With a black eye and a swollen cheek, Ricky Rudd swears there's enough unity on his team to make a run at the championship this season.

The marks from a fight with an engine builder from his shop suggest otherwise.

	Ricky Rudd says his relationship with his crew, led by Michael "Fatback" McSwain, left, is just fine.

The drama surrounding Rudd's pending split with Robert Yates Racing reached a new low when the driver and engine specialist Larry Lackey scuffled after Saturday night's race at Richmond International Raceway.

Despite the latest brawl -- Rudd and crew chief Michael "Fatback'' McSwain clashed in July -- Rudd insists all is well as the No. 28 Ford prepares for the final 10 races of the season.

"It's not a bad environment to be in, the team is getting along fine,'' Rudd said. "My immediate team, the people I see every day, we get along very good and we are all working very hard to get the best finish we can out of this season.''

Mathematically, he's still in the running for the Winston Cup championship. He heads into New Hampshire International Speedway this weekend tied for eighth in the points standings, 248 behind leader Sterling Marlin.

Emotionally, it's not clear if his team has enough energy to realistically stay in the hunt.

A strain was put on the team months ago when Rudd's future with Yates became clouded and the uncertainty and speculation disrupted the day-to-day flow of the organization.

But when Elliot Sadler was hired to drive the car last month and Rudd responded by signing with the Wood brothers, it was supposed to go back to business as usual.

All that changed with the fight between Rudd and Lackey.

The argument started over comments Rudd made about his engines -- the driver is convinced he's not getting the best Yates equipment, that the good stuff either goes to teammate Dale Jarrett or is being saved for Sadler -- and the guys in the engine shop took exception.

It boiled over after the race at Richmond, when Rudd said Lackey called after him as the driver headed toward his motorhome.

TV footage shows the two in a discussion, with at least two people standing between them. Lackey then leaped over the crowd and punched Rudd in the face.

The blow knocked Rudd back, he recovered, then threw a water bottle at Lackey that hit him in the face and drew blood.

NASCAR fined Lackey $10,000, Rudd $5,000, and placed them both on probation for the rest of the season.

Rudd is furious at his fine -- "It's NASCAR's job to keep the drivers safe, and that guy just sucker-punched me'' -- and said he considered filing a criminal complaint against Lackey. Instead, he said he just wants to put it behind him and focus on the rest of the season.

"I guess I sense that in the back of my mind, the best thing is just to get this year over with,'' Rudd said. "But I keep it at arms distance, try not think about the negative things that happen and focus on the positives because this season is not over with yet.''

The problem is his team is having a hard time getting past the negatives.

	“	I think my team, the guys at the track every week, is trying 100 percent. But I will say that our motor program has not been up to par for five weeks and our power is not where it needs to be. ”
		— Rudd

Lackey has resigned from RYR, team spokesman Steve Post said Wednesday.

Even when he was a Yates employee, he was not technically a member of Rudd's team. But McSwain said Rudd's public criticism of the engines -- and the months of accusations and allegations lobbed between Rudd and Yates -- stung all involved and led to Saturday night's fight.

"It was probably expected. How much can a person take when someone constantly, constantly, uses the media, manipulates the media and uses it as the avenue for their opinion?'' McSwain said. "How much are people expected to take? But does that justify what happened Saturday night? No, by no means. Does it make it more understandable? Yes.

"But there is never any place for that, street justice doesn't belong in the work place, especially in our living.''

Still, Rudd is firm in that he's not getting an equal shake when it comes to the motor department.

Insistent that Jarrett is getting all the best motors, Rudd said he hasn't had enough horsepower to pass a car on the straightaway in weeks and can't remember the last time he's seen Doug Yates, who runs the engine department.

"I haven't seen Doug around my car since probably May,'' Rudd said. "Prior to that, he was always around in my first 2½ seasons.

"I think my team, the guys at the track every week, is trying 100 percent. But I will say that our motor program has not been up to par for five weeks and our power is not where it needs to be.''

McSwain is on the other side of the argument, confident that everyone at Yates is doing everything possible to win races and compete for the championship. And even though he has nothing to do with motors, he doubts Rudd is getting lesser equipment.

"I think that we probably have the best motor shop in the business and the best motor people in the business and I find it hard to believe that we're underpowered,'' he said. "I don't think it's ever been true and I can't believe it's ever been true.''