Hillenburg to sub for Rudd in Daytona test
 | |
Ricky Rudd
|
|
|
By Dave Rodman, Turner Sports Interactive
January 9, 2002
4:59 PM EST (2159 GMT)
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Ricky Rudd will not test his No. 28 Ford until after February's Speedweeks 2002 at Daytona International Speedway, team owner Robert Yates said Wednesday.
Rudd, 45, underwent a successful surgical procedure in early December following the NASCAR Winston Cup Awards Ceremony to correct a painful back condition he had endured most of the 2001 season, in which he contended for the Winston Cup championship before fading in the stretch to finish fourth.
He continues to make a successful recovery from that procedure. A team spokesman said Rudd has a checkup scheduled with his doctor in Charlotte later this week.
Fast Track Driving School principal and two-time Daytona ARCA 200 winner Andy Hillenburg has been enlisted to go to the 2.5-mile superspeedway with Rudd's Michael McSwain-led team for the Monday-Wednesday session, the final Winston Cup pre-season test session at Daytona.
"Andy is very capable of making laps here and all the computer equipment gives us all the input that we need," Yates said during a break while watching Rudd's teammate Dale Jarrett shake down a pair of No. 88 Tauruses. "There's no sense in Ricky bouncing around here earlier than he needs to.
"Here, you just hold it wide open and the computer will tell you what to do, you make adjustments and try to find that speed. It's not so much the driver comes in and tells you what to do.
Yates said if the team did any additional tests before Speedweeks, possibly at Atlanta Motor Speedway, he would use "a Winston Cup driver that's pretty good at the tracks."
"When Ricky had the procedure they didn't find as much damage as they had anticipated," Yates said. "But there's no sense in him coming here and getting beat and bounced around. This (break) will give him an opportunity to heal up solidly and keep him out of the seat until we need him.
"Time is healing him so we'll give him all he needs until we really need him."
Hillenburg has not previously worked for Yates, but Rudd used him previously when he owned his own Winston Cup team. Yates compared the use of Hillenburg to when he employed Alabama legend Charles "Red" Farmer to test for the late Davey Allison.
"He just made consistent laps and the computer would give us the feedback," Yates said. "It's not like a place where you need great driver feedback, (even though) Andy can do that and do a great job for us. I'm not saying he's just a monkey or a steering wheel holder, by any means."
Rudd and Jarrett qualified on the front row for the Daytona 500 in 2000, Rudd's first season with the veteran team owner. Despite his back problems, 2001 was a breakthrough year for the Chesapeake, Va., native. He broke an 80-race winless streak in June and won two races for the first time since 1997.
Meanwhile, the team owner said he hoped to make an announcement Friday in Charlotte on a NASCAR Busch Series team he will field this season for a partial season, saying the program had come together too late to do Daytona.
Yates said all three of Rudd's crewmen -- John Bryan, Bobby Burrell and Kevin Hall -- who were injured in a pit road accident at Homestead-Miami Speedway, had resumed pit stop practice at the shop. Tire changer Burrell suffered head injuries and was the last to resume his duties at the shop, but has started practicing in anticipation of rejoining the over-the-wall crew in February.
"All my guys are good," Yates said. "Bobby's released (to resume work) and they're all chomping at the bit to go and have a pit practice or two together already."
| 
