WALLACE STILL CHASING THAT ELUSIVE DAYTONA WIN

-Miller Lite Team Penske Driver Ready For His 20th Anniversary Attempt

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Feb. 4, 2002)

-- Miller Lite Team Penske driver Rusty Wallace enters his "20th Anniversary" Daytona 500 still chasing that elusive win, yet he enters the 2002 edition of NASCAR Winston Cup's "Super Bowl" with his confidence level at an all-time high.

"Hopefully, the 20th time will be the charm," said Wallace, tied for eighth on the NASCAR Winston Cup all-time race win list with 54 wins entering the 2002 season. "We're coming in there with a new crew chief (Bill Wilburn), some proven race cars and a ton of enthusiasm.

"Every time we leave the place in February, we know that it's a full year until we'll get another shot at winning the thing," said Wallace. "If eagerness and a positive attitude has anything to do with it, I'd say we're better off than we've ever been

"We definitely know what great drivers like Darrell Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt went through before they won it and I'll guarantee you there'll be a helluva' celebration when we pull it off," said Wallace, whose first Daytona 500 start came as a part-time big-league competitor back in 1982. "If you notice, I said when we pull it off and not if we pull it off. The way we've been running, we've just got to eventually win it and I think we're closer than ever to a Daytona win. I don't think it would come as a big shock to anybody if it was us in Victory Lane there on Feb. 17.

"I can still remember when Dale finally won the thing a few years back (in 1998), he was so happy, but he was telling everybody to go ask Rusty how it'd feel 'cause he's in line to win it next," Wallace continued. "It'd certainly be a great day in my career to take that checkered flag, that's for sure. Not only would it be the biggest win, it'd be a helluva' way to keep our winning streak (of consecutive winning seasons, now at 16) going on for yet another year."

The statistics back Wallace's claim of his closing in on a win. All five of his career top-five finishes on the 2.5-mile superspeedway have come in the last eight races at DIS. Eight of his total 15 top-10 finishes have come in the last 10 races.

His third-place finish in last February's 500-mile classic was his best-ever Daytona finish. He backed that up by posting yet another top-10 finish (seventh) finish in last July's Pepsi 400, after running in second-place for the majority of the race.

"After running a brand new car in the testing last month (the "PC-33"), we've decided to go back to our 'old faithful' cars for this edition of Daytona Speed Weeks," said Wallace. "We'll run the (PC-) 28 car in the Shoot-out and have the (PC-) 18 car back for the 500. That new car will serve as the back-up Ford Taurus in case something happens to mine or Ryan's (Penske South teammate Ryan Newman) primary cars.

"It's frustrating to have been as close as we've been and still not have won it," said Wallace, sixth on the Daytona track's all-time money won chart with $2,644,802. "But, if there's anything we're not lacking, it's optimism and determination and that's certainly helped us through all the years.

Congruent with his on-track success at Daytona in recent years is the fact that much of his career track earnings have been accrued as of late. A whopping 70 percent ($1,845,968) of his total DIS winnings have been earned in just the last eight races and an unbelievable 58 percent ($1,528,913) has come from the last four editions of the Daytona 500 alone.

"We won't be satisfied until we take that checkered flag, maybe do us a backwards lap and head to Victory Lane to begin the party of thiscentury," said Wallace in reference to his celebrating wins with a reverse lap around the track, continuing a fan-friendly salute started by his late racing pal, 1992 series champion Alan Kulwicki and continued by Wallace, the late Dale Earnhardt and others.

Wallace started 12th and finished third in last year's Daytona 500, in spite of a gaping hole on the right side of his Ford Taurus.

With Sterling Marlin, Ward Burton and Dale Earnhardt exchanging the lead up front, Wallace had fallen to 22nd on lap 28 when he radioed that he had a flat right front tire in turn three.

He immediately hit pit road for service. NASCAR slapped him with a 15-second speeding penalty and the 21.18 seconds spent in his pits relegated him to running a lap down.

After a lap 47 caution, brought out by Jeff Purvis' contact with the wall in turn three, Wallace made a great attempt to get his lap back. He lined up on the inside, shot in front of the leaders on the restart and managed to hold off the leaders for 12 laps before getting kicked back to 12th in line on lap 63.

The big break that Wallace needed came when then-crew chief Robin Pemberton kept him out under green until lap 156 during scheduled pit stops. He was on the tail end of the lead lap when contact between Joe Nemechek and Kurt Busch sent Busch for a ride into the tri-oval grass and brought out the caution.

Wallace was 18th on the lap 163 restart...with Marlin, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Earnhardt Sr., Steve Park and Ken Schrader making up the top five up front...with 31 drivers still in the lead lap.

Riding in the 16th spot on lap 175, Wallace was among the fortunate drivers who managed to survive a 16-car crash down the backstretch. Contact from Robby Gordon sent Ward Burton sideways. He clipped Tony Stewart and Stewart's car got airborne. Cars were crashing everywhere and Wallace's damage was limited to extensive right-side sheet metal and a bent front valance.

Stewart, Bobby Labonte, Jeff Gordon, Mike Skinner, Ward Burton and Mark Martin were among those eliminated from competition due to the crash. A 15-minute red flag period ensued.

