Pop Secret 500 - Rusty Wallace Notes

WALLACE SAYS CALIFORNIA "DIRECT REFLECTION" OF HIS 2004 SEASON
-Miller Lite Dodge Always Top 10 Contender, "If We Can Just Get To The Finish Without Problems"-

FONTANA, Calif. (August 31, 2004) - Miller Lite Dodge driver Rusty Wallace suggests looking no further than his record on the 2.0-mile California Speedway to get an accurate picture of how his 2004 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup season has gone to date.

"The performance has been there each and every week," said Wallace, the 2001 California race winner who announced on Monday that the 2005 season would be his last as a driver. "It's been a case of us just making it to the end of the race without getting crashed out, blowing up or having crazy (stuff) happening - stuff like runnin' out of freakin' gas at Bristol. If we're able to get to the end of these things without the problems, we've always been a top-five or top-10 team.

"That's what makes it so frustrating when it comes to the points end of the equation," continued Wallace, who fell to 21st in the standings after leading and running out of gas while running second at Bristol Saturday night. "Here we are back in no-man's land in points, when we've run plenty good enough to deserve to be up there in the top 10. I can't think of any race where we weren't at least headed toward a top-10 before a problem bit us. We've just been running that well all year long and it's a shame that the statistics don't account for the team's strength.

"We're headed back out to California this week for the second race of the season out there and, yeah, you could say that our record on that track is a copy of how 2004 has played out for us," offered Wallace, who has fought adversity from involvement in crashes, mechanical failures or fuel issues in 13 of the 24 races completed to date on the 2004 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup tour. "What's happened out there through the years is pretty much a direct reflection of how our season has gone so far. We've had all top-fives or top-10s at California except for the few times that we had problems.

"The race at California back in 1998 is a super example of what I'm talking about. We started up in the top-five (started fourth) led some laps (2 times for 15 laps), led as late as with 50 to go (through Lap 199) and was running second with 10 laps to go. Mark (Martin) was leading the thing and we were closing in on him when the engine let go only a few laps from the end. So instead of winning or finishing second, we finished something like 35th (actually 34th) and a great run produced a terrible finish.

"The spring race this year at California is another example," said Wallace. "We started top 10 (ninth) and feel confident we could have had a good finish in that race, but Kurt Busch was crashing, veered straight in front of us and we had absolutely nowhere to go. So instead of a top-10 finish, there we were with another super bad finish (finished 35th).

"Man, how many times has that happened to us this season? Starting from the beginning of the year. At Atlanta, the transmission goes out and we come back with the fastest car on the track. At Pocono, we lose the brakes and crash with Michael Waltrip. Both Michigan races we had motor problems. At Sears Point, we're running fourth and run out of gas on the last lap. At Loudon, we're running eighth with seven laps to go and the 88 car knocks us into the wall. And then we run out of freakin' gas at Bristol, for cryin' out loud. You never run out of gas at Bristol - but somehow we did. I could go on and on, but nobody really cares to hear about what might have been.

"The bottom line is that we have 12 races to go this season and we can get us some more wins before the year is through," said Wallace. "One of those wins can come at California this Sunday. Now that'd be a great trophy to have - the one from the very first Labor Day weekend race at Fontana."

Entering this weekend's Pop Secret 500, Wallace's record at California boasts one win, two top-five finishes and four top-10s in eight races. He has scored all of those top-fives and top 10s in the last five races.

Wallace and his Larry Carter-led Miller Lite Team will be racing their PRS-71 Dodge at California this weekend. It is the same car that was running third at Michigan two races ago when the engine expired with 90 laps remaining. The car debuted at Atlanta back in March, finished fifth at Texas in April and came home 10th in the May race at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Sunday's Pop Secret 500 has a 4:00 p.m. PDT starting time and features live coverage by NBC-TV and MRN Radio.

Notes of interest:

-- With the technical problems experienced by SPEED CHANNEL in their coverage of yesterday's announcement in Daytona, they will air a condensed version of Rusty Wallace's "Rusty's Last Call" announcement this evening (Tuesday) at 6:30 p.m. EDT.

-- Rusty is the featured "in-studio" guest on Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain tonight at 10:00 p.m. EDT on SPEED CHANNEL.

-- Rusty will be available to media for Q & A session in the media center at California Speedway on Friday morning at 9:00 a.m. PDT. There will also be a photo opportunity outside the media center at the conclusion of the session.

-- "We're headed back out to California this week for the second race of the season out there and, yeah, you could say that our record on that track is a copy of how 2004 has played out for us," offered Rusty, who has fought adversity from involvement in crashes, mechanical failures or fuel issues in 13 of the 24 races completed to date on the 2004 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup tour. (Details in release)

-- Rusty and his Larry Carter-led Miller Lite Team will be racing their PRS-71 Dodge at California this weekend. It is the same car that was running third at Michigan two races ago when the engine expired with 90 laps remaining. The car debuted at Atlanta back in March, finished fifth at Texas in April and came home 10th in the May race at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

-- Great "bet you didn't know" background information on Rusty's front tire carrier, Dave Littau - George Whitley, gasman for Ryan Newman - C.G. Goldizen, jackman for Brendan Gaughan - at the Mobil 1 Racing web site: www.mobil1.com/racing/index.jsp also can access via links at www.trpr.com

-- "Time is the most valuable thing a man can spend." -Theophrastus