Ricky Rudd entered California Speedway with the greatest of intentions as he marked his 900th career NASCAR Cup start, but left the Sharp AQUOS 500 prematurely — and with a separated left shoulder.
Rudd was involved in a five-car crash triggered when Jeff Gordon slid up into Jeremy Mayfield on the frontstretch on Lap 180. The event turned into a race the popular driver won't soon forget.
"Going out on a stretcher, I'll certainly remember that," said Rudd, after he was treated and released from Loma Linda University Medical Center Sunday night. "I don't remember that lap to be honest. It kind of knocked me silly. There were a bunch of cars. I think someone hit me in the rear quarter panel.
"I'm doing good now. It was hard to get my shirt on. It's a separated shoulder. I'm going to see Dr. (Jerry) Petty in Charlotte tomorrow to get an idea of what to expect."
Rudd, who turns 51 this month, announced his intentions to step away from full-time competition at the end of this season. Rudd holds the NASCAR record for most consecutive starts — 788.
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Wow! I was really sad and concerned when I saw Ricky walking to the ambulance holding his left arm in place.
I thought it was going to be a wrist or hand injury.
I'm glad it wasn't worse.
I hope Ricky has a speedy recovery.
Rudd not sure how long shoulder injury will keep him sidelined
By DAVID POOLE
The Charlotte Observer
RICHMOND, Va. – Ricky Rudd has been racing since he was a lad growing up in Chesapeake, Va., but for the first time in his career he missed a race because of injury Saturday night.
Rudd suffered a separated shoulder in a crash at California Speedway a week earlier, forcing him to give over the No. 88 Ford to Kenny Wallace for Saturday’s Chevy Rock ‘n’ Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway.
The California race was Rudd’s 900th career Nextel Cup start, but Rudd said here that he can’t be sure he’ll get back into the car before the end of the season. Rudd announced earlier this year that this would be his last season of full-time competition.
“That’s really kind of in the doctor’s hands,” Rudd said when asked if it’s possible he’s raced in his final Cup race.
“I don’t have answer for that and they don’t have an answer right now.”
Rudd said his injury is considered a level three separated shoulder.
“When I heard separated shoulder, I thought that sounded pretty good – it sounded a lot better than breaking,” he said.
“I understand that’s not necessarily a good thing, it’s torn ligaments and stretched ligaments. I’ve got one shoulder that’s always going to be an inch-and-a-half taller than the other one, even when it heals.
“That’s not a big deal, but as far as recovering from the injury, I don’t know. It could be next week, it could be five weeks or six weeks.
"There’s 11 weeks of racing if you count this weekend, so I don’t know. I’m open-minded. I hope it’s not my last race. I’m not planning on that, but we’ll just face it one weekend at a time
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Rudd returning from shoulder injury, will race at Charlotte
Posted 2h 21m ago |
CHARLOTTE (AP) — Ricky Rudd will get back behind the wheel of the Robert Yates Racing No. 88 Ford this week at Lowe's Motor Speedway after missing five weeks with a separated shoulder.
"My shoulder still is not at 100% yet," said Rudd, who will retire at the end of the season. "But we're going to have to see how it handles being in the car for practice."
Rudd separated his left shoulder in a Sept. 2 wreck at California Speedway. It was the first time the 50-year-old Rudd, who recently started his 900th race, missed a race because of injury.
He sat out last year — racing once as an injury substitution for Tony Stewart— and returned to a full schedule this season.
Rudd, who was replaced by brothers Kenny and Mike Wallace, said he isn't certain he's ready to run the full 500 miles Saturday night.
"I won't know if I'm going to be able to run the whole race until we get there," he said. "But I would not have gotten back in the car if I didn't feel I had a very realistic chance."
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Ricky Rudd Travels Home To Virginia And Hopes To Race Sunday At Martinsville
Elevation Motorsports Group For Mars, US, Inc., Press Release
CHARLOTTE, NC (October 16, 2007) – The NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series travels to Martinsville Speedway this weekend for the Subway 500. Martinsville Speedway is one of the most physically demanding tracks on the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series circuit. The 0.526-mile “paperclip”-shaped speedway forces drivers to do a lot of work in the car since drivers must focus on braking into the tight turns. Ricky Rudd will travel to his home state of Virginia with the hopes of racing in Sunday’s Subway 500. Rudd sustained a separated shoulder at California Speedway and was forced to sit out for five weeks as he recovered. Rudd returned to the driver’s seat of the #88 Ford at Charlotte for the Bank of America 500, and hopes that the physical demands of practicing at Martinsville Speedway won’t be painful enough on his shoulder to keep him out of the driver’s seat for Sunday’s race. This weekend Rudd will be driving the #88 Combos Ford Fusion instead of the Snickers paint scheme he normally drives.
