After a year away from the sport Ricky Rudd will be back on the full-time Nextel Cup tour in 2007 with his former employer Robert Yates and will be looking to help rebuild a team with whom he enjoyed three successful seasons between 2000-2002.
YOUR THOUGHTS ON NEXT YEAR?
Ricky Rudd "I'm really looking forward to it. I had plenty of time off to decide what I wanted to do and it's the right opportunity. I saw the fire in Robert's eyes when I met him the other day. He's ready to get this operation turned around and the whole operation is hungry. I couldn't be back at better opportune time than right now, especially with Snickers coming on board to sponsor the car. We're gonna have the funding to do it correctly. I know that Robert's got a lot of great people and I know there's a lot of re-grouping going on right now, but I'm excited about working with Butch Hylton. I've always had a lot of respect for him as a crew chief."
YOU HAD SOME OTHER OPPORTUNITIES. WHAT APPEALED TO YOU ABOUT THIS DEAL?
RR "The desire. Robert Yates Racing did not have their best year last year. They've had plenty of good years in the past and once you sort of taste the success Robert has, when you don't have a good year it makes you even hungrier. Robert tried to reorganise a little bit and change some things within the organisation to make them a stronger outfit and it sort of backfired and went the other way. Now he's regrouped.
![Ricky Rudd was the top Ford in qualifying at Daytona. Rudd posted the 5th fastest time [Photo: autostock].](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/49363.jpg )
