Friday, July 25, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Rudd prepares to push Cup streak to 700 starts

Veteran NASCAR driver hasn't missed a race since January 1981

By JEFF WOLF
REVIEW-JOURNAL

Driver Ricky Rudd's string of consecutive Winston Cup starts will reach 700 in Sunday's NASCAR race at Long Pond, Pa.

He hasn't missed a race since Jan. 11, 1981.

To match Rudd's streak -- with a Cup season of 36 points races -- Jeff Gordon would have to start every race into the 2013 season, Dale Earnhardt Jr. into 2019 and Kurt Busch into 2021.

In May 2002, Rudd broke the NASCAR record for consecutive starts by passing Terry Labonte's mark of 655.

"It wasn't a record you were trying to establish, it just sort of developed over the years," said Rudd, driver of the Wood Brothers No. 21 Ford Taurus.

"I guess looking back at it, you've got to be pretty proud. I've been in every Winston Cup race since 1981, and not everybody can say that."

Rudd has won 23 races, posted 189 top-five finishes and won more than $30 million in a career that started in 1975. ...

Las Vegas native Kyle Busch, 18, won the pole Thursday for this weekend's ARCA regional stock car race at Pocono International Raceway in Long Pond.

Busch drove Hendrick Motorsports' No. 87 Chevrolet to a track record and will lead the field to start Saturday's Pennsylvania 200.

He has won two of his four previous ARCA starts this year. ...

Bob Latford, NASCAR's unofficial historian and the man who invented its championship points system, died Wednesday after a long illness. He was 67.

Latford's best known legacy is the points system he invented in 1974, at the request of NASCAR head Bill France Jr.

Latford also worked in public relations at speedways in Charlotte, Darlington, Atlanta and Daytona, and he assisted in Las Vegas Motor Speedway's media center during the track's Cup races in 1998 and 1999.

• LVMS BULLRING -- Racing returns to Las Vegas Motor Speedway's Bullring on Saturday night after three weeks off.

Racing begins at 7:15 p.m.

In the Super Late Models points standings, Chuck Trickle leads Scott Gafforini by 33 points and Mike Cofer by 50.

Other points leaders are Glen Burke (Late Models), Don Sargent (Chargers), Michael Fredericks (Pro Legends), Rick Rogas (Master Legends), Alex Haase (Semi-Pro Legends), Dave Green (Thunder Roadsters), Kyle Huender (Bandoleros) and Darren Rollins (Bombers).

Saturday's feature races include Super Late Models (40 laps), Late Models (25 laps), Chargers (25 laps), Legends Cars (20 laps), Thunder Roadsters (20 laps) and Bandolero Cars (10 laps).

• HYDROPLANES -- Las Vegan Kim Gregory's USA Racing Partners Unlimited Hydroplane will start this weekend's event in Tri Cities, Wash., second in points despite a horrific crash July 6 in Madison, Ind.

Driver Mike Weber was not injured in the crash, which happened at the start of the championship race on the Ohio River.

Miss Budweiser driver Dave Villwock leads the points standings.

• ROAD RACING -- The Las Vegas-based Petersen Motorsports/White Lightning Racing team will compete this weekend in North California despite a two-week delay in getting its Porsche 911 GT3 RS back to the United States.

The Petersen/White Lightning car was held up in Europe after winning the GT Class in last month's 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The team had this week to prepare the car for Sunday's Grand Prix of Sonoma American Le Mans Series race at Infineon Raceway.

• DESERT RACING -- The fourth race of the Kar Tek Off Road Desert Championship and Mickey Thompson Baja Pro Cup is Saturday night near Barstow, Calif. The race has been renamed the Mick Newton Memorial Night Race.

For more information, visit go-desert.com on the Internet. ...

The San Diego-based team of Eric Allen and Adam Pfankuch had their winning streak ended in the July 12 SCORE Henderson Terrible's 250 race. But they retained their overall points lead in the SCORE Desert Series.

Allen and Pfankuch, who finished third in Class 1-2/1600, have a 14-point lead over Class 1 driver Dale Ebberts of Canyon Lake, Calif. ...

SCORE and Laughlin announced a three-year contract extension through 2006. The 2004 SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge will be Jan. 15 to 18.