Aaron's 499 - Rusty Wallace Notes

WALLACE CALLS SUNDAY'S AARON'S 499 "MOST PIVOTAL" RACE YET
Miller Lite Dodge Driver Hoping To Bounce Back From "Brutal" Phoenix Race

TALLADEGA, Ala. (April 27, 2005) - When Miller Lite Dodge driver Rusty Wallace was being interviewed in the infield media center at Phoenix International Raceway last Friday morning, he predicted the next few races along the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup circuit would be extremely important.

"I think these next four or five weeks will be very critical in the championship picture," Wallace said. "If you have a bad race, it could knock you out of it."

He didn't realize it at the moment, but the words he uttered on Friday were prophetic - especially for his Larry Carter-led Penske Racing South team. After finishing 36th in Saturday night's Subway Fresh 500 at P.I.R., Wallace dropped from third to 10th in the series point standings. He is determined to bounce back in this weekend's Aaron's 499 at Talladega Superspeedway.

"Saturday night at Phoenix was just brutal for us and we need to get back on track at Talladega," Wallace offered on Monday, while still enjoying the warm Arizona weather. "We were off on the chassis at the beginning of the race, but got adjusting on it and it was coming around. We didn't pit there on that caution (sixth yellow of the race on Lap 189) and everyone behind us did. When we went back to green (restarted 11th), all the guys with the fresh tires blew by us from behind.

"But what really killed us was getting caught up in the aftermath of the deal between the 48 car (Jimmie Johnson) and the 20 car (Tony Stewart)," said Wallace. "I was just an innocent victim and had nowhere to go. I still can't figure out what all that was about. The 48 got into the 20 car and spun him going into turn three, and when he spun him all heck broke loose. They were getting wild going down into three. They were getting mad at each other. The 48 punted the 20. The 20 went around, and that was it.

"We wound up puncturing the radiator and had to go to the garage to replace it," said Wallace. "I'm convinced that we were headed toward at least another top 10 (finish) before all that happened. It's a shame, but that's the way it goes sometimes.

"We're definitely still solid players in the picture as far as the points go," Wallace continued. "But we need to go on to Talladega and get us a good finish there, that's for sure."

The 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway is certainly not one of the most promising tracks for Wallace to be looking to regain the momentum that may have gone astray at Phoenix, but the 1989 series champ and 55-race winner still radiates with optimism.

"You never know what can happen in the Talladega races and we're coming in there with the attitude that we can win," said Wallace, who is still looking for his first Talladega win after 43 races. "If you can stay in the draft and keep the car in one piece all day, you can come out of there on top."

Wallace's overall career record at Talladega sports just one top-five finish (July 1988), but he does have 12 top-10 finishes to date.

"This points deal is just so tight right now," said Wallace as he looked at the standings on Monday. "We took a big hit at Phoenix, but so did the 16 car (Greg Biffle, who finished 41st), the 20 (Stewart, who finished 33rd) and some of the others. We're only 92 (points) out of third and less than 50 (49 points) out of fifth, so the pendulum can really swing again this weekend at Talladega. It could just be the most pivotal race yet this season."

Wallace and his Larry Carter-led Miller Lite team will be racing the PRS-066 Dodge this weekend at Talladega. The car debuted in the 2004 Daytona 500 and was also raced at Talladega in last year's Aaron's 499.

"It was our primary car for Daytona, but she got crashed in the qualifying race," explained Carter. "But now she's like a brand new car. We have a brand new body on her and she's been tweaked through the (wind) tunnel several times this year. This car has had the best numbers ever for one of our speedway cars, so we have some pretty high hopes going for this weekend at Talladega."

Friday's qualifying session at 3:05 p.m. (local CDT) will determine all 43 starting spots for Sunday's 188-lap, 500-mile battle. Saturday's final "happy hour" practice session is set to begin at 11:00 a.m. Sunday's Aaron's 499 has a 12:20 p.m. CDT starting time and features live coverage by FOX-TV and MRN Radio.

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