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Ricky
Rudd
Photo by Ford |
EDDIE WOOD, Co-Owner --21--
Motorcraft Taurus -- "I'd like to thank everybody for
coming. I know it was short notice. This deal just actually
went together about 11:45 this morning. It started yesterday
about that time, so it's kind of a 24-hour window that we
had and, fortunately, got it done."
JUDI MORITZ, Motorsports and Events Marketing Manager, FCSD
North America Business Development -- "I have the pleasure
of the first announcement, which is that on behalf of
Motorcraft we are very excited that we have been able to
come to a three-year agreement with the Wood Brothers and
continue our sponsorship and partnership as a racing team.
Their family further accentuates the Ford family and our
presence in racing and we are very, very excited to continue
that."
QUESTION & ANSWER TRANSCRIPT
RICKY RUDD --21-- Motorcraft Taurus -- HOW LONG IS YOUR DEAL
FOR WITH THE WOOD BROTHERS? "This came together very, very
quickly, so I'm trying to figure out exactly how to say
this. It's a three-year contract, so, again, real quickly,
I'd like to make some comments.
"First of all, I'd like to thank all the car owners. I had a
tremendous number of opportunities presented to me by a lot
of great car owners in this sport and it was one of the
toughest decisions I've ever had to make in my life.
Usually, you're not presented with this many options. In the
past, you've got one opportunity on the table and you take
it and you make it work and turn it into something. This
time, it was a little confusing because we had so many great
opportunities. To have the chance to drive for the Wood
Brothers was sort of a dream of mine when I was a kid just
getting started. I grew up in Virginia and, obviously, these
guys are on the western part of the state, but watching
David Pearson win a lot of races as a kid I noticed it was a
family team that I always wanted to be a part of. It was a
tough decision, but after sorting through it and looking at
all the opportunities and looking inside and out at all
these teams, my number one priority was to get with a race
team that could win races right of the box, that could
challenge for a championship, and these guys do it every
week. They've got a great pit crew on top of that. It takes
a whole team effort. I think just today to show their
support, I had no idea that we were gonna be represented by
the whole Wood Brothers operation. Not only from Eddie and
Len and Glen and Leonard, but the entire 21 team is here, so
that's a tremendous honor to show the support these guys
have behind me. This is an operation that, for me as an
outsider looking in, has been under construction for awhile
and it's continued to get stronger and stronger. It was able
to win at Bristol last year. I've watched the performance of
this team and of this Motorcraft group qualify week in and
week out and they just about out-qualify me every week in
the Yates operation. The days that they seem to have a
strong run going, they end up having some kind of a problem,
an accident or just misfortune on that day and they haven't
been able to captalize on some of the good runs that they've
had shaping up. Before I go too much farther, I'm not doing
a good job because I'm leaving out Motorcraft Quality Parts,
a sponsor that I have a history with from way back in the
mid-eighties -- a team I was associated with -- so I know a
lot of friendly faces and good friends at Motorcraft and I'm
looking forward to working with these guys again. I think
they see how competitive Winston Cup racing is and the
Motorcraft folks have given these guys the support it takes
to go out there and put a car on the race track. It's not
cheap do that. It takes a lot of money to it and to do it
and step up the program and increase the engineering from
Ford Motor Company, the list goes on and on about the
reasons why I did this. But there's a family atmosphere, a
good group of people that want to win as badly as I do and I
think that pretty much sums it up."
