Joe Ruttman

Born	October 28, 1944 (1944-10-28) (age 65)
Hometown	Upland, California
Achievements	1980 USAC Stock Car champion
Awards	1978 USAC Stock Car Rookie of the Year
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series statistics
255 races run over 20 years
Best cup position	12th - 1983 (Winston Cup)
First race	1963 Riverside 500 (Riverside)
Last race	2004 MBNA America 400 (Dover)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 60 3
NASCAR Nationwide Series statistics
Car #, team	#71 - E.O.C. Motorsports
Best NNS position	41st - 1985 (Busch Grand National)
First race	1982 Sportsman 200 (Dover)
First win	1982 Sportsman 200 (Dover)
Last win	1982 Sportsman 200 (Dover)
Wins Top tens Poles 1 5 0
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series statistics
Best NCWTS position	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)
Wins Top tens Poles 13 111 17
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.

Contents 1 USAC Stock Cars 2 NASCAR 3 Personal life 4 References 5 Links

[edit] USAC Stock Cars

He was the 1978 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

[edit] Links

• Official website
• Nascar.com driver page