Ruttman still trucking in NASCAR

Dick Brinster

Thursday, Nov. 4, 1999 | 8 a.m.

Joe Ruttman laughs when he's told he shouldn't be bumping and banging with racers half his age.

Sure, he's 55, but the former Winston Cup competitor still thinks he can win a national title in the NASCAR truck series.

"They call me everything from grandfather to gray old mare," Ruttman said of the competition. "They try to work me over pretty good, to get whatever advantage they can."

They might need it. Ruttman returns in 2000 as much more than a driver whose top priority early this year was scrambling for the sponsorship needed to get on the track. But in June, he hooked up with a burgeoning NASCAR truck team owned by Winston Cup star Bobby Hamilton.

And when the checkered flag waved for the final time last Saturday in Fontana, Calif., Ruttman had a season-best finish of second.

Armed with a new contract, solid ownership, lucrative sponsorship from Dana Corp. and factory backing from Dodge, he should be a title contender next season.

Then, the fun might begin.

"It'll be a real shame when a young guy has to go back to his owner and say, 'That old guy just beat me,' " Ruttman said. "Maybe I can put some of those young guys in their place."

And adding to his eight career victories in the truck series also would ease the pain of losing a coveted ride with Roush Racing. Ruttman, who won five times in 1997 for stock car racing's biggest operation, parted company with owner Jack Roush after last season.

"I would like to prove to that one individual made a huge mistake," Ruttman said. "I can hardly contain my excitement."

Hamilton is generally more subdued, but no less optimistic than his driver. For good reason.

In 16 races for Hamilton, Ruttman had three top-five and nine top-10 finishes. Despite missing six of 25 races as he tried to find sponsorship or a ride, Ruttman wound up 21st in the standings.

Hamilton wasn't so surprised.

"He came in and drove the truck hard every week, and that's what myself and everyone on this team was looking for," Hamilton said. "It's just good to get him signed so we can get started on the 2000 season."

Ruttman finished second in points in the inaugural season of the series in 1995 and never worse than fourth in the next three years. Hamilton believes Ruttman might now be ready to wear the crown.

Many in the series think Dodge could have an aerodynamic advantage over the more established Chevrolet and Ford trucks. And with 79 top-10 finishes in 116 career starts, Ruttman is a proven commodity.

Now, Hamilton says a further maturing of his otherwise youthful team should make it one of the elite operations in the series.

"Joe has been a championship contender every year, and we are going to do everything we can to get him back to that position," Hamilton said.

Ruttman sees two-time and defending series champion Jack Sprague and Dennis Setzer - and possibly Roush ace Greg Biffle - as the drivers to beat for the title. That might seem almost a slight to Biffle, who won a record nine times this year, but Ruttman sees the potential for decline in that team.

Despite all the victories, a 120-point penalty from NASCAR for use of an unapproved part late in the season was Biffle's undoing. He led in the standings entering the season finale, but Sprague won the NAPA Auto Parts 200 and took the title by eight points.

"Sometimes you get stopped short when it's fourth and a foot, and it destroys your momentum." Ruttman said. "It will be interesting to see the response of the Roush team.

"They could lay down and die, or they could get up and kick everybody. Hopefully, I'll catch them with their backs turned and zip by them."

If he does, Ruttman will have the satisfaction of proving age is no barrier to success. In fact, he says it can be an advantage.

A driver at 25 often has interests beyond racing that can be a distraction. Ruttman has no such worries.

"At 55, you can see the light at the end of the tunnel," he said. "That makes me more determined, because I know I might have five years left - or one minute."