HOW CLOSE WERE YOU TO SIGNING WITH SOMEONE ELSE LIKE CHIP
GANASSI? "Chip and I had talked -- not only Chip, but I
talked to many different teams. With Chip Ganassi, that's a
fine operation. Chip's a winner. He's been a winner in every
sport he's been in and he's winning in Winston Cup. He's
obviously leading the Winston Cup championship right now, so
that's a very strong effort that he puts on a race track
week in and week out. Chip and I simply couldn't come to
final terms and, believe me, we tried. There was a couple of
weeks of negotiations that went on and, contrary to what you
might believe, it wasn't over money and it wasn't because I
gave Chip a right hook in his office one day. Just to lay
that to rest, Chip and I -- for your information -- have
never met in his office. We've never had a harsh word. We
just simply could not agree on terms. There were several
toss ups there and you go back and you've got to align
yourself with the right team, but you've got to go with the
team that you feel comfortable with. I'm not gonna sit here
and tell you that Chip Ganassi is not a great person or a
great race team, it's simply that we couldn't come to terms.
Again, it wasn't over money. There were other teams I could
have signed with. If I was just looking for the money, there
were some other teams out there that had some tremendous
incentives and bonus checks out there, if I wanted to join
with them. Again, this is not to belittle this team. All
along, I said, 'Pay me market value for my driver services
-- a top 10 driver,' and we never had an issue with any of
these teams over money and, again, this is gonna be the end
of this. I'll be glad to talk to you tomorrow about any of
this other stuff, but, right now, this is about the Wood
Brothers and the effort they put on out there week in and
week out. I'm proud to be a part of it. I'll get into some
of those other things a little later, but, I'm not gonna get
into a negative mudslinging contest back and forth with
somebody. I'm just gonna simply stick to this statement,
but, again, I'm not sure where these stories develop. I have
no idea. Again, the one with Ganassi and him and I having
harsh words in his office -- it never happened. I never met
the man in his office. I've been to his race shop one time
three weeks ago and that's the end of the story."
EDDIE WOOD CONTINUED -- RICKY WAS YOUR FIRST CHOICE FROM DAY
ONE WASN'T IT? "Yes, sir. All you people in the media, I
want to thank you for being kind to us. You always asked the
question, 'What's going on?' And I gave the same answer from
day one. I said, 'Until Ricky Rudd is in a seat, we're not
gonna do anything. I had dreamed and hoped he would be in
our seat. There were times you didn't know whether it was
gonna work. You hoped it would, but then it would go away
and come back, it would go away and come back. Fortunately,
we caught it on one of those days it came back. But I'd like
to thank you guys in the media for bearing with us. He was,
of course, the first choice and we just waited it out and it
all worked out for us. I'd like to say one thing, which is
kind of on a different note. I know you in the media and the
people that watched the race at Michigan, heard Dale Jarrett
comment on thanking us for his win 11 years ago to the day.
I'd like to thank Dale Jarrett in that two years ago this
week, he introduced us to Motorcraft. We were a team without
a sponsor. It happened at the Indy test. He rounded the
corner and I rounded the corner and we hit. He said, 'Have
you got a deal done?' And I said, 'No.' He said, 'Well, you
need to talk to the Ford people.' So the next day I called
them and I think in 10 days we had that done, so I want to
thank Dale Jarrett for that. He's thanking us for all that
stuff, but he's done some stuff back and we appreciate that.
This is the greatest sponsor we've ever had."
RUDD CONTINUED -- HOW CLOSE WERE YOU TO RETIRING? "I would
say back during the winter after having back surgery, that
was probably the time that maybe I considered it the most.
We came out of the box this year and we weren't very good as
a race team. It wasn't a real pleasant place to be. I guess
there were a lot of expectations that, considering the way
we had run the previous year, there are no guarantees in
this sport but I think there were a lot of expectations that
we would come out of the box and be challenging for a
championship right off the bat and that didn't happen. Our
guys rolled their sleeves up, everybody went to work, we
pulled together as group, and we took a five or six weekend
delay in that but then we started to get our act together
and started getting our act together and became very
competitive again. I guess I have to look at the situation.
