| Biography | - Joe Ruttman . Is a former driver in all 3 NASCAR national divisions and a 13 time winner in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. 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 Sprint Cup starts in 2004 and one Nationwide Series start in 2005 and considers himself "semi-retired".
Ruttman caused controversy in a 2004 Sprint Cup race at North Carolina Speedway when he ran a race without a pit crew. For the one lap he ran before he was "parked," he earned $54,196 and the scorn of many in the NASCAR community. This also created talk about whether "field fillers," drivers from underfunded and undersponsored teams, should be allowed to compete. He has one race win in the Busch Series and his best race finish in a Cup race is second. He is the younger brother of Troy Ruttman.
External Link
*Driver's statistics at racing-reference.com
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