Ricky Rudd Takes His Place in NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2025

Ricky Rudd spoke with NASCAR’s Kim Coon before receiving his Hall of Fame jacket on Thursday evening, and described the moment as simply a ‘shock’. The man who was known as the “Ironman” of NASCAR, this honor was a long time coming.

Ricky Rudd Takes his place in NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2025

Rudd had a very impressive career, as he raced for 10 different teams throughout his 32-year career. During his long career, Ricky made 906 career cup starts. For a guy who came from motocross and cart racing, Ricky was simply one of the toughest competitors NASCAR has ever seen.

23 cup victories, 374 top-10 finishes, and 29 poles. He raced for a who’s who of owners, including DiGard Motorsports, Richard Childress, Bud Moore, Rick Hendrick, Robert Yates, The Wood Brothers, and Joe Gibbs. Who can forget he also owned his team during his illustrious career?

Sure he never captured the Daytona 500, but one of his most famous moments did happen at the high banks of the World Center of Racing. His very scary crash in the 1984 Busch Clash at Daytona. He showed his toughness after that scary crash, as he famously had his eyes taped open for the Daytona 500.

A Great Resume

The resume speaks for itself, Ricky Rudd. Beyond all of his career starts, Rudd certainly got the best out of every car and team he ever drove for. For 16 consecutive years, Rudd was able to find victory lane. His 906 starts are second only to one driver all-time and that’s the ‘King’ Richard Petty.

After years of bouncing around teams like Richard Childress Racing DiGard Racing and Bud Moore Engineering, Ricky found a home for four seasons with NASCAR’s greatest team Hendrick Motorsports. From 1990 to 1993. He won a race in all four seasons, and in 1991 he earned his best career points finish as he finished runner-up to Dale Earnhardt.

He moved to his team in 1994 and eventually saw one of the biggest victories of his career as he piloted his famed No. 10 Tide Ford to victory in the 1997 Brickyard 400. After six seasons driving for himself, he made the move to Robert Yates Racing. He once again showed his strong adaptability as he won three times behind the wheel of the famed No. 28 Ford.

He then spent his last three competitive seasons racing for the Wood Brothers. Despite three runner-up finishes during his tenure, Rudd never visited victory lane after the 2002 season. His final Cup victory came at Sonoma that season. Further proving he was one of the best road course racers outside of Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart during his career.

Rudd’s final season of racing was in 2007 as he returned to Yates Racing. By that time the team was pretty much on its way out.

Welcome to the Hall, Ricky

It is a great honor to be inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame, and though it has been a long wait, it’s great to see Ricky Rudd finally get in. I have seen a lot of racing in my lifetime, but I have a very fond memory of seeing Ricky Rudd duke it out with Jeff Gordon at my home racetrack, Michigan International Speedway.

Though Ricky didn’t get the win that day, it summed up his tenacity on the race track. Welcome to the NASCAR Hall of Fame Ricky, congratulations.