I want to go out on the top of my game. I don't want to go
out where I'm a hindrance to a race team, where I'm holding
a team back. That was a lot of consideration. There are many
other things in that, but I guess after coming out and being
part of a team that basically rebuilt itself from the
beginning of the year and became competitive and still has a
chance at a Winston Cup championship, I guess it motivated
me. I woke up and I think leading some races and dominating
some races this year and then winning at Sears Point, I
think, if anything, it kind of renewed my interest and I
guess my confidence in myself that I haven't lost it yet.
I've got a few more years. I don't know when that's gonna
be, but it made me have the desire to want to stick around a
little bit longer. Certainly, there are some family issues.
My young son, the problem has been not watching him grow up.
That's a concern. I've got a seven-year-old that will be
eight in about two weeks. It's not an easy decision. I'm
basically gonna try as hard as I can to keep my family
around me as much as I can. We're gonna make it a point to
try to do that, but it's gonna be an effort for the next
three years and there will be some sacrifices, but the way I
look at, I'm glad to be 45 years old with an eight-year-old
son, versus if I would have been 20-years-old and had him
because I would have never seen him grow up. I'm still
fortunate that I'll be able to see him grow up. We talked
about it as a family and that was probably the toughest
decision was sacrificing the family time." IS THIS A
THREE-YEAR COMMITMENT FOR YOU TO DRIVE THE CAR? "I don't
know how much these guys want to talk about the nuts and
bolts about the contract, but it's a three-year contract and
I guess you're asking if there are any escape routes, is it
gonna be a one-year or a half-a-year. I'm committed to the
Wood Brothers and I guess I'm gonna leave it at that. I'm
committed to three years I hope. I guess if they've got to
kick me out of the seat, I'm not doing my job, I'll be there
for three years. If I'm not doing the job and I'm holding
this team back, I'll be the first to step aside."
EDDIE WOOD CONTINUED -- WHY RICKY RUDD? "Everything about
Ricky fits us. I was at the first race he drove at and I
think he was in Bill Champion's car -- number 10. Ricky's
got Virginia ties as we do and it's a perfect fit. We just
got done doing the young driver development deal. It worked
out, but we didn't get to finish it, so we were looking for
a veteran that could come in and help our race team. With
his knowledge and his experience, that brings a lot to the
party for Pat (Tryson) and all the people that work on the
car. He's got a tremendous feel. Every race track we go to
Ricky is capable of being a dominant factor, if we do our
job and we've got to do our job. We're gonna do that. For
us, he's just a natural fit. It's a dream come true for us
to have Ricky in our seat. When this thing started, it
snowballed in 10 different directions. I think I called
Ricky the first night -- when the news really broke to you
guys -- I think it was the weekend of The Winston. I called
him at home and the funny thing about it was the guy that
gave me his phone number was Elliott Sadler. I don't know
where he got it, but he gave me the phone number and it all
worked out. We're just tickled to death and we're looking
forward to it."
RICKY RUDD CONTINUED -- IS IT SATISFYING TO CONCLUDE YOUR
CAREER WITH A VIRGINIA-BASED TEAM? "I think it definitely
has a lot of magic to it, especially as a kid growing up and
coming into the sport in the early years and watching these
guys and David Pearson win everything there was out there to
win. The only races they didn't win were the ones they
didn't enter that year. I can't imagine the determination
and strength it takes as a group of people and as a family
to go through all the tough years and seeing Winston Cup
racing change like it has. But you go into the shop and it's
a very state-of-the-art shop and it's all about racing. You
can tell right quick there are no big egos. I don't think
the family atmosphere would allow for an ego to take place
there if it wanted to, but there's not a guy in there that
doesn't want to win as badly as the next. I think that's
what I think of when I think of the Wood Brothers --
determination and perseverance. They're tough people and
they want to win. These guys have been in it a long time.
They could go fishing and close the doors any day they
wanted to and have life very, very easy, but here they are.
