GFS Marketplace 400 - Rusty Wallace Notes

"M.I.S. CAN BE A DRIVER'S DREAM, BUT AN ENGINE MAN'S NIGHTMARE"
-Miller Lite Team Penske Driver Rusty Wallace And Engine Man Claude Queen Know From Experience-

BROOKLYN, Mich. (August 17, 2004) - With its sweeping 18-degree banked turns and extremely wide 2,200-foot straightaways, the 2.0-mile Michigan International Speedway offers a unique contrast of views among those who labor along the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup tour.

"M.I.S. can be a driver's dream, but an engine man's nightmare," said Miller Lite Dodge driver Rusty Wallace, the active statistical leader at the track entering this weekend's GFS Marketplace 400. "While us drivers are out there grinning from ear to ear and blasting down those long straightaways, I'll bet you don't see too many of the engine guys smiling and cutting up back in the pits. Most of 'em are nervous as heck.

"That place is notorious for blown engines and we've been bitten there a few times through the years," said Wallace, whose M.I.S. career record boasts five wins and 15 top-five finishes in 41 races. "We certainly don't expect any problems there this weekend, but we've had motor situations kill our chances of winning there in the last two races."

Wallace is certainly correct in his assessment of the Michigan track being extremely demanding on engines. The record book shows that in the most recent race at the track - the June 20 DHL 400 - five drivers exited the competition due to engine failures during the 400-mile event. Compare that to the May 30 Coca-Cola 600 on the 1.5-mile Lowe's Motor Speedway, where only two drivers failed to finish the race due to engine failures. That is quite amazing when you consider that the Lowe's event was 200 miles longer than the M.I.S race.

"But the results sheet doesn't always tell the whole story," offered Wallace, who heads the Michigan lap-leader chart among active drivers, leading 854 laps. "There in that last race, we had a really strong car - one capable of winning - until we dropped a cylinder. We wound up running the last quarter of the race on seven cylinders and it was pretty amazing that we were still able to finish the race and be on the lead lap at the end.

"Like I said, it's such a pressure-cooker situation on the engines there," Wallace said. "It's enough to give the engine guys ulcers. Just go ask Claude about it."

The "Claude" that Wallace refers to is Claude Queen, a 24-year veteran NASCAR "motor man" who serves as the engine tuner for Wallace's No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge.

"I don't know about the ulcers Rusty is talking about - think I' m fortunate enough to not have that problem just yet," Queen chuckled when Wallace's statement was brought to his attention. "But I'll tell you this - there at the June Michigan race, I was so nervous that I just about had to go throw up. I'll bet I smoked three packs of cigarettes in those last 60 laps.

"Seriously though, I've been doing this for a long time and it's always been that way at Michigan," said Queen. "It's always about the toughest place we go on engines. In that last race, there were about a half dozen who blew up and went to the garage, but there's no telling how many more were out there running wounded like us. We were very lucky in that race. We'd blown up - we just didn't have a DNF to go with it. Sometimes you can catch a break like that."

The record book shows that Wallace started the June race from the 10th spot. By the mid-point, he had grabbed the lead and held it for seven laps before the engine problem developed on Lap 137. He completed the final 63 circuits (126 miles) running on seven cylinders. He completed all 200 laps and finished 22nd in a race that saw 24 drivers complete all the laps.

"What happened there in June was that we broke a valve spring, but got lucky," Queen explained. "Usually when that happens, they (broken valve springs) drop and knock a hole in the piston. But this one lodged up in the head and we were able to nurse it on to the finish.

"The high sustained rpms we run at Michigan is what's so tough on the engines," continued Queen. "The drivers are hammer down for so long at 9,600 rpm with absolutely no breather, no letting up at all. The teams are really throwing the gear to it these days, too. They're running a 391 and stuff like that, versus the 350 we used to race with.

"So we'll be back there again this Sunday and it'll be the same story, I'll guarantee you that," said Queen. "The drivers will all be screaming around that place, pulling 9,600 and 9,700 rpm all day long, and I 'll be standing right there in the 2 car pits holding my breath for three hours.

"And Rusty might just be right after this one is over," Queen said with a laugh. "I might have to start on that ulcer medicine next Monday morning."

The Michigan speedway has been the site of several "firsts" during Wallace's 20-year career on stock car racing's most elite tour. He claimed his first career Cup pole in qualifying for the June 1987 race at M.I.S. His win in the June 1988 event marked his first oval track superspeedway victory. His win in the June 1996 race came after getting superb fuel mileage and rates as his lone "fuel mileage victory" to date.

"Michigan has been a great track for us through the years, that's for sure," said Wallace, currently 18th in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup point standings. "You have to have a great handling car and a ton of horsepower. It's a track that usually doesn't have many cautions and that's what produces the fuel mileage races that the place in known for. The pit strategy and having great pit stops are always important there."

Wallace and his Larry Carter-led team have opted to race their PRS-71 Miller Lite Dodge at M.I.S. this weekend. The car debuted at Atlanta back in March, finished fifth at Texas in April and came home 10th in its most recent outing, the May race at Lowe's.

Sunday's GFS Marketplace 400 has a scheduled 1:30 p.m. EDT starting time and features live coverage by TNT-TV and MRN Radio.

Notes of interest:

--Rusty will be "double-dipping" this weekend at M.I.S. as he races on Saturday (in his Duraflame/RWI Racing Dodge - featuring a unique color scheme) and Sunday (in his Miller Lite Dodge). How long has it been since he participated in both races in a single weekend? Find out Tuesday morning.

--"M.I.S. can be a driver's dream, but an engine man's nightmare," said Miller Lite Dodge driver Rusty Wallace, the active statistical leader at the track entering this weekend's GFS Marketplace 400. "While us drivers are out there grinning from ear to ear and blasting down those long straightaways, I'll bet you don't see too many of the engine guys smiling and cutting up back in the pits. Most of 'em are nervous as heck." Rusty's career record boasts five wins and 15 top-five finishes in 41 races. He heads the Michigan lap-leader chart among active drivers, leading 854 laps. (see more in release)

--Rusty and his Larry Carter-led team have opted to race their PRS-71 Miller Lite Dodge at M.I.S. this weekend. The car debuted at Atlanta back in March, finished fifth at Texas in April and came home 10th in its most recent outing, the May race at Lowe's.

--"No man ever listened himself out of a job." -Calvin Coolidge