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| | Saturday, September 11 | |||||
| RICHMOND, Va. -- Ricky Rudd spent Friday night in a hospital being treated for an undisclosed gastric-related problem but was released to drive in Saturday night's Exide 400.
Rudd reported to the infield care center when he arrived at the track early Friday, was released and then got sick again. A friend took him to Chippenham Medical Center, where he underwent a series of tests, a team spokesman said.
"The doctors treated it like it was food poisoning but have not yet given any reason for what it was because the tests are not back yet," Kirby Boone said.
Dick Trickle drove Rudd's Ford in first-round qualifying and put it safely in the field with the 31st quickest time. Had Rudd not been cleared to drive, his streak of 564 consecutive starts -- the third longest active -- would have ended.
Rudd also has only 10 races left to extend to 17 his streak of consecutive seasons with at least one victory. The streak ranks third in NASCAR history, trailing only Richard Petty's 18 straight and David Pearson's 17.
Rudd's absence from the track almost all weekend spared him
intense media attention with rumors swirling that he plans to
announce Monday in Charlotte, N.C., that he will replace Kenny
Irwin in Robert Yates' No. 28 Ford next season.
Rudd, a Chesapeake, Va., native, earned his only Richmond victory in 1984. Schrader leaving Petree at end of season Andy Petree, owner of the Chevrolet driven by Ken Schrader, said Saturday that Schrader is backing out of his contract after this season and that the team is looking for a driver to go with its new sponsor, Oakwood. "He's just indicated that he's not going to fulfill the commitment he made to me," Petree said when asked what Schrader said he's planning to do next season. Schrader is widely rumored to be bolting for the M&M's Pontiac that Ernie Irvan was driving until his retirement. Jerry Nadeau is driving the car for the remainder of this season, but will move to Hendrick Motorsports next season. Skoal, the sponsor of Petree's team this season, is not returning. GM strikes deal with RIR Beginning next year, Richmond International Raceway's two Winston Cup races will be sponsored by General Motors manufacturers. The track announced Friday that Pontiac has extended its contract to sponsor the fall Pontiac Excitement 400 for three years through 2002, and Chevrolet will sponsor the Chevrolet Monte Carlo 400 for three year beginning next spring. NASCAR historian Bob Latford said Saturday he knew of no other race in the history of stock car racing's premier series run under the Chevrolet colors. Pontiac and RIR will have been together for 16 years after the 2002 race. Team Petty joins forces with NFL Star power was abundant at a news conference to promote charity work and special NFL Players Inc. paint schemes on the two Petty Enterprises cars in Saturday night's Exide 400 Winston Cup race. Besides The King himself, Petty drivers John Andretti and Kyle Petty attended, along with NFL greats Dick Butkus, Willie Lanier, L.C. Greenwood, Charley Taylor, Tony Dorsett and Craig "Ironhead" Heyward, all active with Players Inc. Players Inc., founded in 1994, creates and develops marketing opportunities for current and former NFL players through licensed merchandise and corporate sponsorships. It has 1,800 active and 3,000 retired NFL players as members. During some good-natured barb-trading, Dorsett referred to the NFL team of choice in Virginia as the "Deadskins," prompting former Washington receiver Taylor to invite him to join him on Sunday to watch the season-opener between the Redskins and Dorsett's Cowboys. There also were a few jabs at Dale Earnhardt. "I got to looking around up here and ... after watching the race at Bristol, I don't think Earnhardt's going to mess with us tonight," Richard Petty said. Two weeks ago, Earnhardt bumped Terry Labonte from behind, causing him to spin on the final lap as "The Intimidator" steamed by for a controversial victory. Pit stops ... Richard Petty won seven consecutive Winston Cup races at Richmond from 1970-73 and visited Victory Lane 13 times here. The only other driver with seven victories for his career at RIR is Bobby Allison. Darrell Waltrip and Rusty Wallace share the lead among active drivers with six career victories at RIR, but Waltrip hasn't won here since this race 14 years ago. ... Going into the Exide 400, Kenny Wallace was the only driver to have driven in every race this season without leading a lap at least once. ... Hendrick Motorsports had the top three finishers in the 1997 Daytona 500 with Jeff Gordon, Terry Labonte and Ricky Craven, but has not had two top-five finishers in any race this season. |  | |||||