The second generation is working on the cars, along with
Leonard. I don't know a lot of the guys' names in the shop
yet, but I'm sure there are guys that have been there since
the Wood Brothers started racing. A lot of people that don't
have to do this, they're there because they want to do it
and they just don't want to be there, they want to win. I
feel like maybe where I fit into the equation, and it's no
disrespect to Elliott Sadler. I think that's one of the
finest young guys that has come up in a long time and he's
got a lot of raw talent, but sometimes you get into the big
glitzy operations and sometimes grass is greener on the
other side. I've been on both sides. I look at strictly
where I can go to be competitive. What are the raw
ingredients they have here. They've got a heck of a motor
program with Jack Roush which is second to none. They've got
engineering support from Ford Motor Company and they've got
people with the desire to want to do it. And they've got a
crew chief like Pat Tryson. The last time Pat and I worked
together we won at Rockingham, which was 1998. Pat was
turning the wrenches on my car and I wish he hadn't gotten
away from us because that was about one of the last times we
won a race with our own car. But now I'll have a chance to
work with Pat again. It's not a huge organization. It is not
a multi-car team concept. I've been a part of that and,
believe me, more them don't work than do work. They have
certainly gotten better over the years, but they also have
the assistance of the Roush camp. If we get to a race track
and we're stumped for ideas, that information is available
and we can use that and tap that resource, so I don't feel
like we're here in the Wood Brothers camp and it's us
against the whole world. I really feel like we've got the
support and if there are any shortcomings about being a
single car operation I think that's made up for by the
association with the Roush camp." HOW DID YOU DO THIS IN 24
HOURS? "I think it's real simple. The Woods have a lawyer
that is very efficient. They worked through the night. I
don't know how much sleep they got last night. Our guy is
very dedicated and I think when you have two parties that
want to work together, you work through differences. It's no
different than a complex business people. You see the
contract. I don't know how thick that thing is, but that's
pretty thick and you think about how many times they had to
start over again on several areas. But what I found out was
when you have two guys that want to make this deal work --
and that being the Woods and myself -- and then attorneys
that wanted to work together, through a lot of midnight oil
we were able to put this thing together in a very short
period of time. I don't think some of the teams are as
efficient. Maybe that gets back to big not always being
better. If you're a little lean, sometimes you can move a
little quicker."
EDDIE WOOD CONTINUED -- "That's how it came together. You
have two groups that want to make it happen. The way Ricky
said it, he said, 'If you write down my gripes, I'll write
down my gripes.' I never heard that term in a contract, but
when we looked at everything there were very few things that
even mattered. The nuts and bolts of it was there, so it was
easy to put together. There was a lot of paperwork, but the
lawyers got through it and, even if things hadn't been as
easy, we still would have stayed with it until we got it
done. We may have had this tomorrow, but we were gonna stay
with it until we got it done. Fortunately it all worked
out."
RICKY RUDD CONTINUED -- "I'd like to follow up on that. I
think the trick is that paperwork is paperwork. When you get
it done, it usually goes in the drawer and that means it's a
good association. If you have to start throwing out the
papers and start looking at things, you're probably doomed
from the beginning. Like Eddie said, we talked about listing
our gripes. This doesn't need to be a one-way street for
either party and I think that's the key -- it's all about
compromise. It's not a one-way street. I didn't want this
thing all my way. As an owner, I can see some of their
concerns maybe a little bit easier than a guy that is just a
driver. I've been there before and I understand timelines
and deadlines maybe a little more than the average guy, and
I think maybe that background of being an owner maybe helped
speed things up when you see it from both sides. But the key
is it's got to be a good deal for both people going in. If
it isn't, then it's not gonna work."
EDDIE WOOD CONTINUED -- "On another note, my kid races. He
races for Jack. I didn't drive. My dad did, but I didn't.
I've seen things that he does and the way Jack does things
that I know are important to drivers that I never knew. It's
kind of like you can be sympathetic with what he wants and
he can be sympathetic with what we want because he's done
what we do and I've seen what he does and it just works. We
could have done this with a handshake."
