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The Old Man Does It with Old Catfish

© Amanda Vincent

Joe Ruttman broke a 42-race victory drought for his ninth areer series win Saturday at Phoenix International Raceway. He has dominated pole qualifying at all three races so far this season, but he had been finding it hard to break into the win column until last weekend. It was his first win since the May 1998 win at Watkins Glenn and his first oval track victory since 1997.

"I want to thank Dodge and Dana for taking a shot on this old guy to drive on of their trucks," Ruttman said in a post-race interview. "Bobby Hamilton put together a great bunch of young guys on this team and they have been working their tails off on these trucks.

Ruttman was piloting the truck he affectionately named "Catfish," the oldest truck the team has.

At age 55, Ruttman gets a lot of ribbing for being an old man from other drivers in the series.

Jack Sprague, driver of the number 24 GMAC Chevrolet said, "I tried to run down the old man but he was hooked up pretty good. . . . Joe is so old I thought he wouldmiss a corner or wreck on pit road, but he didn't. He took his Geritol this morning." Sprague finished second, .968 seconds behind Ruttman.

Andy Houston finished third in the number 60 CAT Rental Store Chevy to take over the series points lead for the first time in his career.

Top rookie Kurt Busch scored his second top-five of the young season by finishing fourth in the number 99 Exide Batteries Ford, Ruttman's old rid until the end of the 1998 season.

Craftsman Truck Series race top-10:

1. Joe Ruttman
2. Jack Sprague
3. Andy Houston
4. Kurt Busch
5. Greg Biffle
6. Dennis Setzer
7. Steve Grissom
8. Randy Renfrow
9. Mike Wallace
10. Rick Crawford

Rookie of the Year standings:

Kurt Busch leats with 50 points, a 30 point lead with closest contender, Kenny Martin.