by Caleb Jacobs, The Drive
A lot of race cars retire to museums after they’re done competing; others go to personal collections, never to be seen again. But what about the semi-trucks that haul them around for thousands of miles, from one event to the next? That depends. In the case of retired NASCAR driver Ricky Rudd’s Tide-liveried Ford Aeromax, it’s still putting in work, just in a different field—a tobacco field, that is.
The orange big rig is supposedly living its second life as a tobacco hauler near the town of Roxboro, North Carolina, about two hours northeast of Rudd Performance Motorsports’ former headquarters in Mooresville. It’s become a fixture among locals over the years, which isn’t surprising; you’d remember seeing a truck like this too in a sea of black, white, and grey Freightliners and Peterbilts. In fact, the locals are so passionate about Rudd’s old tractor that I decided to start tracking down info on it two whole years ago so I could write a story.
Read the rest of Caleb’s article by clicking here.
Photo: Billy Marsh / The Drive