RICKY RUDD CONTINUED -- "Let me say one more thing. When I
say it's a two-way street, it's really a three-way street.
Obviously, you've got to have a race team. You've got to
have a driver and you've got to have a tremendous sponsor
that is willing to not only use its resources, but to
understand where we're coming from -- me as the driver and
Eddie as the team itself. It's got to make sense to these
guys (Motorcraft) because, really, without the money and
financial support, we wouldn't even be here today talking
about this. These guys felt like this is a smart pairing and
they feel like they can make it work in their business and I
certainly hope so. I hope we can sell more Motorcraft parts
because of this, but it gets more complex. It's not an owner
and driver, it's more of a three-way thing. It definitely
takes participation by a sponsor that wants to be a part."
HOW MUCH DID MOTORCRAFT STEP UP AND DID FORD KICK IN A
LITTLE EXTRA? "Let me just say from where I'm coming from,
and I'm not gonna get into details, but all the car owners I
talked with, we never got into, 'I want this.' I just wanted
fair compensation. I didn't ask for Winston Cup championship
driver's salary. I didn't ask for top-three driver salary or
even probably top-five. Don't get me wrong, I'm not cheap
and I want all I can get, but I'm not sure exactly what went
on with Eddie and the sponsorship requirements. From day
one, I told Eddie what I wanted to drive and what I based it
on and how I came up with the figures and none of the car
owners that I ever talked to actually got into any disputes
about driver salary. I think more from a car owner's
perspective, it's probably, 'This is a salary we're gonna
have to pay to get a top-10 driver.' Then Eddie as a car
owner he's got to look at it and say, 'Gosh, if I pay this
to a driver and it's more than I've been paying, now we
can't buy motors or we can't buy tires. It doesn't make
business sense. So that's where the sponsors and car owners
have to get together. I didn't get involved in that side of
the relationship, but from day one, when I sat down with
Eddie I told him what I wanted. All I can say is, as a
driver, they didn't get me cheap. I didn't cut my price. I
sat down and told these guys I wanted the same thing that I
told every other car owner. I've had some car owners that
came up and said, 'Hey, I can pay you more than that,' and I
said, 'No, I'm not asking for more than that. Pay me what
fair market value is. If you've got more money, put it in a
bonus fund for the crew or something. I'm not asking for
more and I'm not going to one team and playing one against
the other. I'm not gonna get into that. So, that being said,
I'll let him decide how far he wants to discuss that."
EDDIE WOOD CONTINUED -- "Here's how it went down. When Ricky
became available, that's where we wanted to go. Like I told
you, it would go away and come back. It would go away and
call back. Well, Judi called me and she told me, 'If you can
get Ricky, we're committed. You go do it.' I got on the
phone at that moment and called Ricky Rudd and I said, 'We
can do it, you just tell me how.' And that's how it started.
That conversation with Judi -- from the time I asked, 'Do
you think we can do it?' 'I'll go check. Yes, we can do it'
was less than 12 hours. So that shows the dedication that
Ford Motor Company and Motorcraft is giving us, Ricky Rudd,
and our whole group as a whole because, like I said, before
Ricky Rudd even came here we wouldn't be sitting here had
they not come on board. That gets back to the thing I said
about Dale. I remember Motorcraft when they were with Bud's
car (Moore) and Ricky was driving it. They were treated
very, very well there as we are treated. We owe our
existence to Jack Roush. He has helped us through the last
10 years to get us back on track and we also owe our
existence to Ford Motor Company and Motorcraft, and now
we're gonna take it all forward and make it happen with this
guy." HOW CLOSE WERE YOU TO GOING TO PLAN B? "I never really
had a plan B. We had plan B's, but it's like we said, until
he was in a seat -- whether it was ours or Ganassi's or
whoever, we weren't gonna go to plan B until Ricky was in a
seat, signed, done -- press conference. We weren't gonna
give up on Ricky until the very end, so that persistence, I
guess, prevailed. Like my grandmother used to say, 'Good
things come to those who wait,' so, here we are."
