The 700 Club: Ricky Rudd sets a standard for endurance as his streak of consecutive starts reaches another milestone. (NASCAR).(stock car racing)

Ricky Rudd and Cal Ripken Jr. share more than the distinction of being Iron Men who hold longevity records for their sports. They are also excellent role models and ambassadors.

The striking difference is that at 46, Rudd still is going strong in NASCAR's top division, Winston Cup. Last Sunday at Pocono, Rudd extended his record consecutive starts streak to 700, dating to January 11, 1981. Rudd, who has raced in 29 different seasons, drives the No. 21 Ford for Wood Brothers Racing. He has 787 starts, 23 wins, 28 poles, 189 top fives and 358 top 10s--a top 10 percentage of .455.

"Making my 700th consecutive start is a pretty neat deal," says Rudd, who made his first stock car start in 1975 in the spring race at Rockingham and finished 11th. "We did the 656 to break (Terry) Labonte's record, but 700 seems like a lot to me, especially all in a row."

Although Rudd hails from Virginia, he did not rise through the stock car ranks like most southern stock car vets. Rudd's formative racing years were spent in go-carts, in which he developed an appreciation for road courses. He won his first Winston Cup race on a road course, in 1983 in Riverside, Calif. Road courses remain his favorite tracks.

"It was special because not only was it my first win, it was the first win for Richard Childress as an owner," Rudd says. "I feel right at home on road courses. It feels very natural for me to run on road courses. It did from Day 1.

"To me, racing is when you have to get on the gas, got to get on the brakes, you've got to make hard turns. Daytona isn't ...