Daytona Beach, Fla. — Team Ford Racing driver Ricky Rudd was a surprise visitor to Daytona International Speedway, today. He ran last week’s NASCAR test with Robert Yates Racing, then returned to help teammate David Gilliland learn his way around the 2.5-mile track. Rudd, a 23-time Cup winner, is back for his second stint with RYR after sitting out last season.
He and Gilliland took turns in Gilliland’s No. 38 M&Ms Ford Fusion, each running a few laps before huddling over computers to compare notes and analyze data. It was a classic case of a graying veteran with 108 combined DIS starts helping a newbie whose next speedway start will be his first.
“I’m here to offer help and advice, but mostly to give drafting help,” Rudd said. “The 500 will be his first start here, and drafting’s awfully important. David won the pole last fall at Talladega, so he can get around big tracks. But Daytona changes so much during runs. He’s got to decide if he wants the car a little snug or a little loose, and I think I can help with that.”
Gilliland was fastest during Monday’s solo testing. Tuesday morning, he was third in one RYR car and seventh in another. David Ragan was 17th and 34th for Roush Racing and teammate Matt Kenseth was fifth and 18th. Ken Schrader was 43rd for the Wood Brothers and Roush driver Carl Edwards was 44th and 57th.
Team Ford Racing did even better during Tuesday afternoon drafting. Ragan was second in one car and 17th in another. Kenseth was fifth and eighth, Edwards 11th and 19th, and Gilliland 24th and 25th. Schrader continued to struggle, ranking only 43rd. Weather permitting, teams will make solo runs Wednesday morning and drafting runs in the afternoon.
Rudd, who turned 50 years old last fall, is impressed by his 30-year-old teammate. “He’s going to be awfully good,’’ he said of Gilliland. “Some people might think Robert took a chance because David’s gotten in some wrecks and all. But he’s fast, and I’d rather have someone who’s fast. You can always calm them down, but you can’t always make them fast.”
Rudd has already helped smooth Gilliland’s learning curve. Specifically, he showed his teammate that, yes, DIS is bumpy and, no, it’s not just you and, yes, this line is better than that one. “You can tell in a rental car that the track’s bumpy,’’ Gilliland said, “but never having raced here, I didn’t know if it was me or our car or the lines I was taking. Ricky drove my car for a while, then came back and said, ‘No, the car definitely needs to go over the bumps better.’ That’s something I wouldn’t have known without him being here.
“As a guy coming here for the first time, there’s nothing I’d rather have more than a teammate with that many starts. He’s already helped me a lot, and I look forward to working with him everywhere we go. He’s been there for any questions, so I’ll lean on him as much as I can. All the little suggestions he’s made will add up to a lot.’’
On the other end of the garage, Ragan was clearly thrilled with the performance of his No. 6 Fusion.
“Even though anything can happen in drafting, it’s still good momentum to be near the top of the chart,” the Cup rookie said. “We’re pleased with today because it really adds to our collection of confidence. You see it in any major league sport: confidence is a very powerful thing. It’s good to be near the top, but we’re not going to slack off and assume we have everything under control.”