RICKY RUDD CONTINUED -- HOW MUCH OF A RELIEF IS THIS? "This
is very important to me. I wouldn't say it's hard to do
both. I would certainly say there are a lot of sleepless
nights trying to figure out what the future was gonna allow
for myself and the family. I just wanted to make the right
choice and I didn't want to be pressured into making a hasty
decision. I wanted to, I guess, kick the tires and look at
these teams inside and out. As far as feeling pressured and
hurried to make a decision, I guess the only thing that
bothered me were a lot of the comments that were coming out.
I think a lot of people were anxious to get things laid to
rest and I respect that 100 percent. If everything would
have worked correctly, a lot of the Robert Yates stuff that
we were working on would have been behind the scenes, so the
public would not have known that Ricky was taking 30 days
longer than he should to make a decision or 60 days. That
would have been behind the public's view and it would have
been out of sight, and it's the same thing that goes on with
just about every driver and every team owner when they go to
make business decisions. But with today's modern technology
and the internet and everything that things are today in
technology, news travels very fast. I can't believe how
fast. It's overwhelming how fast it travels, but some of
it's true and some of it's not true. The parts that are not
true can really put a damper on things. I'm very pleased
with what we have going here." IS THERE ANY CHANCE YOU AND
ELLIOTT COULD SWAP RIDES BEFORE THE END OF THE YEAR, IF YOU
FALL OUT OF THE CHAMPIONSHIP RACE? "Wow, that's a good one.
I don't know, I guess I've got to look at that. That's
something to think about, I guess. I would like to go out
there and do some testing and get ready for next year. I'd
like to work on that now, but I'm not really sure what our
agreements will let us do and not do. Even if I don't drive
the cars, believe me, the conversations will be going on.
Like today, we sat down and it was like, 'What kind of
steering box do you use? What type of brakes do you like?'
We can kind of sort through some of that stuff, so when you
do go test the first time, you can pretty much hone in on
the little subtle difference between the drivers and what
driver preferences they like. But, back to the championship
deal with Robert Yates, I don't think that's a dead-end
issue. I think the championship is up for grabs right now.
We're something like 165 points back in sixth place. We were
second in the point last year at this time, but we were some
300 points back. We stayed second just about right until
there were three races left in the season, so that just
shows how the competition has closed up. It's very
competitive and the championship is up for grabs. I'm not
giving up. I know how hard it is to get in these positions
and I'm gonna fight as hard as I can this year to try to win
that championship to do my part. I won't say we'll wait
until the checkered flag falls at the last race, but we'll
definitely be putting things in gear for next year here, but
not where it becomes a distraction to either side. These
guys have races they want to try to win. I'm not sure where
they can finish in points, but they can probably get as high
as 13th or 14th."
EDDIE WOOD CONTINUED -- "We were 18th three weeks ago and
have had a couple bad races and that dropped us back, but
he's still got his job to do there and we've got our job to
do. I'm sure we're gonna be testing. I think I read on the
internet that Elliott is actually going to Kentucky with the
28 sometime in the next couple of weeks. I saw that before I
left."
RICKY RUDD CONTINUED -- "That's good news (laughing). Here
we are running for a championship and they've got somebody
else driving my car (laughing). I'll fix that. I'll double
bolt all those little seats I've got in those cars and that
big boy won't be able to get in there. He's young. He's
chomping at the bit. Elliott Sadler is a friend of mine. I'm
not gonna sit here and beat up on Elliott Sadler. He's got
his dreams and he's going after it and I just hope it works
out as good for him as he thinks it is and that's all I can
say."
EDDIE WOOD CONTINUED -- "It'll all work out in the end.
People asked us that first week, 'What's gonna happen now?'
It'll work out. It always works out."
The author can be contacted nascar@autoracing1.com
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