Internet link can't save Rudd from crashing.

Ricky Rudd's Wood Brothers team was the subject of one of the most novel methods of communication in NASCAR's history last weekend, as crew chief Michael 'Fatback' McSwain called the Auto Club 500 from his North Carolina home, more than 2000 miles from the race itself.

However even with the help of live timing and scoring data through www.nascar.com's Track pass service and a direct line to Rudd's race engineer Hoyt Overbagh, McSwain couldn't help Rudd avoid a dismal day that resulted in the veteran driver finishing 41st.

"What a day," said Rudd, who now has just three races to get him and his #21 Motorcraft Ford team back into the top 35 in Owner points, thus guaranteeing them a place in the starting line-up for the sixth race of the year. "Finally a motor is what ended up knocking us out of the race."

From 21st place on the starting grid, Rudd's day turned sour before ten of the 250 laps had been completed when Bill Elliott hooked the #21 Ford into the outside wall on the back straight of the two-mile oval. After a lengthy pit stop to repair the body damage, Rudd returned to the track with a deranged suspension, only to retire for good on lap 145.

"Something broke in the motor internally," continued Rudd, who finished 24th in the season opening Daytona 500 after an early crash.

"At the beginning of the race we were just racing," he added. "I guess maybe guilty of racing too hard in the early stages of the race. There was a hole there when I went to drift into line. I don't know if Bill (Elliott) was watching his mirror or whatever, but he got me in the back bumper and turned me right into the wall.

"Our day was over then and we were just riding it out for the points, but, man, we're just sort of snake bit in 2005. We need to get going. We've got us a good race car, but we just haven't been able to show it yet."

Even though Rudd's day was over shortly after the half way mark, he was still pleased with the novel method of communication with crew chief McSwain, who was convalescing at his North Carolina home following an operation on his back.

"I think that was gonna work out fine," said Rudd, who fell to 38th in the drivers standings because of Sunday's result. "That was gonna be excellent. They made a few adjustments after the car got banged up. That bent the front suspension up pretty badly.

"I was surprised we could even ride around and meet the minimum NASCAR speed, but it was gonna work. That was not gonna be an issue. Some days it's not your day and definitely today was not ours in the Motorcraft Taurus."