Ricky Rudd

Qualifying 26th, he finished in 11th place despite running 46 laps down.

He then ran an additional three races for Champion, his best finish being a tenth at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Despite the abbreviated schedule, he earned four top-tens and finished 31st in points.

Richard Lee Rudd (born September 12, 1956), nicknamed "the Rooster", is an American former racing driver and racing team owner.

He is the uncle of actor Skeet Ulrich and former NASCAR Busch Series driver Jason Rudd.

He began racing as a teenager in karting and motocross, but did not attempt stock car racing until he was eighteen years old, when he made his NASCAR debut at North Carolina Speedway in 1975, driving the No. 10 Ford for family friend Bill Champion.

He drove another four races in 1976 for his father, posting another tenth finish at the Firecracker 400.

He went full-time in 1977, again driving the No. 22 for his father.

He had ten Top 10 finishes and was named Rookie of the Year.

Rudd ran part-time the following season.

In 1979, he signed with Junie Donlavey to pilot the No. 90 Truxmore-sponsored car, garnering four Top 5’s and a ninth-place finish in the final points standings.

He did not return to Donlavey in 1980, and started out in a part-time run for his dad and D. K. Ulrich.

He finished season in the No. 7 Sanyo-sponsored car for Nelson Malloch, for whom he had one tenth-place finish.

In 1981, Rudd signed with DiGard Motorsports to drive the No. 88 car.

Although he had no victories, he won his first three pole positions, and began his lengthy streak of consecutive race starts.

In 1982 Rudd stepped into the No. 3 Pontiac for Richard Childress Racing.

Rudd had six Top 5s but dropped down to ninth in the points standings.

He was able to get his first two career wins in 1983 at Riverside and Martinsville respectively, but he again finished ninth in points.

He also ran the only three Busch Series races of his career that season, winning in his debut event at Dover Downs.

In 1984, Rudd and Dale Earnhardt swapped rides, with Rudd moving over to the No. 15 Ford for Bud Moore.

The move came after Earnhardt signed with Childress, leaving Rudd disappointed and out of a ride until he drove for Moore.

Rudd was involved in a horrific crash in the Busch Clash at Daytona, in which his car went airborne (in a crash that Ned Jarrett described as something like a "bucking horse") before suffering a concussion and a torn cartilage in his rib cage.

His eyes were swollen so badly he taped his eyes open to be able to race in the Daytona 500, as well as a flak jacket for his rib injury.

After learning of this long after the fact, NASCAR instituted the policy of examining all drivers involved in wrecks to ensure that they will be able to race safely the next week.

He won his first race for this team in only his second start at Richmond and improved to seventh in points.

He moved up one spot in points in the following season, and then a career-best 5th-place finish in 1986.

Despite an additional 2 victories in 1987, Rudd left Moore Engineering at the end of the season.

Rudd joined King Racing beginning in 1988 in the No. 26 Buick Regal owned by drag racing legend Kenny Bernstein.

After his only win of 1989, which came at the inaugural Sears Point event, Rudd departed the operation.

He tangled with Earnhardt again at North Wilkesboro, as a last-lap altercation while fighting for the lead handed the win to Geoff Bodine.

In 1990, Rudd signed with Hendrick Motorsports to drive the No. 5 Chevrolet Lumina.

He was able to win The Bud at the Glen and finished seventh in the point standings.

However, he was involved in a fatal pit road accident in the season-finale Atlanta Journal 500, in which he spun into Bill Elliott's pit and accidentally crushed Elliott's tire changer Mike Rich, who died hours later in surgery.

He was named the 2006 Virginian of the Year and was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 2007.

He retired in 2007 with 23 career wins.

In October 2010, he was selected to the Hampton Roads Sports Hall of Fame, which honors those who have contributed to sports in southeastern Virginia.

Rudd was born in South Norfolk, Virginia (now Chesapeake), the son of Margaret (née McMannen) and Alvin R. Rudd Sr., the president of Al Rudd Auto Parts.

He struggled with engine failures all season long and finished 11th in the point standings, his worst points finish in eight years.

In addition, Rudd suffered a knee injury in a crash at The Winston.

At North Wilkesboro, Rudd was fined $10,000 for actions detrimental to stock car racing after spinning Dale Earnhardt late in the race.