When the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame opened last year, it included a NASCAR exhibit with a Ricky Rudd race car. Monday, the Hall added the driver. Rudd, a Chesapeake native, joined five other sports figures and one media member in the announcement of the 2007 induction class. The class also includes James Madison and Washington Redskins wide receiver Gary Clark, University of Virginia basketball star Bryant Stith, VMI coaching legend John McKenna, NFL player and coach Charlie Sumner, former ACC and NCAA head Gene Corrigan, and Roanoke sports radio icon Jim “Carroll” Colston. The 2007 Hall of Fame’s induction ceremony is scheduled for April 28 at Portsmouth Renaissance Hotel and Waterfront Conference Center. Tickets will be on sale in February, but members can reserve space early by contacting the Hall of Fame at 757-393-8031. Rudd, who holds the NASCAR record of 788 consecutive race starts from 1981-2005, ranks among NASCAR’s top 50 drivers of all time. His career started on go-cart tracks, finally taking to professional racing where he was named the 1977 NASCAR Rookie of the Year. Rudd won at least one race every year for 16 consecutive years, a modern-era record he shares with Rusty Wallace. Among Rudd’s victories was the 1997 Brickyard 400. The car he used in that race is on the second floor of the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame.(Virginian-Pilot)(12-6-2006)
