Ricky Rudd goes from doing yard work to hearing he’s made the NASCAR Hall of Fame
Ricky Rudd was raking leaves near his swimming pool in Cornelius on Tuesday when he received a text from an unknown number.
The message encouraged the 23-time NASCAR race winner to head to uptown Charlotte in the evening.
Rudd believed he knew exactly where he was being asked to go. In the previous seven times Rudd appeared on the NASCAR Hall of Fame ballot, he didn’t attend, despite living close.
But this time, it just felt like as though it was finally Rudd’s turn. He hopped in the shower, put on a suit and bolted down Interstate 77.
“Normally, I’m probably about 30 (minutes), without traffic, which is unusual in this area,” Rudd told reporters Tuesday with a laugh. “...Today I think we drove it in 15 minutes.”
Rudd, along with Carl Edwards and Ralph Moody, are next year’s inductees to the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
‘It’s like it’s not even real’
Rudd was named Rookie of the Year following his first full-time Winston Cup Series season in 1977. A native of what is now considered Chesapeake, Virginia, (previously South Norfolk), he grew up following more IndyCar than NASCAR.
The idea of racing stock cars was simply a dream for Rudd.
Winning the 1997 Brickyard 400 felt like a major highlight in his career, especially from his initial interest in IndyCar.he joins NASCAR’s Hall of Fame.
“I would get calls: ‘Man, another vote day, and you didn’t get in. You’ve gotta be disappointed,’ “ Rudd said. “I’ve kind of learned how to be numb to the fact that I got my expectations set very high. And to get an unbelievable call. It’s like it’s not even real.
“I worked so hard to block it out. I didn’t think it was gonna happen.”
Carl Edwards from the modern ballot
Carl Edwards will also be enshrined alongside Rudd in 2025, the second inductee from the “Modern Ballot.”
Edwards, the 2015 Coca-Cola 600 winner, won 28 races over a 13-year career in the NASCAR Cup Series. He also notably won the Southern 500 at Darlington in 2015 and was the 2007 Busch (now Xfinity) Series champion.
Ralph Moody inducted as pioneer
Moody, who died at 86 in 2004, has been voted into the Hall of Fame from the “Pioneer Ballot.”
He racked up four of his five career wins during the 1956 NASCAR season, nearly a decade after stock car racing’s highest circuit began.
Moody co-owned the team Holman-Moody with John Holman. Holman-Moody was dominant, winning two championships with David Pearson, and fielding the cars of Daytona 500 winners Fred Lorenzen (1965) and Mario Andretti (1967).
Dr. Dean Sicking wins Landmark Award
The backbone of NASCAR’s safety measures, Sicking will be enshrined into the Hall of Fame as this year’s Landmark Award recipient.
Sicking is being honored for significant impact on growth and success to the sport. He follows Janet Guthrie.