Quoting Combos Driver, Ricky Rudd:
How is your shoulder feeling after this past weekend and what are your plans for Martinsville?
“As far as this weekend is concerned, I won’t really know my status with my shoulder until we get to Martinsville and I have the chance to practice. I really didn’t have any issues in Charlotte this past weekend. I had some pain and soreness, but it wasn’t anything that I couldn’t deal with. Going to Martinsville this weekend, it’s a more aggressive race track and I don’t want to get into the situation where we have to change drivers in the middle of the race because I know we’d end up falling behind about two or three laps if we did so. So my plan for this weekend is to go to Martinsville, practice, and if my shoulder feels good, then I will continue on to qualify and race the #88 Combos Ford.”
What is it about Martinsville Speedway that makes it such a physically demanding track on drivers?
“You get a lot of brake load at Martinsville which means that you get pushed into your seat while you’re in the car. Drivers are just very busy in the car there as well. You have to use your leg a lot with all the times a driver has to use the brakes and you can equate that to leg lifts and the feeling of having weights at the end of them. When you go to Martinsville and have 500 laps to run there, it is just a track that wears you down physically. I think that part of it has to do with how hot you get inside of the cars and just all the moving around you have to do in order to stay in control of your car during the race.”
After a solid finish at Charlotte last weekend, how confident are you going into Martinsville this weekend?
“Martinsville is a great track and I really enjoy racing there. I’ve been fortunate enough to have won three times at Martinsville and we had one of our best runs this season when we were there earlier in the year. I feel very confident with our crew chief Cully Barraclaugh because he has done an excellent job on sorting through information we have on the car’s performance. Cully does a great job communicating with me on race day when we have to tweak the car and I just really enjoy working with him so far.”
NOTES OF INTEREST:
Martinsville Speedway is 225 miles from Rudd’s hometown of Chesapeake, VA
Rudd has 54 starts at Martinsville, which is the most starts of any active NEXTEL Cup Series driver, and is second-most on the list of all-time NEXTEL Cup Series drivers
Rudd has an average starting position of 11.0, and an average finish of 14.9 at Martinsville
Rudd has completed 24,383 of 26,856 laps at Martinsville (90.8 percent) and has led 1,571 laps
Rudd earned his best Martinsville starting position from the pole four times during his career:1981,1982, 1983, and1988
Rudd as won at Martinsville three times throughout his career: 1983, 1986, and 1988
Rudd has an average driver rating at Charlotte of 94.3 which ranks him seventh on the list of active NEXTEL Cup Series drivers at Martinsville Speedway heading into this weekend’s race
ABOUT MARS US:
Mars US is the United States food, snack and pet care operations of Mars, Incorporated, one of the world's leading food manufacturers. With more than $7 billion in annual sales in the U.S., the combined food, snack and pet care segments are a symbol of excellence for quality brands. Headquartered in Hackettstown, New Jersey, Mars US employs more than 9,000 associates in the United States, with 52 facilities nationwide. The company owns some of the world's favorite brands, including M&M'S® Brand, SNICKERS® Brand, UNCLE BEN'S® Brand, PEDIGREE® Brand Food for Dogs, and WHISKAS® Brand Food for Cats.
CHASSIS #720
Chassis #720 is the chassis the #88 Combos Racing team will be running this weekend for the Subway 500. This is the same Car of Tomorrow chassis the team raced earlier in the season at New Hampshire for the Sylvania 300.
This Press Release and any images that are used,
are used with permission. Do not duplicate or
redistribute in any form without permission or credit.
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Rudd separates shoulder in Fontana crash
sit back and watch the chase with us.
Rudd returning from shoulder injury, will race at Charlotte
Ricky Rudd Travels Home To Virginia And Hopes To Race Sunday At Martinsville
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