Auto Club 500 - Rusty Wallace Notes

WALLACE SAYS CALIFORNIA COULD BE "MOST PIVOTAL" RACE OF SEASON
-Miller Lite Dodge Driver Looks For More Success On Fontana's 2.0-Mile California Speedway-

FONTANA, Calif. (Feb. 22, 2005) - Miller Lite Dodge driver Rusty Wallace thinks this weekend's Auto Club 500 at the California Speedway may just be the most important race on the 2005 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup schedule. He is also convinced that his Larry Carter-led team can continue their strong competitive history on the fast 2.0-mile track.

"After all the pre-season testing and hoopla the teams go through and then spending two weeks with the stress and emotions peaking at Daytona, this weekend's race at Fontana could be the most pivotal deal of the whole season," said Wallace, who ranks third on the California Speedway career performance chart. "One of the biggest reasons I say that is because the way the schedule is set up for this year. There's an open week right after California and that can mean the best of things or the worst possible situation for some of 'em.

"If you're still riding a high after Daytona, you can really have everybody on your team feeling like King Kong with another good run at California," said Wallace, who started off his final campaign behind the wheel of his Miller Lite Dodge with a strong 10th-place finish in Sunday's season-opening Daytona 500. "And the thing about it this year is that after the race this weekend at Fontana, you have an off weekend where that momentum and the team morale really can spread.

"But, there's another side to that equation, too," Wallace offered. "If you've had a disastrous Daytona Speed Weeks and you get out to California and fall flat on your (rear), it's like a double whammy and a team can find itself up against the wall after only two races. The kicker is that off week the guys have to dwell on it, thinking about what they've been through the last couple of weekends. There'll be a lot of teams that are pretty beat up mentally when we get back out to the third race of the season there at Las Vegas. That's why I'm saying that the California race is so key. You either keep the Daytona energy rolling, you get out there and get your deal turned around or you get everybody all bummed out before the season has really even started."

Wallace is confident that the California Speedway offers his team the perfect opportunity to build on their momentum coming off their top-10 finish at Daytona.

"Fontana (California Speedway) is a track that we've loved racing at ever since we've been going out there," said Wallace of the track hosting this weekend's second stop along the "Rusty's Last Call" tour for 2005. "We won there in 2001 and really could have easily had a couple more wins. We almost won at California during our second trip out there. I'll never forget that race back in '98. 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. The big thing is that we always seem to run well there and I'm really looking forward to this weekend.

"We did the western swing testing several weeks back at 'Vegas then at California," said Wallace. "I've been telling people that I thought we had a super test at 'Vegas and a 'so-so' test at California, but I think we'll be in good shape this weekend at Fontana. It was so hard to get a gauge on how strong you were out there during the test because the wind was blowing a gazillion miles an hour. You couldn't really size anybody up, but that 16 car (Greg Biffle) looked pretty stout to me.

"The big thing I saw out there was the fact that the track just didn't seem to have the grip that it did and it's really changed a lot even since we raced out there last September. I'd say that the strange weather, with all the rain and even snow, they've had out there has caused that.

"We have a brand new race car, the (PRS-0-) 86 car that we tested at both tracks and the game plan right now is to race that same car in both races," Wallace said. "If we have to ding her up getting a great finish this week at Fontana, well the guys have an off week between the races to get her back to looking brand new again.

"I think that the new procedure we'll use this weekend where you start out racing with the exact setup that you qualify with may work in our favor. Our record shows that we've never really been known for our great qualifying there (best start was fourth in 1998), but come Sunday, we're always right up there battling for the win in almost every race.

"I really have a good feeling about our chances at Fontana this weekend, I really do," concluded Wallace.

Wallace's overall record at California boasts the win, along with two top-five finishes and five top-10 finishes in the nine races completed there to date. He has $898,248 in career winnings at California entering this weekend.

This weekend's schedule calls for practice sessions on Friday from 1:20 p.m. until 2:40 p.m. and from 4:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m. All the cars will be impounded immediately after Saturday's 12:10 p.m. qualifying session has concluded. The special Miller Lite Rock 'n Racing concert featuring Alter Bridge is scheduled for late Saturday afternoon after the NASCAR Grand National race. Sunday's Auto Club 500 has a 12:10 p.m. local (3:10 p.m. EST) starting time and features live coverage by FOX-TV and MRN Radio.

Notes of interest:

--An incredible day in Rusty's pit area. Did you notice the super fast work done by Rusty's "over-the-wall gang" during Sunday's Daytona 500? The Larry Carter-led crew averaged 13.588 seconds for their eight four-tire stops. The fastest stop came on Lap 60, under the green, when service was completed in 12.919 seconds. The slowest stop of the day was the very first one, a 14.353-second stop that came on Lap 15 under the yellow. "The guys had super fast pit stops, but we kept on getting boxed in behind the 40 car (Sterling Marlin) and the car kept on stalling because of the clutch," Rusty said of the crew's pit work last Sunday. "Because of that, they probably didn't get all the attention that they deserved. When you look back and see how many of our seasons have started out down here, you can understand why I'm pretty happy when you start to look at the big picture."

--New car for Cali. the new PRS-086. "We have a brand new race car, the (PRS-0-) 86 car that we tested at both tracks (California and Las Vegas) and the game plan right now is to race that same car in both races," Rusty said. "If we have to ding her up getting a great finish this week at Fontana, well the guys have an off week between the races to get her back to looking brand new again."

--Another special Miller-backed concert this weekend. The Miller Lite Rock 'n Racing concert featuring Alter Bridge is scheduled for late Saturday afternoon after the NASCAR Grand National race in the infield area of the California Speedway.

--"Almost anything is easier to get into than to get out of." -Agnes Allen