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Sacramento Raceway’s David Rudd bags historic 100th Street Legal victory

David Rudd, who competes regularly at NHRA member track Sacramento Raceway Park, recently achieved an historic milestone by winning his 100th race during the Wednesday night Street Legal event.
27 May 2022
Kevin McKenna, NHRA National Dragster Senior Editor
News
David Rudd

No matter the sport, 100 victories is a big deal and that’s especially true in NHRA drag racing. Consider that in 70-plus years of national event competition, just five drivers have won 100 national events.

By now, most NHRA fans are familiar with that exclusive group that presently includes John Force (155), Dan Fletcher (105), Frank Manzo (105), and David Rampy (100), with Greg Anderson likely soon to follow with 99 Pro Stock titles.

One other driver who can appreciate the hard work and dedication that it takes to collect 100 victories is David Rudd, a longtime E.T. bracket racing competitor at Sacramento Raceway Park. Competing in the track’s Wednesday night street legal program, Rudd recently celebrated his milestone 100th victory.

“I started racing in 2006 and would go to an occasional Wednesday night race but I started to get serious in 2015 and go every week,” said Rudd, who races with his father, Doug, and brother, Greg. “Wednesdays are just for street cars and they have a couple of different bracket classes. Sometimes its four or five rounds to win.

Racing his low 13-second Chevy Nova in the footbrake class, Rudd began to creep up on the milestone victory a couple of years ago. Since then, he’s dedicated himself to the Wednesday night races although he also competes regularly in Sacramento’s Summit ET Racing Series program.

“I’ve always kept records but honestly, I didn’t think too much about it until some friends asked a while back,” Rudd said. “They knew I was probably getting close to 100. I sort of checked my records and then the track caught wind of it.”

Rudd won his 99th event on May 11 and then sealed the deal a week later on May 18. Anticipating the historic event, the track management had a sign already prepared to mark the occasion.

“I was lucky,” Rudd said. “I only had to wait a week to go from 99 to 100 so the wait wasn’t too bad.”

So what’s next for Rudd? Can he begin working on his next 100 victories?

“That sure would be nice,” he says. “I built this car primarily for these events and we have a lot of fun. I just want to keep going out there every week and giving it my best shot.”