RICKY RUDD 900th CAREER START CELEBRATION – Day 7
* Rudd Flips to Finish in First Race with Yates
* On Deck: Ricky Rudd 900th Career Start Celebration – Day 8

CHARLOTTE, NC (Aug. 31, 2007) – In 2000, Ricky Rudd joined Robert Yates Racing as the full-time driver of the #28 Texaco Havoline Ford. Rudd had signed on with Yates after a six-year stint as a car owner and driver in the NASCAR Cup Series and was eager to make his debut with his new team. Due to a pole win in 1999, Rudd was eligible for the 2000 Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway which was a 25-lap exhibition race for pole position winners from the previous season.

Rudd’s new teammate, Dale Jarrett began the shootout near the rear of the 15-car race but after ten laps when the rest of the field chose to pit, Jarrett decided to stay out on the track along with Bobby Labonte. Once the pit stops had cycled through, Rudd was in second while Jarrett was behind him in third as Sterling Marlin was the race leader. With two laps remaining, Jarrett caught up to Rudd along the back straightaway and as the duo began to exit Turn four, Jeff Gordon ran the high line to pass them. Jarrett was able to catch Gordon for the win, but the finish wasn’t as rewarding for Rudd.

Marlin and Labonte tapped into each other as they raced to the checkered flag and as they touched Labonte got loose and spun sideways in front of Rudd. Rudd careened off the wall coming out of Turn four and ended up flipping over onto his roof, sliding for about 600 feet before coming to a stop just short of the start/finish line.

“Coming off turn four, I couldn’t tell exactly what happened but I knew that somebody started checking up,” explained Rudd of the events that led to his crash. “The guys in front of me got three-wide and I was back in fourth place at the time as we were all coming around to the finish. I started to move up into a hole in front of me and next thing I knew I was upside down.”

After the #28 Texaco Havoline Ford came to a stop, Rudd was able to climb out of the car and was uninjured.

• Memorable Moments:

661st Career Start; Rudd’s last career start as a NASCAR Cup Series car owner

* The NAPA 500 on November 21, 1999 at Atlanta Motor Speedway * Drove the #10 Tide Ford owned by Rudd Performance Motorsports for the final time * Rudd started the race from 15th and finished in seventh * Completed all 325 laps at the 1.5-mile speedway * Won a total of $61,955

2000: Rudd joins Robert Yates Racing

* Became the driver of the #28 Texaco Havoline Ford * Recorded one win in 2000 in the Gatorade Twin 125 Qualifiers for the Daytona 500 * Rudd also finished fifth in the final NASCAR Cup Series driver championship standings for the season

• 700th Career Start:

* The Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 on March 18, 2001 at Darlington Raceway * Drove the #28 Texaco Havoline Ford for Robert Yates Racing * Started the race from 10th and finished in eighth * Completed all 293 laps * Won a total of $71,187 * Listed as sixth in the NASCAR Cup Series driver point standings following the race

RICKY RUDD 900th CAREER START CELEBRATION – Day 6
* Heat Can’t Stop Rudd >From Victory at Martinsville
* On Deck: Ricky Rudd 900th Career Start Celebration – Day 7

CHARLOTTE, NC (Aug. 30, 2007) – Martinsville Speedway is a 0.526-mile speedway that is referred to as the “paperclip” track on the NASCAR circuit. The track’s long straightaways and 12-degree banked turns often make the focus of the race, the braking system of the cars and the high temperatures that brake pads must endure at Martinsville. In 1998 however, brake pads weren’t the only things overheating during the NAPA Auto Care 500 at Martinsville Speedway.

It was the 27th race of the year and Ricky Rudd was desperately seeking a win for the season. Time was running out for Rudd to continue his streak of posting at least one victory in consecutive seasons, a record that began in 1983 with his first career win. Ever since his first win in 1983 Rudd had won at least one race every season through 1997, but 1998 had not provided a win yet. Rudd began the race from second and two laps into the race discovered that the new cool-suit helmet he was wearing was not working properly and had stopped providing him with cool air.

“I knew I was in trouble around lap five when I realized that my helmet wasn’t working,” recalled Rudd. “The only thing that kept me in the car was that I knew I had a top car and it had been a long time since I had a car run like that. It was a tough decision because I know that I should have handed the car off to someone once I was overheating, but it just felt so good to run up front again.”

During one of Rudd’s pit stops that afternoon his pit crew attempted to cool him down with a hose. Instead of alleviating the problem, they did not realize that the hose had been lying in the hot afternoon sun, heating up the water to the point that when they tried to pour it down Rudd’s back, it burned him instead. Rudd proved once again that day why he is NASCAR’s “Iron Man” when after completing all 500 laps he found himself in Victory Lane but collapsed after being pulled from the car. Rudd actually conducted his Victory Lane interviews while he was lying on his back receiving oxygen and wrapped in cold compresses.

Rudd had held off Jeff Gordon to win the NAPA Auto Care 500 beating Gordon to the line only 0.533 seconds ahead of him and proved that second-degree burns and blisters wouldn’t prevent him from earning a victory in 1998. The win at Martinsville extended Rudd’s streak of consecutive seasons with a NASCAR Cup Series win to 16, a record that he shares only with Rusty Wallace.

Memorable Moments:

• 600th Career Start:

* The Food City 500 on March 29, 1998 at Bristol Motor Speedway
* Drove the #10 Tide Ford owned by Rudd Performance Motorsports 
* Rudd started the race from 35th and finished in 30th * Completed 482 of 500 laps 
* Won a total of $34,485

Rudd named as one of NASCAR’s “50 All-Time Great” Drivers

* Rudd was named to the list in 1998 * At the conclusion of the 1998 NASCAR Cup Series season Rudd had a total of 627 starts * Rudd joined the ranks of Dale Earnhardt, David Pearson, Richard Petty and Jeff Gordon who are among the list of NASCAR’s “50 All-Time Great” drivers

• 629th Career Start; Rudd wins 21st career pole

* This pole award was the first pole Rudd had won since 1995 
* The Dura Lube/Big K 400 on February 21, 1999 at North Carolina Speedway 
* Drove the #10 Tide Ford owned by Rudd Performance Motorsports 
* Started the race from first and finished in 30th 
* Completed 389 of 393 laps and led for a total of three laps * Won a total of $38,325

Over the next four days, Mars US will help celebrate Rudd’s historical accomplishment by highlighting several of Rudd’s most memorable starts since his entrance into the NASCAR community in 1975. Media members can logon to www.NASCARMedia.com daily to receive stats, quotes and other information as the countdown begins to the historic September 2nd start.