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Tuesday, January 29

Ricky Rudd
By Jerry Bonkowski
ESPN.com

Team: Robert Yates Racing
Car/sponsor/make: No. 28 Texaco/Havoline Ford

Ricky Rudd
Rudd

STATS

Year
Rank
Wins
Poles
Top-5s
Best finish

2001 4 2 1 14 1st, Twice

Career 22 28 179 1st, 22 times

2001 recap
The good: Rudd enjoyed his best season in a decade, finishing fourth in the standings, his highest showing since finishing second to Dale Earnhardt in 1991. His fourth-place finish at the season-opening Daytona 500 was a precursor of good things to come that would eventually lead to two victories, including breaking an 88-race winless streak with his triumph at Pocono, Pa., in June.

Season highlight: After starting and finishing second the week before at Michigan, Rudd literally owned the following race, the Pocono 500, starting from the pole and finishing with the checkered flag. He would also rally to win at Richmond, Va., in September.

The bad: A three-race stretch effectively was the beginning of the end to knock Rudd out of the championship battle with Jeff Gordon late in the season. Rudd's scorecard in three consecutive fall races -- at Charlotte (started 19th, finished 21st), Martinsville, Va., (started 19th, finished 39th) and Talladega, Ala. (started 23rd, finished 26th) -- allowed Gordon to begin pulling away from what had been his closest challenger for most of the season up to that point. Prior to that three-race stretch, Rudd had never had poor back-to-back performances earlier in the season; he always followed up a poor finish with an outstanding showing in the following event.

Season lowlight: Two months after finishing second in the spring race at Michigan, Rudd came back with high hopes of doing just as well, or even winning, in the summer return to the same track. He started well by qualifying third, but his day was cut short after 120 laps of the 162-lap race by uncharacteristic engine failure, relegating him to a 42nd-place finish, his lowest of the season.

Ricky Rudd
Ricky Rudd won at Pocono in June.

Key stat: Consistency was Rudd's middle name in 2001. His 14 top-5 finishes were third highest, behind Gordon (18) and Tony Stewart (15). He was tied for second in top-10s with Stewart (22), behind Gordon's 24. However, as consistent as he was for most of the season, Rudd's undoing in the championship chase was untimely inconsistency late in the season. Rudd recorded five finishes between 21st and 39th in the last eight races, effectively taking himself out of the battle for the title.

2002 outlook
What needs to be done: Nada, zip, nothing. Rudd is part of one of NASCAR's strongest teams and has all the parts in place to make another run at the championship. His 2001 showing immediately makes him one of the top contenders to wrestle the title away from Gordon in 2002. What's more, Rudd has not won a championship in nearly 25 seasons of competition, and at the age of 45, the Virginia native realizes time is running out. Without question, Rudd and the Yates team must throw caution to the wind and give a full-out effort to win the championship this season -- or they may never get such another golden opportunity.

Prediction: With back-to-back finishes of fifth in 2000 and fourth in 2001, Rudd looks to improve on his string of success -- possibly a top-3 finish in 2002, if not winning the championship. He'll continue to have tough competition in Gordon, Stewart, Sterling Marlin, teammate Dale Jarrett and others, but Rudd has the experience, ability and fortitude to stick with the best of them.

Your take
Where do you see Rudd finishing in the standings in 2002? What will it take to push Rudd over the top and to the championship? Here are your thoughts.

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