Chevy American Revolution 400 - Rusty Wallace Notes

RUSTY WALLACE "READY TO MAKE BIG THINGS HAPPEN" AT RICHMOND
Miller Lite Dodge Driver Cites "Unbelievable Test" For Ultimate Confidence Entering Saturday's Race

RICHMOND, Va. (May 10, 2005) - Competitors beware: Miller Lite Dodge driver Rusty Wallace ended his scheduled two-day test at Richmond International Raceway last week after the first day.

"It was an unbelievable test, just super all the way around," Wallace said of last Tuesday's (May 3) visit to the .750-mile track in preparation of Saturday night's Chevy American Revolution 400. "We got the thing really hauling the mail and handling like a dream. To tell you the truth, I couldn't think of a single thing else that we could do to make it handle any better or run any faster.

"We were so good out there that we decided to pack it up after the first day and not even use Wednesday on the track," said Wallace, the active statistical leader at R.I.R. "We wanted to make sure that we didn't come back and out-engineer ourselves like we may have done in the past."

Wallace's move to cut short his available track time should come as a surprise to most garage area insiders along the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup circuit. After all, the 1989 series champ and 55-race winner is well known for his using every minute of practice available and then even lobbying for additional time on the track.

"It says a lot about how confident Rusty is going into Richmond this time around," explained car chief Jeff Thousand, whose tenure by Wallace's side at racetracks dates back to the American Speed Association days. "It's highly unusual to see Rusty not use all the practice he can get. I'll never forget how he used to always get Robin (Pemberton, former crew chief for Wallace's team and now NASCAR's V.P. of Competition.) to go down to the NASCAR trailer and beg them to give us more practice. But in last week's test at Richmond, we were so strong and he was so happy with the car that we knew we were doing the right thing.

"I've been here with Rusty for a long time and even I was impressed with how strong we were in both qualifying and race trim," Thousand continued. "When we have such a great test at one of his favorite tracks, Rusty usually comes in full throttle for the entire weekend. I think you can count on Rusty being a major factor in qualifying and in the race this weekend at Richmond."

Wallace offered some specific details of the Richmond test that understandably could lead to his lofty confidence level entering this weekend's action.

"We unloaded off the track pretty fast, but after tweaking on her a little, she was absolutely flying and handling like a dream, said the six-time race winner and three-time pole winner at Richmond. "We concentrated mostly on the race setup, since this is another impound race (no additional practice after qualifying is concluded and only minor changes allowed prior to the race). "We made a lot of runs and ran as many as 30 laps at a time. We got her down to where she was running pretty consistent 21.20s (laps of 21.20 seconds, averaging 127.358 mph) in race trim and then switched over to qualifying trim.

"We put the qualifying setup under her and were hauling the freight from the get-go," offered Wallace, whose Richmond record also boasts 21 top-five finishes and 29 top-10s in 42 races. "We got her down to a 20.92 (lap of 20.92 seconds/129.063 mph) and that's a little faster than (Ryan) Newman's 20.97 (20.979 seconds/128.700 mph) that won the pole for the last race there.

"We know we have a great race car - it's the Martinsville car," Wallace said of his PRS-070 Miller Lite Dodge Charger. "It was the exact same chassis we used in winning the spring race at Martinsville last year. It was completely rebuilt for the race last month there. In that race, we started fourth and led a bunch of laps. We had a great shot at winning that one before we got slapped with a speeding penalty coming off of pit road. We had to start from the rear and still came back on up through the pack to finish fifth.

"As strong as this car was at Martinsville, I'll be surprised if it isn't at least as strong - if not even stronger - at Richmond this weekend," Wallace concluded.

Wallace's Richmond racing history is most impressive. As the track's career statistical leader, the record book shows that in 42 races, he has six wins and three poles, along with 21 top-five finishes, 29 top-10 finishes and $1,851,490 in career money won. His most recent Richmond win came in the spring race of 1997, while his most recent pole came in the spring race of 2000.

He has led 3,023 laps at Richmond International Raceway, almost four times as many as any other active driver. Jeff Burton is second among active drivers with 874 laps led.

Richmond NASCAR NEXTEL Cup activity begins on Friday with practice scheduled from 12:00 noon until 2:00 p.m. The 6:10 p.m. single round of qualifying will determine all 43 starting positions for Saturday's 400-lap, 300-mile battle. Saturday's Chevy American Revolution 400 has a scheduled 7:35 p.m. EDT starting time and features live coverage by FX-TV and MRN Radio.

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