MBNA America 200 - Billy Parker Notes

PARKER SEEKING REDEMPTION AT DOVER
-Duraflame RWI Racing Dodge Team Looking Forward To Return To Starting Point-

DOVER, Del. (June 2, 2004) -- Duraflame RWI Racing and driver Billy Parker are entering Saturday's MBNA 200 at Dover International Speedway looking for some vindication, after early accidents have eliminated them from competition in the last two races.

"It's been a tough couple of weeks and I can't lay any of the blame on anyone but myself," said Parker, the 27-year-old Denver, N.C. native and former short-track racing hot shot. "There's no better track for us to finally put it all together than at Dover this weekend. After all, it's the place where this deal was made official last September."

"Billy has a ton of talent and we have tremendous faith in his ability to get the job done," said team owner Rusty Wallace, a three-time winner in NASCAR NEXTEL Cup competition on the track known as the "Monster Mile." "If he's been guilty of anything the last couple of weeks, it's been that maybe he is just trying way too hard. He'll learn that he can't win the races in the first 50 laps. He'll have to be more patient and learn when to hold back and when to lay it all on the line.

"Barry (Dodson, team manager and Wallace's former Cup crew chief) and I have watched the situation closely and talked really open-hearted about what has happened so far this season. We both agree that Billy has what it takes. It's just a matter of bridling some of that aggressiveness he has. It's understandable that we both appreciate the fact that Billy has such a competitive fire burning. It's much easier to rein in a hard charger like that than it is to light the fire in the first place.

"Dover is the place where last September we publicly announced our plans to start the team and put Billy behind the wheel," said Wallace of his Blake Bainbridge-led No. 66 Duraflame Dodge team. "The team was there several weeks back and got in a really good test. It's the perfect place for the team to get back on track. You've gotta' really go at it and charge deep into the corners and that certainly fits Billy's driving style."

"There were several other teams there testing with us and we held our own with all of them," offered Dodson, who had 19 wins during his Cup crew chief career, including one at Dover. "We'll have the same car we raced out at Las Vegas as our weapon for this weekend and we are really looking forward to getting the results that Billy and our team are capable of."

Practice for the MBNA America 200 begins Friday morning with qualifying set for 1:00 p.m. Friday and live coverage provided by SPEED Channel. Race time Saturday is 1:00 p.m. EDT with the FX-TV cable network's coverage beginning with pre-race activities at 12:30 p.m. EDT.

Notes of interest:

--Barry looking for another birthday present - Barry Dodson, team manager for Rusty Wallace's Duraflame/RWI Dodge operation, with driver Billy Parker, recalled his win as crew chief at Dover back on June 4, 1995, with driver Kyle Petty: "It was probably the best birthday present I ever got. Things had been so tough, losing Trey and Tia the year before in the car accident. Felix (Sabates, team owner) and Kyle had been so good to me, but the bottom line is that we had been struggling on the racetrack all year long. It was almost like I didn't see any light at the end of the tunnel. We continued to struggle there in qualifying and had to start 37th. They joked about us being so bad that we'd have to pit on the backstretch. When the green flag dropped, to this day I say that it was something magical that happened. We ran that entire 500 miles without making a single chassis adjustment and that is incredible. It took us 130 laps to get to the front, but when we did, Kyle was definitely the class of the field. We led the most laps and dominated in winning it. The whole thing was quite amazing and a real blessing for me personally. It certainly helped me in dealing with the tragedy we went through. My birthday is this Friday and the race is the next day. It'd make for another great birthday present for us to get the job done there on Saturday, too."

--"Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed." -Alexander Pope