and Sunoco race fuel before speeding off to regain track position under the watchful eye of his spotter as he restarted 20th, while Gilliland restarted from 31st.

Rudd spent the majority of the race hovering around the 19th and 20th positions as Edwards and Kahne continued to battle for the lead. On lap 396, the caution came out after David Ragan spun out in Turn 4. During the caution, the Snickers Ford sustained minor damage to the right rear after Rudd was clipped by cars trying to avoid Ragan’s #6. The Snickers pit crew made repairs to the right rear tire well during a pit stop on lap 399, but called Rudd back onto pit road to ensure that the damage was corrected properly without the risk of puncturing the tire.

Misfortune struck the #88 team once more when on lap 452 Rudd got loose entering in to Turn 1 after he received a slight tap from Martin Truex, Jr. The Snickers Ford slid up the track in front of Jimmie Johnson which caused considerable damage to both cars. Matt Kenseth, Jeff Gordon, and Gilliland also sustained damage from the crash. Rudd came to pit road on lap 468 for quick repairs and four fresh tires before returning to green flag racing.

The Snickers Ford returned to pit road on lap 473 for one more round of repairs, but after returning to the field, Rudd called in over team radio communications that he was unable to control the car due to all the damage. After completing lap 478, Rudd and the Snickers Ford returned to the garage unable to complete the Sharpie 500.

“What a disappointing way to end today,” commented Rudd following the race. “We really had a strong car today and I was hoping to bring home a solid finish in our Snickers Ford but we just ran into a bunch of bad luck tonight. The biggest challenge for me tonight was our grip with the tires. I started out tight earlier in the weekend, but then tonight during the race, the car would slide around on the track and we just didn’t have enough front grip on the long runs. It was just another tough finish for us after such a promising start with our qualifying run.”

Carl Edwards won Saturday’s Sharpie 500 making this his second NEXTEL Cup Series win of the 2007 season. Edwards began Saturday’s race from the sixth position. Pole-sitter, Kasey Kahne, finished second for the evening after he had led a total of 305 laps. Clint Bowyer posted his twelfth Top-10 finish of the season as he finished third in the Sharpie 500. Tony Stewart finished fourth after starting from 23rd and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. rounded out the Top-Five finishers Saturday night after his #8 worked its way to the top of the field after starting the race from 17th.

Following Saturday’s Sharpie 500, Jeff Gordon continues to lead the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series driver point standings and is currently 349 points ahead of Tony Stewart who moved up into second. Denny Hamlin fell to third in the NEXTEL Cup Series driver point standings after his #11 was unable to complete the Sharpie 500. Matt Kenseth fell one spot in the standings down to fourth, while Carl Edwards remained fifth. Rudd remains 30th in the driver point standings, while Gilliland also remained in 28th in the driver point standings following the Sharpie 500.

Next weekend the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series travels to California Speedway for the Sharp AQUOS 500 in Fontana, California. Pre-race television coverage begins on Sunday, September 2nd at 7:00 p.m. EST on ESPN. Radio coverage will be provided by the Motor Racing Network (MRN).