(born
October 28 ,
1944 , in
Upland, California ). 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. He was one of the drivers in the first Craftsman Truck Series season and won 2 races that year on his way to 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 7
Nextel Cup starts in 2004 and one
Busch Series start in 2005 and considers himself "semi-retired". Ruttman caused controversy in a 2004 Nextel 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 2nd. He is the younger brother of
Troy Ruttman .
