|| *Comments on the 2002 Dodge / Save Mart 350:* View the most recent comment <#27> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. Jake posted: 05.04.2005 - 7:57 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Felt bad for Jerry Nadeau. He looked like he was gonna take the Petty's to Victory Lane for the first time in 3 years, but a rear gear broke w/ 3 laps to go, handing the win to Ricky Rudd. 2. DaleJrfan14 posted: 03.06.2006 - 6:27 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) Why!WHY!He should have won man!I WAS BORN IN DANBURY JUST LIKE HIM.ME SAD HE GONE! 3. Miller4Prez6 posted: 04.23.2006 - 9:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ricky Rudd's last win to date and probably ever he may come back to cup someday, I hope so 4. Steve posted: 06.07.2006 - 7:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) That should be Brandon Ash who failed to qualify with Stacy Compton. Winston Cup debuts for West Coast drivers Jim Inglebright and Austin Cameron. I guess it was justice for Ricky Rudd. He had lost a few races in 2002 when he had done his job to put himself in position to win. At Rockingham the car stalled in the pits and he lost a lap, at Richmond he was leading when Rusty Wallace had a flat tire and he made contact with Rudd, sending him into a crash, at Dover he was running in the Top 5 and had a loose wheel with less than 15 laps to go, at Pocono he was leading and had a soft tire that became flat shortly after losing the lead to teammate Dale Jarrett. Poor Jerry Nadeau; he had to be the guy that Ricky passed the bad luck to. 5. Kevin posted: 08.15.2006 - 5:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This race was Jerry's, but if anyone else had to win I was glad that Ricky was there to finish it! 6. Steve posted: 11.27.2006 - 10:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) About 99% sure Final Winston Cup win for Ricky Rudd 7. Steve posted: 11.27.2006 - 10:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Terry Labonte's best finish of 2002 and his only top 5 of the year 8. Brock posted: 01.18.2007 - 6:13 am Rate this comment: (4) (0) I was wearing my teal #13 Jerry Nadeau hat cheering my head off in Turn 2 that day. TV didn't do that run justice; he was FLYING around that track and even pulling away with those worn tires. If there was ever a driver who could get a huge lead out of nothing at all, it was him. Man, that sucked. Cool thing, though; I got to meet Jerry up here in Sacramento in '05 and he signed that hat. Such a nice guy; I weep for all that's happened to him since then. 9. Mr. Big posted: 05.22.2008 - 4:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jerry Nadeau must have some of the worst luck in the world when it comes to the final laps when he's leading. 10. Clayton posted: 06.22.2008 - 10:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I was watching this race in LBI and pulling for Nadeau. As much as I like Ricky Rudd, Nadeau bringing the Pettys to victory lane would have been awesome and guaranteed him a ride for life. Unfortuatly that didn't happen! 11. Biffrey posted: 10.22.2008 - 4:44 am Rate this comment: (0) (2) I remember this well. See, I was visiting family for a couple weeks. Usually they come to Indiana, but this time we went to Arizona. All week there were two MASSIVE wildfires that finally merged into one behemoth of a fire - the biggest in Arizona history, and so big that the president flew out there. During the race, I stepped out to smoke and realized that half the sky was covered by smoke from a fire over an HOUR AWAY! I was so amazed and transfixed that I missed the end of the race, lol. Also during the race, my uncle informed me that we are somehow related by marraige to open-wheel racer Mark Dismore. Interesting. 12. Clayton posted: 11.06.2008 - 10:48 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) I'll never forget the 44 car just sitting right at the entrence of turn 1 and Nadeau hitting his hands on the wheel. I was heart broken. If he had one this race, it would have marked as one of, if not the biggest upset in NASCAR history! 13. Madison posted: 07.23.2010 - 12:17 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) Ironically, Stewart would beat Rudd at the same track 3 years later. 14. Anonymous posted: 11.14.2010 - 10:21 am Rate this comment: (0) (5) Nadeau ends up finishing where he mostly finishes on ovals: At the back. 15. I Love Japan posted: 04.20.2011 - 12:39 am Rate this comment: (1) (1) I'm surprised that no one has mentioned that this was Terry Labonte's best run of 2002. Andretti also had his best run of the year on this day. 16. Cooper posted: 05.05.2011 - 1:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sterling Marlin's day ended after a couple of rocks kicked up under his #40 Dodge and knocked the water pump off. Without knowing his water pump was knocked off, Sterling ran four or five laps and eventually cooked the motor. Sterling had a lot of bad luck in 2002. 17. BON GORDON posted: 06.27.2011 - 2:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) BIG DADDY probably would've won this one. His car was flawless untill something broke underneath. I can't remember what it was though. But this is one of the few finishes i actually remeber like it was yesterday. Felt bad for Jerry but I like Rudd as well so it wasn't all bad...for me at least. 18. RaceFanX posted: 04.24.2012 - 8:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsors: #45 Kyle Petty- Sprint / Kyle Petty Charity Ride #55 Bobby Hamilton Schneider Electric / Square D #40 Sterling Marlin- Coors Original Kyle Petty's race car from this event, or its backup or a show car painted like it, was later featured on the Discovery Channel TV show 'Monster Garage.' On a first season episode the show relocated for a week from LA to North Carolina to visit the Petty shop and turn Kyle retired stock car into the world's fastest street sweeper while retaining the Dodge Intrepid looks. It was a success and host Jesse James later showed off the stock car in its new form before a NASCAR race at Atlanta. 19. CBASS posted: 05.12.2012 - 11:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsors: #45 Kyle Petty Charity Ride Across America/ Sprint 20. Daniel posted: 05.25.2012 - 12:23 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) In using fastest 43: #14 Stacy Compton & #46 Brandon Ash Out using fastest 43: #21 Elliott Sadler & #88 Dale Jarrett 21. AFrame43 posted: 06.14.2012 - 5:24 pm Rate this comment: (3) (0) @ #15, it was mentioned in post 7 by Steve. @ #13, please look up the meaning of irony. 22. Breaker posted: 02.25.2014 - 1:01 am Rate this comment: (5) (0) I remember in the post race interview Rudd was asking if it was Grissom in the 44 (Steve Grissom had been driving it around that time period). I don't know which is more oddly humorous, that Rudd didn't know who was in the 44 or that he thought Steve Grissom was about to win a race. 23. Robert posted: 05.29.2015 - 5:34 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Not only did Nadeau nearly win for Richard Petty, John Andretti led 15 laps and got his only top 10 finish of 2002. And Kyle Petty finished 17th. Considering where the organization was in the early 2000s, a very good day for Petty Enterprises. 24. Chives5150 posted: 06.20.2015 - 2:25 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "The glass slipper broke for Jerry Nadeau." 25. mister83 posted: 07.10.2015 - 8:29 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Nadeau's first race for Petty Enterprises, and he almost won it. 26. RaceFanX posted: 01.06.2018 - 11:32 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) This indeed did turn out to be Ricky Rudd's last win. He later had three second-place finishes during his tenure with the Wood Brothers but he never again made his way to victory lane. 27. Rich posted: 04.21.2021 - 1:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Mike Joy along with Larry McReynolds and Darrell Waltrip were the commentators. Dr. Dick Berggren along with Matt Yocum and Jeff Hammond were the pit road reporters. Chris Myers was in the Hollywood hotel. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: