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| Joe Ruttman | |||||||
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| Born | October 28, 1944  Upland, California |
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| Achievements | 1980 USAC Stock Car champion | ||||||
| Awards | 1978 USAC Stock Car Rookie of the Year | ||||||
| NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career | |||||||
| 255 races run over 20 year(s) | |||||||
| Best finish | 12th - 1983 (Winston Cup) | ||||||
| First race | 1963 Riverside 500 (Riverside) | ||||||
| Last race | 2004 MBNA America 400 (Dover) | ||||||
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| NASCAR Nationwide Series career | |||||||
| Best finish | 41st - 1985 (Busch Grand National) | ||||||
| First race | 1982 Sportsman 200 (Dover) | ||||||
| First win | 1982 Sportsman 200 (Dover) | ||||||
| Last win | 1982 Sportsman 200 (Dover) | ||||||
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| NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career | |||||||
| Best finish | 2nd - 1995 | ||||||
| First race | 1995 Copper World Classic (Phoenix) | ||||||
| Last race | 2007 Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 200 (Gateway) | ||||||
| First win | 1995 Pizza Plus 150 (Bristol) | ||||||
| Last win | 2001 Jelly Belly 200 (Pikes Peak) | ||||||
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| Statistics current as of July 24, 2009. | |||||||
Joe Ruttman (born October 28, 1944, in Upland, California), is an American former racecar driver. He currently lives in Franklin, Tenn. He actively competed in NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series, Nationwide Series, and Camping World Truck Series and is a 13 time winner in the Truck Series, the seventh most wins by any driver in the Truck Series.
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[edit] USAC Stock Cars
He was the 1978 United States Automobile Club (USAC) Stock Car Rookie of the Year, and the 1980 series champion.[1]
[edit] NASCAR
He made his Grand National debut in 1963 at Riverside International Raceway and ran a full Winston Cup schedule from 1982 through 1984, 1986, and 1991 and finished 12th in series points in 1983, his best cup season result. Ruttman almost won his first Cup race in the 1982 Richmond race, Ruttman was leading comfortably until his Rod Osterlund owned car's power steering went out and hit the wall ending his chances. The caution handed Dave Marcis the win when it rained and Marcis stayed out when all of the leaders pitted. He was one of the drivers in the first Craftsman Truck Series season and won 2 races that year on his way to finishing second in the inaugural championship. He continued to be a full time driver in the truck series until 2001, winning 11 more series races and made his last truck series start at Texas Motor Speedway in 2002. He made seven Nextel Cup starts in 2004 and one Busch Series start in 2005 and considers himself "semi-retired". In 2004, car owner James Finch failed to hire a crew, and was forced to park by NASCAR after completing just one lap. In 2009, he plans to attempt a limited schedule in the Nationwide Series.
He has one win in the Busch Series, and a best finish of second in Cup. He returned to NASCAR after a three year retirement period in the 2007 Craftsman Truck Series, driving the #18 Fastenal Dodge in four races for Bobby Hamilton Racing.[2]
[edit] Personal life
Ruttman is the younger brother of Indianapolis 500 winner Troy Ruttman.[3] His father, Ralph "Butch" Ruttman, was an award winning mechanic on top Indy teams.
[edit] References
- ^ "USAC Stock Car Championship History", ultimateracinghistory.com, Retrieved September 7, 2007
- ^ Driver's statistics at racing-reference.info, Retrieved February 26, 2007
- ^ http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C02E2DA173BF932A15756C0A961958260
[edit] Links
- Official website
- Joe Ruttman at Racing Reference
- Joe Ruttman at Nascar.com
