Pepsi 400 - Rusty Wallace Notes

WALLACE WANTS WINNER'S TROPHY IN HIS LAST RACE AT DAYTONA
Miller Lite Dodge Driver Hopes Final Race At 2.5-Mile Track Will Produce Elusive Cup Victory At D.I.S.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (June 28, 2005) - After his illustrious career has seen him compete in 44 prior NASCAR NEXTEL Cup races at Daytona International Speedway without a victory, this Saturday night's Pepsi 400 offers Miller Lite Dodge driver Rusty Wallace his final shot at taking home the winner's trophy.

"It may not be the Daytona 500, but it would certainly be a special win if we can pull it off Saturday night at Daytona," said Wallace, in the middle of his final "Rusty's Last Call" season behind the wheel of the Miller Lite Dodge out of the Penske Racing South stable. "That Pepsi 400 winner's trophy would definitely add some luster to those other 55 trophies we have so far. Maybe my 45th race there will be my lucky number.

"We've won other races at Daytona through the years, so it's not like we've been totally shut out like some people may think," said Wallace, whose overall Daytona Cup record boasts six top-five finishes and 17 top-10s in 44 races. "We won the IROC races there back in '89 and again in '91 when we went on to take the IROC Series Championship. We won the 'Pole Shootout' there back in 1998 and we've even won a pole in the Grand Nationals there (in February 1985), but the fact is that we're still looking for our first points-paying Cup win at Daytona.

"Maybe it's just a situation of us saving our best for last," Wallace said with a chuckle. "The way we've been running there in the July races ever since they moved it to Saturday nights is enough to make you think we might just be able to finally pull it off this time around. We've been right there in the hunt in every race, but just haven't been able to cash in.

"We've built up a lot of momentum down there the last five or six years and I don't think it would come as some kind of shock if we win there on Saturday night," said Wallace, who finished fourth at Infineon Raceway last Sunday and moved up to sixth in points, only 60 points out of third and a mere nine points out of fifth. "We've been running strong in every race this season and I don't think our confidence level has ever been any higher. Saturday night would be the perfect time to give us that evasive win and close out the Daytona chapter in a first class way."

As for the momentum to which Wallace refers, one only has to look at his recent Daytona track record to deduce that he has certainly been close enough to be considered deserving of a win. In the 16 races held there since the 1997 Daytona 500, Wallace has recorded six top-five finishes and nine top-10 finishes, including his second-place finish in the July 2002 Pepsi 400, his best career Daytona finish to date.

Wallace's July Daytona race record since the race became a night race back in 1999 is quite respectable. His record since then boasts two top-five finishes (including a second and a third) and three top-10s. While he was plagued by crashes there in the early 90s, Wallace has been running at the finish for 16 consecutive races at Daytona.

Wallace started back in the 36th spot in February's Daytona 500, but stormed back to finish 10th, recording his 17th career top-10 finish at Daytona. He was racing his backup Miller Lite Dodge (PRS-058) after crashing his primary car (PRS-066) in the Thursday 150-mile qualifying race. He narrowly avoided being taken out in two separate crashes.

"We gave it all we had and we were right up there all day long, but we had to settle with a 10th-place finish," Wallace said immediately after the race. "We were hoping for better than that, but from what we've had happen here in the past, we'll take this and build on the momentum for the '05 season. Starting off the year with a solid top-10 finish is a heck of a way to get things going.

"When you look back on all the bullets we dodged here this afternoon, we can walk out of here with some smiles on our faces. We got a little wounded there in the last big crash - cut the left rear tire down and had to pit - but we got back up there and did what we could with that green-white-checkered finish.

"Most of the race, our car would start out loose and get neutral as the laps went by. I wanted to run up in the high groove and could really get going up there after about 20 laps into the run. I started out running the low line because of that, but the car started tightening up on its on when the sun started going down.

"I thought it was a good run overall for us here today. 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. 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."

With the momentum continuing to grow for Wallace and his Larry Carter-led team this season - having come from being 14th in points (and 335 points out of first) all the way back up to sixth in the last six races - Wallace likes his chances for a victory this Saturday night.

"We're certainly poised to finally win us one at Daytona, I'd say," Wallace said. "But it will remain the same as always this time around as for what you have to do to get the job done. You hope to get a good starting spot and stay up front with the lead pack to avoid the big crashes. You try to put yourself in a position to be there for the big crapshoot at the end. That's always been the game plan and it'll be the same story there on Saturday night. We just hope we're able to finally pull it off. I've said it before and I'll say it again -- there will be a helluva' party going on if we do, I'll guarantee you that."

