Ricky Rudd Wins Brickyard 400
4 August 1997
INIANAPOLIS, IND -- Each year the Winston Cup tour has stopped at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, four times now, the BrickYard 400 has gotten bigger and better for all of those involved. The comfort level of the drivers has allowed this to happen as each year they learn new and better ways to attack the 2.5 mile flat track that is so rich in history. This year was no different. And in what was the best BrickYard 400 to date, Ricky Rudd rolled the fuel milage dice and came out on top taking home the winners $571,000 reward for making it the distance.Ricky Rudd, a native of Chesapeake Virginia, started the Tide Ford in the 7th position after an impressive qualifying effort was put forth during Thursday's time trials. From there the plan that crew chief Jim Long had layed out was simple enough - stop 3 times for fuel and tires... and make sure every drop of fuel was in the car when it left pit road.
Rudd stuck to the plan and held his own in the top-ten as the likes of Ernie Irvan, Dale Jarrett and Jeff Gordon all took turns looking like they would be the ones to beat. In total some 11 drivers would swap the lead 19 times over the course of the event.
As the laps clicked off the Tide Ride caught every break it would take to make the plan work. The biggest break for Rudd came late in the race as the caution flew for debris left behind by Robby Gordon after he hit the turn one wall. One after another the leaders dropped to pit road for fuel handing the lead over to Rudd. Sitting right behind Rudd, also making fuel runs, were Bobby Labonte and the Pennzoil Pontiac pilot Johnny Benson.
When the field took the green, on lap 151, Rudd set sail for turn one. By the time Rudd got to the backstraight he had a ten car length lead over Labonte. The only fear that faced Rudd and his crew was - Is there enough fuel to out run the likes of Gordon and Jarrett who had stopped for fuel.
The icing on the Tide cake came when Rich Bickle popped the wall going into turn one bringing out the last caution on lap 155. The fuelish Ford sipped precious fuel at a much lower rate under the yellow and pushed the scale to Rudd's favor. All that the Chesapeake Native would have to do is make it through a two lap dash.
The green flew on lap 158 and Rudd again motored away from the field who was now taking turns beating up on both Benson and Labonte, giving Rudd a chance to get away clean. As the checkers flew you could see a hand sticking out the window of the Tide Ford waving to his crew in a victorious salute to crew chief's Jim Long's bold calls in the pits.
An elated Rudd said from Indy's famed victory lane, "We were a third or fourth place car. But the crew kept digging/ They got us pretty racey there. The fuel milage was a gamble. I really don't know what to say....This is a shock to me.
"We knew it was going to be tight (on fuel). We were going to go for it. We were either going to win or finish last. The guys told me (with 30 laps to go) to back off a little or I wasn't going to make it. Then those cautions played right into our hands.
"It was a boyhood dream to be able to race here at Indianapolis. Let alone come here and win this thing."
Second place finisher Bobby Labonte was also satisfied with his finish. "We didn't have the fastest race car, or even the second fastest race car," joked Labonte. "But we had a great team. We were able to go on gas and we didn't have to come in. We ended up with real good track position. Luckily on that last restart there no one came from behind to bother us that last two or three laps."
The driver of the Quality Care Ford, the first finisher that did take a splash of gas in the late laps, finished third. Jarrett, last years winner said, "The best car doesn't always win. Fuel milage enabled him (Rudd) to stay out. It was unfortunate for us but good for Ricky. We did everything we could possibly do but it just wasn't in the cards."
The drivers that rounded out the top-five were Jeff Gordon and Jeremy Mayfield.
Jeff Gordon was able to hold onto the series points and put a few more points between him and second place Mark Martin. Terry Labonte slipped to 4th after the motor let go in the Kellogg's Chevrolet. Jarrett moves in to the spot vacated by Labonte.
The race took 3 hours 3 minutes 26 seconds to complete and Rudd's average speed was 130.828 miles per hour. There were 6 cautions for a total of 25 laps.
The next event will be the Bud at the Glen to be run on the Watkins Glen road course on August 10th.
Mike Snow -- The Auto Channel