Rudd to return with Yates

Rudd, who is 50 and has taken 23 wins in his career, will replace 1999 champion and Michael Waltrip Racing-bound Dale Jarrett.

"I'm really looking forward to it," said Rudd after announcing the deal. "I had plenty of time off to decide what I wanted to do and it's the right opportunity. I saw the fire in Robert's eyes when I met him the other day.

"He's ready to get this operation turned around and the whole operation is hungry. I couldn't be back at a better time than right now, especially with Snickers coming on board to sponsor the car.

"We're gonna have the funding to do it correctly. I know that Robert's got a lot of great people and I know there's a lot of re-grouping going on right now, but I'm excited about working with Butch Hylton. I've always had a lot of respect for him as a crew chief."

Yates said that recruiting Rudd is a massive motivational boost for his team.

"It makes all of our 125 employees excited," he explained. "They know when they build a car for Ricky that he'll put his 100 percent in to the 100 percent they've already put in.

"When Ricky drove for us in the previous three years, you always looked forward to going to race tracks - some even more than others - so they're excited about it. So having him in the car was the most popular thing I could do with my 125 employees and that's just on the car side, and it's been very popular in the grandstands.

"It's popular because they expect us to run good and we will run good and we're looking forward to it. All the desire is there and I think our ability now with the sponsorship and Snickers on board is the best move we could make."

Yates failed to win a race last season for the first time since they started competing in 1989. Rudd previously drove for the outfit from 2000 to 2002, taking three wins and 34 top-five finishes from 106 starts.