CONCORD, N.C. - One of the toughest drivers to ever compete, Ricky Rudd, will have his name and accomplishments immortalized during Friday night's NASCAR Hall of Fame induction ceremony for the “Class of 2025”. The celebration takes place in Charlotte, North Carolina, site of the Hall of Fame.
The Chesapeake, Va., native and Hendrick Motorsports alum was voted in by the NASCAR Hall of Fame committee last May, joining honorees Carl Edwards, Ralph Moody, and Landmark Award winner, Dr. Dean Sicking, for his development of the safer barrier. Rudd received 87% of the modern era vote to gain entry.
“It was a tremendous honor just being asked to be one of the original 50 voters in the Hall of Fame,” Rudd recently told NASCAR.com. “That alone was neat and then as time went on, I thought, I might have a shot at this one day. … Once you‘re done with racing and the smoke‘s cleared, you think that would really be neat to be in there with the legends you looked up to, your friends in there. What a neat deal.”
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Affectionately nicknamed “Rooster,” Rudd stories are legendary. However, the one that stands above the rest is his now famous effort in the 1984 Daytona 500, where he drove with his eyes taped open after suffering injuries in a dramatic, barrel-rolling crash during the Clash from the week before.
“There might be some discussion on who picked the tape up from the toolbox but that actually happened,” Rudd said to NASCAR.com.
It was his first points race driving for NHoF owner Bud Moore, who was concerned about his driver’s well-being during a pit stop.
“And the next thing I know the tape came out of the toolbox and the eyes got taped open,” Rudd added. “… We go back out and I told him, ‘that fixed it, we‘re good.’”
Rudd first joined Hendrick Motorsports for the 1990 season. He was a road course ace, appropriately winning his first race for the Concord, North Carolina team at Watkins Glen. He went on to capture three additional races for the team – Darlington (1991), Dover (1992) and Michigan (1993). Overall, Rudd won 23 races in his career, including at least one victory in 16 consecutive seasons, a mark only topped by three other drivers throughout the history of the sport.
“I didn‘t know a lot about Ricky before I became his teammate because NASCAR was just so new to me and it all happened so quickly,” Jeff Gordon told NASCAR.com. “I just knew Ricky was the guy competing against Earnhardt and then I became his teammate and realized just how good and how talented he was. That‘s why I think he‘d still thrive in today‘s world. He had the work ethic. He had the mindset, the patience and the aggressiveness and I just think when you do have those qualities it does transcend time.
“Now that I know more about the history and Ricky‘s history in the sport, I appreciate he made an impressive impact right from the beginning. He was this young, talented race car driver that could just about do anything with the race car so he got people‘s attention and I think that‘s what gave him these opportunities to really thrive in the sport.”
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Rudd made 788 consecutive starts from 1981 to 2005, scoring top 10 points finishes in 19 of those years. Among those starts, Rudd once won a race at Martinsville Speedway in 1998 even though he had suffered second degree burns. He never wanted to be outside his car on race weekend.
“You quickly found out how tough he was too with that crash at Daytona and that wasn‘t going to keep him out of the car,” Gordon added. “He got this reputation of being very talented, very calculated but also just an incredibly tough and respected driver, then you put in the Iron Man [consecutive starts] stuff, too.”
Rudd becomes the seventh driver to compete for Hendrick Motorsports to be inducted into the NHoF, following the footsteps of fellow drivers Gordon (2019), Jimmie Johnson (2024), Dale Earnhardt. Jr. (2021), Terry Labonte (2016), Mark Martin (2017) and Benny Parsons (2017). The 68-year-old driver also joins legendary owner Rick Hendrick (2017) and crew chiefs Chad Knaus (2024), Ray Evernham (2018) and Wadell Wilson (2020) as part of Hendrick Motorsports honorees.