When the red was lifted, Wallace's crew did the best job possible in patching up the gaping hole just behind the right front quarter-panel and worked tediously to get the toe-in back in order.

Wallace was 15th on the lap 180 restart. Earnhardt Jr. led, with Ricky Rudd second, Earnhardt Sr. third, Michael Waltrip fourth and Mike Wallace fifth.

While Marlin, the Earnhardts and Waltrip exchanged the lead up front, Wallace was sneaking back up into the picture. He was 12th on lap 186 and 10th on lap 188.

With 10 laps to go, Waltrip led, with Earnhardt Jr. second, Marlin
third, Earnhardt Sr. fourth, Ken Schrader fifth, Bobby Hamilton sixth, Rudd seventh, Wallace eighth, Bill Elliott ninth and Stacy Compton 10th.

Wallace was making the inside line pay off and was up to fifth on lap 194. He stayed in that line for what was shaping up to be a battle royal for the finish.

The running order at the white flag showed Waltrip the leader, with Earnhardt Jr. tucked in behind him in second. Earnhardt Sr. was third, 3Marlin fourth, Schrader fifth and Wallace sixth.

On the final lap, Wallace narrowly avoided a grinding turn four crash that claimed the life of rival and friend Dale Earnhardt. He was able to "thread the needle," blast out of turn four down the frontstretch and hold off Rudd at the line for an unbelievable third-place finish.

At the checkers, it was Waltrip taking his first career Winston Cup win, with Earnhardt Jr, second, Wallace third, Rudd fourth and Elliott fifth.

Perhaps Wallace's closest contact with a Daytona 500 win came in the 1999 edition of the race.

Wallace and his Miller Lite Ford Taurus team had started 10th and grabbed the lead for the first time on lap 58. Wallace led the race at the 250-mile mark. He led at the 300-mile juncture. He even led the event at the 400-mile point and at 450 miles. He led at the end of 189 laps, or 472.5 miles.

With plenty of fuel to go the distance, Wallace and then "teammate" Jeremy Mayfield had finally "hooked up" up front before the final caution of the day flew with 26 laps remaining.

During the caution, Wallace and Mayfield stayed out, but the 17 cars behind them all pitted for fresh tires. Only 10 laps later, Wallace's drafting partner Mayfield fell victim to a cut right-front tire and was forced to pit, leaving Wallace driving the lone car up front without the fresher tires.

He led the race until lap 190, when eventual winner Jeff Gordon
squeezed to the inside entering turn one. Wallace was then sandwiched between Gordon and Mike Skinner on the outside. As they approached the lame car of Ricky Rudd who was riding on the apron, Wallace moved up the track just enough to allow Gordon to get by without causing a major crash. As Gordon took the lead, Wallace was shuffled back well out of the top 10, but managed to fight back up to eighth-place at the finish.

"We screwed up royally in that one," Wallace recalled. "We should have put four tires on and the big thing that hurt me probably was the fuel load. We were down on the fuel load and when those cars got a heavy fuel load in the back their rear ends are low to the ground and they get through the air better. You take all the gas out; the cars get up in the back end.

"So, looking back now, we should have pitted, we should have put fuel on and Robin would agree with me," continue Wallace. "Robin and I both made that decision to stay out. The green flag came out; all hell broke loose down the back straightaway. Gordon got a good run and got away from the pack. He saw a chance to hit the apron; he did it and made the pass. It hurt back then and it still hurts today to think about being that close.

"We've let the thing slip through our fingers several times now and we're determined more than ever to lasso a win in this time around," said Wallace, who'll be starting his 554h consecutive race (ranks second overall in consecutive starts) in the Feb. 17th 500-mile, 200-lap event. "We're ready to give it another shot."

--Rusty, Bill & crew will be using the PC-18 Miller Lite Ford Taurus in the 2002 Daytona 500 . It debuted in the 2000 Daytona 500 where Wallace started fifth and finished fourth. He started 12th and finished third at Daytona in the July 2000 race with the same car and drove it to an eighth-place finish at Talladega in October 2000. In the 2001 season-opening Daytona 500, Wallace started the PC-18 12th and made up a lap (lost because of a right front flat only 28 laps into the race) en
route to a third-place finish. The team raced the car at Talladega, where Rusty started 26th, led for three laps and finished 13th. The car was used in the July 7 Pepsi 400 at Daytona where Rusty started 24th and ran in second-place for much of the race before finishing in the 7th spot. It was last used at Talladega in October when Wallace crashed in practice and had to resort to a back-up Ford Taurus.

--"Shoulda, coulda, and woulda won't get it done. In attacking
adversity, only a positive attitude, alertness, and regrouping to basics can launch a comeback." Pat Riley

Pole qualifying for the Daytona 500 is set for Saturday, Feb. 9. The special "shootout" race for the 2001 pole position winners and former event champions is set for Sunday, Feb. 10 at 12:00 noon EST. The Feb. 17 Daytona 500 also has a 12:00 noon EST scheduled starting time. The pole "shootout" features live coverage by Fox-TV, while the Daytona 500 will carry live coverage by NBC-TV. MRN Radio carries exclusive live radio coverage of all Daytona Speed Weeks 2002 action.