Wallace will again be racing his PRS-058 Miller Lite Dodge this weekend at Daytona. It is the same car Wallace raced to his 10th-place finish in the 2005 season-opening Daytona 500. He debuted the car in the 2003 Pepsi 400 and finished ninth with it in the fall race that season at Talladega. "All that's the same on it is the rolling chassis," offered Wallace. "Everywhere else, it's new from the ground up and the guys have taken it through the wind tunnel three or four times. Hopefully, it'll be the best car I've ever had at Daytona."

Practice for this year's "impound race" edition of the Pepsi 400 is set for Thursday from 4:10 p.m. till 5:10 p.m. and from 6;15 p.m. till 7:00 p.m. Qualifying to establish the 43-car starting field for the Pepsi 400 is set for Friday at 4:40 p.m. with the cars impounded immediately afterwards. Saturday night's Pepsi 400 (400 miles, 160 laps) will get the green flag at 8:00 p.m. EDT and features live coverage by NBC-TV and MRN Radio.

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Iowa Speedway Breaks Ground

NEWTON, Iowa (June 21, 2005) -- Rusty Wallace was behind the wheel of a big yellow bulldozer that made its way to the top of a mound of rich Iowa soil. The veteran driver was in central Iowa on a hot, steamy, first day of summer to help publicize the official groundbreaking for Iowa Speedway, the 7/8-mile asphalt oval track being built by U.S. Motorsport Corporation.

Hundreds of racing fans joined Wallace, track owners, and racing dignitaries - including top USAC and ARCA officials - in a festive atmosphere that included free pork sandwiches, music, and speeches at the Newton Airport. "We're going to build this facility. We're going to showcase this facility, and I'll promise you we're going to have some great races," Wallace told an enthusiastic crowd. He added, "This is a reality. This is one of the only tracks around the country that's finally got the funding, got the right design group, got everything put together to make this a world-class track".

Iowa Speedway is located along I-80 on land adjacent to the airport. Wallace is co-designing the state-of-the-art track which will be the industry's first driver-designed speedway. The "Rusty Wallace Signature Series" track will have a seating capacity of 40,000, including 25,000 permanent seats and 15,000 festival seats.

Andy Vertrees, Chief Operating Officer, said he was pleased by the large turnout of racing fans for the groundbreaking and promised to deliver "big-time racing on a first-rate track" as early as mid-July 2006.

Todd Melfi, General Manager, thanked Newton residents and Iowa officials for their support in making the track a reality and pledged to make the Iowa Speedway "a venue racing fans and drivers will be proud to be associated with".

Wallace, who finished the day's event by signing autographs for a long line of racing fans, acknowledged his pending "retirement" from racing but indicated he and his son, Steven, may drive at Iowa Speedway once the track is finished. It would be the kind of event racing fans would pay to see.

Notes of interest.

--Miller Lite Dodge driver Rusty Wallace has finished 11th or better in his last five races. Four of those finishes were top-10s. Overall this season, he has posted three top-five finishes and eight top-10s. He has a 15.2 average start and a 13.5 average finish with no DNFs. He is currently sixth in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup point standings with 2,013 points. He trails third-place Elliott Sadler by only 60 points and is a mere nine points behind fifth-place Mark Martin.

--What a difference a year can make! Wallace ranked 16th in the point standings after 16 races one year ago with 1,753 points. He was 622 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson and was 210 points behind 10th-place Kevin Harvick. He had recorded one win, three top-five finishes and six top-10s. He had a 19.2 average finish (completing 95.5% of the laps) and was hampered by two DNFs.

--Wallace has been running at the finish in 29 consecutive races, since Bristol last fall, the longest current streak.

--Wallace has scored 17 top-10 finishes in his 44 races at Daytona International Speedway, but has never won a points-paying Cup race there. He has an 18.4 average finish on the 2.5-mile track. He finished 27th in this race one year ago and 10th in February's Daytona 500. His best Daytona finish, second, came there in July 2002.

--Wallace has competed in all 70 restrictor-plate races at Daytona and Talladega, but is still looking for his first plate victory. His best restrictor-plate finish, a second, came at Daytona in July 2002.

--"Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It's already tomorrow in Australia." -Charles M. Schulz