RUSTY WALLACE LOOKING TO BRISTOL FOR THE ANSWERS
-New Car & Great Test Have Miller Lite Team Penske Pumped For Sharpie 500

BRISTOL, Tenn. (Aug. 20, 2002) -- Rusty Wallace is hoping all of the answers lie here.

Here is where Wallace hopes to answer the question of when will he win another pole. Can he win the Sharpie 500 pole on Friday and snap a 658-day (as of Friday) "pole-less" streak that dates back 62 races ago? His last pole came on Nov. 3, 2000 at Phoenix International Raceway.

Here is where he hopes to answer the question of when he will win another race. Will he win Saturday night's Sharpie 500 and break a 482-day (as of Saturday), 51-race winless streak that dates back to April 29, 2001 at California Speedway?

Here is where Wallace hopes to answer the question of whether his streak of continuous NASCAR Winston Cup winning seasons will stay intact. Could he continue the current longest active winning streak in the sport and stretch it to 17 consecutive years of winning by taking the checkered flag in Saturday night's Sharpie 500?

Here is Bristol Motor Speedway and for Rusty Wallace.here is home.

After all, here is home to nine of Wallace's 54 career NASCAR Winston Cup victories.

Here is home to seven of his 35 career NASCAR Winston Cup pole positions.

Here is also home to both his first career big league win.and his 50th.

This little .533-mile bullring of a track is big to the 1989 series
champion. One of the smallest tracks holds the largest part of his
heart. It is "oh-so-special" to Wallace.always has been and always will be.

"Bristol's always been like a home track to me," said Wallace, driver of the Miller Lite Ford Taurus. "I know that I've said that many times before, but I'll say it again. The fact that I won my first race there back in 1986, the fact that we've always had so much success there, the fact that we have such a big following of race fans in the area and having the auto dealerships just down the road from the place...all add up to making it like a homecoming every time we go to Bristol. It has always been a special place for us and always will be."

"We had one of our best tests ever there last week and this brand new little hot rod should get the job done for us. The last couple of races there have seen track position become so critical with strategy leading to wins. But the fact was that we didn't feel that we had the car that we needed there. We had the same car (PC-35) we'd been running there since the first Bristol race last season. After we finished ninth there in the spring race, I told Billy (Wilburn, crew chief) to mothball that thing. We needed a new hot rod for the August Bristol race.

"Well, the guys at the shop did a helluva job with this new (PC-) 54 car. We're gonna be a threat to take the pole and the race this time around.mark my word on that."

Wallace started ninth and finished fifth in last year's Sharpie 500. "In the night race last summer, we got out front and led a ton of laps (led two times for total of 123 laps)," Wallace recalled. "We had the car to beat for much of the race, but it got a little too loose at the end. We were running fourth, but we got bumped up the track there in turn three on the last lap (by Ricky Rudd) and wound up finishing fifth."

Wallace's overall career Bristol statistical record sports nine wins, 19 top-five finishes, 26 top-10 finishes and seven pole positions. His last Bristol pole and win came in the August 2000 event. That pole speed (125.447 mph) remains the event track record.

Friday's 3:00 p.m. single round of qualifying will establish the
complete 43-car starting field for Saturday's 500-lap race. "Happy Hour" practice is set to begin on Friday at 6:15 p.m. Saturday's Sharpie 500 has an 8:00 p.m. EDT starting time and features live coverage by TNT-TV and PRN Radio. Pre-race shows begin at 7:00 p.m. EDT.

Bristol Motor Speedway certainly does hold many highlights for Rusty Wallace through the years. Here is a quick look back:

1) Apr. 6, 1986 -- Wallace started 14th and led three times for a total of 174 laps en route to his first career NASCAR Winston Cup victory. It came in his 72nd series start and only his fifth at Bristol.

2) Aug. 26, 1988 -- Wallace involved in one of the most horrendous crashes in his career. In practice, he blew a right front tire and launched off the fourth-turn wall, flipping wildly down the frontstretch. Miraculously, he started the race the next evening, turning the driving duties over to Larry Pearson at his first opportunity. The performance was good enough for a ninth-place finish and kept Wallace in the thick of the season's points battle.

3) Apr. 9, 1989 -- Wallace started eighth and dominates to win his third of six races during the season. Wallace would go on to win three more races in his run to the season's points championship.

4) Apr. 14, 1991 -- Wallace took his Penske Racing South Pontiac entry from the pole to Victory Lane in only the new team's sixth start.

5) Apr. 4, 1993 -- Wallace won the pole the day after driving friend Alan Kulwicki perishes in plane crash while attempting to land at area airport. Pitting in the spot reserved for the absent defending series champion, Wallace records his fourth Bristol win. He pays tribute to the fallen champion by performing Kulwicki's patented "Polish Victory Lap" after taking the checkered flag.

6) Aug. 26, 1995 -- An early race "punt" by Dale Earnhardt put Wallace into the wall and out of action for 46 laps before he returned to the race. Wallace retaliated after the race with some harsh words for Earnhardt and by throwing and connecting with a plastic water bottle.

7) Aug. 24, 1996 -- Wearing a "neon yellow" driving suit for the first, last and only time in his career, Wallace started fifth and dominated to post his sixth career Bristol win. With his Miller-sponsored "teammates" from Don Prudhomme's NHRA team joining in the Victory Lane celebration, Wallace names his winning ride "Snake" in honor of his legendary drag racing friend.

8) Apr. 13, 1997 -- ...the famous 'love tap' episode with Jeff Gordon. Wallace had won the pole and led the most laps (4 times for 240 laps) leading up to the incident that has been forever used in the sport's video highlights. Wallace had taken the lead for the final time on lap 415 and led the race until the last turn of the last lap when contact from the rear applied by Gordon got Wallace out of shape enough to allow Gordon to pass for the win.

9) Apr. 11, 1999 -- Wallace started from the pole and gave his own lecture on the term "dominance." Leading 425 of the 500 laps, Wallace named the car 'Banker' in Victory Lane because of the Bristol high banks and the team taking the big money to the bank. "It doesn't get any cooler than this," Wallace said in the press box after the win.

10) Apr. 26, 2000 -- Wallace started sixth and led three times for 86 laps, including the final 76 circuits en route to the win, his second spring Bristol race victory in as many years and most importantly...his 50th career win that had been so elusive.

11) Aug. 26, 2000 -- Wallace started from the pole in race record fashion and led five times for a total of 279 laps en route to his 53rd career win overall and his ninth at Bristol. It marked the first time he won both Bristol races in the same season.