If you can say one thing about Ricky Rudd, it is that he has a flair for the dramatic.

Rudd kept alive an amazing streak with his win in the AC-Delco 400 at North Carolina Motor Speedway in Rockingham, the third-to-last race of the year.

The win, his 17th career, marked the 14th straight season that he has claimed at least one NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory.

In 1995 Rudd kept the streak alive by winning at Phoenix International Raceway in the next-to-last race of the season.

Rudd's year was in some ways marked by the struggles that owner/drivers have faced in their team's formative years. But in his third year running solo, the team began to demonstrate the form and consistency that has long been a signature of the No. 10 Tide Thunderbird driver.

Rudd capped the season by claiming a total of $1,213,373 in winnings, a total which represented five top-5s, and 16 top-10 finishes. In his 31 starts, he twice qualified on the front row, and two other times had the inside position on Row 2.

His sixth-place season finish (3,845 points) clearly is indicative of his status as one of the top drivers on the NASCAR Winston Cup Series circuit, a distinction he continues to earn with weekly displays of performance and class.

Rudd raced four seasons with Rick Hendrick before breaking off on his own in 1994. He was the runner-up to Dale Earnhardt for the 1991 NASCAR Winston Cup Series title. In 1992 he won the IROC championship.

His big break in racing came in October, 1980 when he took an old, family-owned car to Charlotte and qualified it on the outside pole, eventually finishing fourth. It earned him a job driving for DiGard in 1981.

Rudd considers his biggest highlight as an owner to be his first win, in 1994 at New Hampshire. His top career moment as a driver was also a first, his first win in 1983 at Riverside driving for Richard Childress .

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