Childress, Rudd latest additions to Hall of Fame

         CONCORD, N.C. – Whether by design or merely a coincidence, Richard Childress and Ricky Rudd already had a history with one another before this year’s National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame ceremony.

          That the two were inducted into the legendary hall on the same night certainly seemed fitting.

         Consider:

         Rudd, 55, won his first Cup race while driving for Childress. It was the first of 23 career victories for the Chesapeake, Va., native during a career that spanned 32 seasons.

         That win, which came in the 1983 Budweiser 400 at Riverside (Calif.) International Raceway, was also the first for Childress as a team owner, a victory that helped kick-start what would become one of the sport’s most powerful organizations.

         Twenty-eight years later, each was singled out for his success, as well as his contributions, to the sport of auto racing with induction into the NMPA Hall of Fame.

         “That was one of the first big breaks I had in my career,” Rudd said of the Riverside victory, his first in 149 career starts. “Richard’s organization, there was something special about it.

         “When I first got the opportunity to drive the car, I said, ‘Man, this thing’s amazing.’ It was very fast from day one. But then we had to learn how to get it to handle. That sort of came along with time. Good things came. It was a lot of fun.”

         Rudd enjoyed success with some of the sport’s most notable owners. In addition to Childress, he also won while driving for Bud Moore, drag racing champion-turned car owner Kenny Bernstein, Rick Hendrick and Robert Yates.

         Although he was of the sport’s top road racers, Rudd also proved he could win at other venues as well, from the wide open spaces of Michigan and Pocono to the tight confines of Martinsville and Richmond. One of his most memorable wins came during Rudd’s stint as an owner/driver when he captured the 1997 running of the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

         It was a big moment for a driver who began his racing career driving a car built in his father’s junkyard with the help of friends and family and little else.

         “Dedication, tunnel vision and being raised by a mom and dad that would never say, ‘Don’t reach too far,’” Rudd said.

         “If you look back at it, for what we were trying to do and what we had to work with [back then], it was pretty much impossible. I think the odds would be a million to one that you could ever making something out of it.”

         Childress never made it to victory lane as a driver at the Cup level, but the lessons he learned along the way provided an education that would pay off handsomely as an owner.

         His Richard Childress Racing organization has won 11 titles in NASCAR’s top three national touring series, including six with legendary driver Dale Earnhardt.

         While many competitors struggled to find success when attempting to transition from driving to the ownership side, Childress flourished once he stepped out of the car.

         “Everyone ... is as surprised as I am that we were able to accomplish it,” Childress said. “But it was all accomplished with people and good breaks – I got my first break when we put Dale in the car for 10 races. I got a break back in ‘73 when I bought the guy out that I was driving for.

         “I had Dale for those 10 races. I thought about getting back in the car and keep driving; I knew the sport had passed ... you saw [Rod] Osterlund, [J.D.] Stacy, [Harry] Ranier and all those [owners] coming in and there wasn’t room for an independent. I knew if I was going to stay in something I loved, I was going to have to change.

         “The next break I got was being able to get Ricky Rudd – we knew he was a star. And to get Piedmont Airlines, that’s where the history started.”