Rudd looking for intervention in title chase

Jenn Fryer

Thursday, Oct. 4, 2001 | 10:08 a.m.

CONCORD, N.C. - Ricky Rudd jokes about being able to hear Jeff Gordon bad-mouthing other drivers over the roaring engines in the garage.

And, Gordon's nearest pursuer in the Winston Cup points race hopes crash-prone Jimmy Spencer thinks he's heard the same words.

"I think Jimmy should probably do something about it, preferably on the track," Rudd said with a laugh.

All kidding aside, Rudd is starting to realize his best chance to overtake Gordon and win his first NASCAR title will require either intervention or extremely bad luck for the three-time champion.

"I don't know how it's going to turn out, but this championship, for certain, is not over with yet," Rudd said. "We hope it's a championship, but we know we're going to need some help along the way. Aside from hoping we get some help from Jimmy Spencer, we can only worry about ourselves and try not to pay attention to what Jeff is doing."

Heading into Sunday's UAW-GM Quality 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway, Rudd trails Gordon by 222 points with only eight events left.

Since points are awarded in increments ranging from 175 points for a win to 34 for last place, there are two ways Rudd can chip into his lead: Finish as many spots ahead of Gordon as possible the rest of the way to close the gap in small spurts, or gain the maximum 151 available by picking up the race-leader bonuses and winning and winning an event in which Gordon finishes last.

But rather than focus on mathematics or dwell on the difficulty of his task, Rudd and his Robert Yates Racing team are staying loose and having fun with the chase.

That, crew chief Michael McSwain says, has made this season one of the most enjoyable of Rudd's 24-year career.

"I look over at Gordon's team and they're like, 'Ehhh,"' McSwain said, closing his hands into a tense ball and wrinkling his nose. "Not us, we're joking and laughing and keeping things light. You have to. We work too hard on this and put too much into it for us not to enjoy our jobs and have fun with it."

The levity - everyone on the team has nicknames, including the portly "Fatback" McSwain - has been the perfect tonic for Rudd. He spent six seasons struggling to keep his team afloat as an owner-driver before finally closing the door and moving into Yates' storied No. 28 Ford in 2000.

Free to concentrate on driving only, the 45-year-old Rudd has resurrected his career. In 1999, the final year he drove his own car, he finished a career-worst 31st in the standings while his record streak of 16 years with at least one victory was snapped.

He rebounded immediately with Yates. Although he didn't win a race last year, he finished fifth in the points. This year has been breakthrough, with Rudd winning two races so far and in position to be the only driver with a realistic chance to catch Gordon in the standings.

And even if he doesn't catch him, Rudd is savoring the chase.

"When I was running my own team, running for a championship was always so far away - we wanted to do it, but circumstances made it so difficult," he said. "Now that I'm in this position, I don't know how many more of these I have left in my career so I have to enjoy it while it's here."

He's also taking the time to enjoy life a little more and understand that there is a lot more out there than racing.

Now, Rudd leaves the worrying to someone else. He laughs at McSwain, who has struggled to get sleep over the past few months.

"I'm finally sleeping through the night while he's the one waking up at 2:15 in the morning worrying about things," Rudd said.

And he's stopped worrying about the car, concentrating only on driving it and leaving the setups and fine tuning to the crew.

"That's been great because now when a guy comes up to me in the garage and asks me what kind of shocks I'm using, I can say I don't know and really not know," Rudd said. "No more lying."

But most importantly he's being a parent and a family man. He now has time to drive his son to school and attend his roller hockey games at night.

And instead of worrying about this week's race at Lowe's, where he's never won in 50 tries, Rudd spent Wednesday learning how to plow the field on his 30-acre farm outside Charlotte.

"My priorities are different now," he said. "For the first time I'm seeing there is something out there away from racing and there are a lot of things that I want to do when this is all over and the main one is be a parent. If I don't win a championship, it's not the end of the world. There's a lot out there for me."