"Let me just say I wanted fair compensation, and I'm not getting into the details," he says. "I didn't ask for a Winston Cup championship driver's salary. I didn't ask for a Top-3 driver salary or even probably Top-5. Don't get me wrong because I'm not cheap and I wanted all I could get."
Rudd says that if the proper opportunity didn't work out to drive for a winning team, he would have retired from the sport that has consumed his life since 1975.
Ford Steps In
All parties involved agree that Ford officials played a critical role in keeping Rudd within the Blue Oval brigade. Ford was still reeling from the loss of both Bill Elliott and Jeremy Mayfield to the Dodge camp, and the higher powers wanted to make sure they didn't let another top driver switch manufacturers. The message to Wood Brothers Racing was clear- get Ricky Rudd, regardless of the price.
"The people at Ford are the ones responsible for making this happen," Eddie Wood says. "It was a group that wanted one thing and that was for Ricky Rudd to drive the No. 21 car, and they made it happen. I wanted to get it done before something else happened that would have thrown another scenario into the mix."
Rudd says he was surprised that Ford stepped in along with sponsor Motorcraft to come up with the kind of money he was asking for.
"All I can say is, as the driver, they didn't get me cheap," Rudd says. "I didn't cut my price. I sat down and told them I wanted the same thing that I had told every other car owner. I've had some car owners that came up and told me, '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.'"
When Wood mentioned to Motorcraft that a deal with Rudd could be worked out, much like Ford they instantly wanted to do whatever possible to strike a deal between the Virginia driver and Virginia race team.
"When Ricky became available, that's who we wanted," Wood says. "Like I mentioned, the deal would go away and come back. It would go away and come back. Then I got a call from Motorcraft and they told me, 'If you can get Ricky, we're committed. You go do it.' I got on the phone right then and called Ricky. I said, 'We can do it, you just tell me how.' That shows the dedication Ford and Motorcraft are giving Ricky and our team. Now we're going to take it all forward and make it happen with this operation."
High ExpectationsThe pressure is now on Wood Brothers Racing to improve a program that has scored only one victory in the last nine years. The history behind the team is a great and storied one, with past drivers including David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, A.J. Foyt, and Neil Bonnett.
Because of the fact that Wood Brothers Racing gets engines and shares technology with Roush Racing, Rudd sees bright days on the horizon. He thinks the Wood Brothers team is capable of getting back to winning on a consistent basis.
"My number one priority was to get with a team that could win races right out of the box and could challenge for a championship, and these guys can do it," Rudd says. "This is an operation that has been under construction and continued to get stronger and stronger. This team wants to win as badly as I do. When I think of determination and perseverance, I think about the Wood brothers. They're a tough group of people and they want to win."
Eddie Wood sums up this year's silly season soap opera perfectly:
"Fortunately, it all worked out for everybody," he says. "Everything always works out in the end. People asked us after Elliott Sadler announced he was leaving our team, 'What's going to happen now?' and I said, 'It would work out.'
"Things always work out for some reason."
Sign On The Dotted Line
Ricky Rudd isn't the only one to have inked a new contract recently. Here are some of the latest deals involving drivers and teams for 2003 and beyond.