Did Former NASCAR Runner Up Ricky Rudd Actually Predict the Sport’s Future Trajectory All the Way Back in 1997?

The 2023 Cup Series season will also see NASCAR celebrate its 75th anniversary. In these 75 years, the stock car series has evolved a lot. This is in terms of safety, technology, racecraft, and so much more. Back in 1997, NASCAR driver Ricky Rudd spoke about what the sport would look like, a couple of decades down the line. Looking at how the sport is now, it is safe to say that he was bang on the money.

In an interview with ESPN 2 back then, he said “If you go back 2–3 years ago, our team is equally as funded as any organization out there. Until the super teams come along. I guess Hendrick’s organization leads the way with that. Then you’ve got Robert Yates, Jack Roush, and now you’ve got Childress.

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“Really, the way the rules are set up from testing and so on, those guys should win every race. If I was Hendrick and my three cars didn’t win every race out there, I’d be questioning why not. What’s wrong.”

What else did he say about the NASCAR teams?

According to Rudd, Hendrick Motorsports boasted of 180 employees, as of 1997. His own team, on the other hand, only had around 20–25 employees. In his opinion, NASCAR should not need to be set up in such a way that a car owner can buy wins. Sadly, he believed that the sport was heading that way. Owing to this, he was a little sad to see teams like Bud Moore getting squeezed out. Those teams were important because they built the sport from the ground up.

Rudd hoped that the sport does not reach a stage where five car owners had a sort of stranglehold on NASCAR. Unfortunately, it looks like Rudd’s fears have now come to pass. Teams like Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, and Stewart-Haas Racing more or less dominate the sport at present. They also have teams that sort of act as feeder teams, like 23XI Racing, JR Motorsports, and more.WATCH THIS STORY: Which Cars Does NASCAR’s Richest Driver Dale Earnhardt Jr Own?