O'Reilly Challenge - Rusty Wallace Notes

Rusty Wallace/Miller High Life Light Fast Facts
O’Reilly Challenge 300, Texas Motor Speedway

Race Information – Event: O’Reilly Challenge 300; Race: Saturday, November 5, 2005 at 2:00 p.m. EST on TNT; Track: Texas Motor Speedway; Qualifying: November 4, 2005 at 5:05 p.m. EST on SPEED; Track Length: 1.5-mile tri-oval

Two for the Show! – NBS car owner, Rusty Wallace will field not one, but two NBS cars this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. The driver and owner of the No. 64 Miller High Life Light Dodge is fielding a second car sponsored by Bell Helicopter that part-time RWI driver Jamie McMurray will drive.

Going out with a bang – Making it into the Chase for the 2005 NEXTEL Cup Series Championship battle was one of the most important goals set by Wallace in the beginning of his final year driving the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge. Although he fell to eighth in the standings after a lap car incident damaged his car early at Atlanta; Wallace’s year has been nothing short of spectacular, posting seven top-five and 15 top-10 finishes so far this season.

Testing 1,2,3 – Wallace spent two days in Texas last week testing both RWI cars for the O’Reilly Challenge this weekend. After comparing lap times to other teams during the test, the NEXTEL Cup Series veteran left the track happy and has high expectations for both cars this weekend in Texas.

Crew Chief Update – RWI Racing has a new addition to the family beginning with this weekend’s race at Texas. Bryant Frazier was hired as crew chief for the No. 64 Dodge for the remainder of the 2005 season. Steve Darne will continue to serve as crew chief for Rusty Wallace and his No. 64 Miller High Life Light Dodge in Texas; as Frazier will serve as crew chief for McMurray in the No. 42 Bell Helicopter car. Frazier comes from Haas Racing where he served as crew chief for Justin Labonte and was in charge of their R&D program. Frazier will take over as crew chief on the No. 64 RWI Racing Dodge at Phoenix, while Darne will revisit his role as car chief.

Chassis 64-02 – Steve Darne and his MHLL team will take Chassis No. 02 to the track this weekend in Texas. This is the same car that car owner, Rusty Wallace drove to a 7th and 13th place finish at Dover and Kansas this year. This car also brought the team their first win at Darlington in 2004 with McMurray behind the wheel.

Quotes:

Darne on new crew chief Bryant Frazier…
“We’re really excited to have Bryant join our team. He’s a really great guy, I’ve worked with him in the past and I’m really looking forward to having him here with us at RWI. He has a lot of experience in this business and will be a great asset to this team. Hopefully that will show in these next few races as the year winds down and we get ready for next year.”

Wallace on driving his NBS car in the heat of the Chase battle…
“I think that driving the Grand National car on Saturday’s is a big help for my Cup ride on Sunday. It gives me a chance to learn a little about how the track is going to react on Sunday and gives me a little bit of extra seat time. I think this was a step in the right direction in helping get things back on track for my team in preparation for next year.”