WALLACE, WILBURN & CREW READY FOR DARLINGTON
-Miller Lite Team Penske Gathers Positives From Bristol Aftermath

DARLINGTON, S.C. (Aug. 27, 2002) -- "It was vintage Rusty Wallace and he
drove his tail off," Miller Lite Team Penske crew chief Bill Wilburn said of his driver's runner-up performance in last Saturday night's Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

"The guy who finished first (Jeff Gordon) said that he just wanted the win worse than Rusty did and I certainly disagree with that," continued Wilburn as he discussed the performance of Wallace, whose request to be "left alone for the next few days" after Saturday night has been honored by team members and the support crew. "Rusty came in there all fired up. He wanted to win practice, win the pole and win the race. He was
really up on the wheel the whole weekend, so I know there's nobody who wanted to win any more than Rusty did.

"But that was last weekend and it's over and done with," Wilburn said. "There was a lot of good that came out of Bristol and we're using it all to focus on and get pumped up for Darlington this weekend and Richmond the next.

"We gained a spot in the points (now up to sixth), but even more important is that we really cut the gap to all the guys in front of us," said Wilburn. "We cut about 30 points off the separation up to Sterling (Marlin, points leader who leads Wallace by 162 points) and we're now only 67 points out of second. It was a big gainer as far as the points go.

"It probably didn't get the attention that it deserved, but our pit stops were tremendous all night long. We had a 13.70 (-second) stop our first time on pit road and a 15.30 (-second) for four tires and chassis adjustments the second time.

"That 14.65 (-second) during the last stop helped us get out of the pits in front of the 24 car (Gordon) and that was pretty impressive because they had the first pit and nobody was in front of them to slow 'em down. But as good as we were, Rusty was definitely on top of his game getting in and out of the pits. He hit his marks perfectly every time
and dealt with merging traffic better than I've seen anybody do all year long.

"So we just had the total package going for us in the pits and we're looking to do that again at Darlington, at Richmond and then on down the road.

"Finally, our strategy worked out right and we're all glad for that. We had about 125 (laps) to go after our final stop and that gave us the tires we needed to get back up to the front. Man, I got chills watching Rusty come back up through there. He didn't say anything at all.just let Dave Kenny (spotter) and Roger (Penske) do all the talking on the radio. Rusty just let his actions do all the talking. Anyhow, it was certainly a big boost to come out on the right end strategy-wise for a change.

"What about the performance of that brand new race car?" Wilburn said of the team's new "PC-54" that debuted at Bristol. "Everybody has the ultimate confidence in that thing and Rusty knows right now that he has a special weapon ready for them when we bring it out again in a few weeks up at Dover."

But with all the good news Wilburn conjures up coming out of Bristol, how does he handle the fact that next on the schedule is Darlington, a track where Wallace enters still looking for his first career win after 37 starts?

"I guess I'm a lot like Rusty and enjoy being really optimistic," said Wilburn. "I'd like to think that there's no better time to win the first one than right now. And if we don't win and can come up with a top-five, well then that would be just fine, too. That would keep the
momentum going on into Richmond and I don't have to tell you how much Rusty and all of us are looking forward to that one.

"But the bottom line is that we all know that there are 12 races left and they all are equally important. That's the way we're focused right now.taking it one week at a time."

Wallace's career record on the historical 1.366-mile egg-shaped Darlington track shows runner-up finishes in 1987 and 1988 as his best finishes to date. Overall he has 11 top-five finishes and 20 top-10 finishes. He is still looking for his first pole position.

He started fourth and finished 22nd in last September's Mountain Dew Southern 500 and started 18th and finished seventh in this spring's Darlington race.

"After really missing the setup the last few races, we bounced back at Darlington in the spring race," Wallace said last week of the upcoming trip back to Darlington. "At the beginning, I was really loose and I couldn't touch the gas pedal. We kept adjusting on it and I really had a fast race car the second half of the race. So now I think we really
have a good baseline to start out with this time around."

This weekend's Darlington schedule calls for a two-hour practice session on Friday (11:20 a.m. till 1:20 p.m.), with a 3:05 p.m. single qualifying session to allocate all 43 starting spots for Sunday's race. Saturday's schedule calls for practice sessions from 9:30 a.m. till 10:15 a.m. and from 11:15 a.m. till 12:00 noon. Sunday's Mountain Dew
Southern 500 (500 miles, 367 laps) has a 1:00 p.m. EDT starting time and features live coverage by TNT-TV and MRN Radio.

____________________________________________________________________

NORTH CAROLINA AUTO RACING HALL OF FAME TO HONOR YARBOROUGH AND YUNICK

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (August 27, 2002) -- The North Carolina Auto Racing Hall of Fame will honor two of racing's elite at its Sixth Annual Induction Ceremony, October 9, 2002 at the Mooresville, (NC) Citizens Center.

Cale Yarborough, one of the most celebrated National Association of Stock Car Automobile Racing (NASCAR) drivers and owners, will be honored as the Hall of Fame's newest inductee. The late Smokey Yunick, car owner and crew chief will receive the coveted Snap-On Golden Wrench Award for his outstanding contributions to the sport.

"Both of these men brought something different to the sport," said Don Miller, co-founder and chairman of the North Carolina Auto Racing Hall of Fame. "Cale was an extremely talented driver and Smokey was an equally talented crew chief, both men set a competitive standard for the sport that continues to be the yardstick by which success is measured today."

Cale Yarborough is one of NASCAR's most successful drivers. He was known for his aggressive, never give up driving style. Teamed with legendary car owner Junior Johnson, Yarborough recorded three back-to-back National Championships (1976-1978) and 28 race wins. Yarborough went on to create a successful career as a Winston Cup car owner, with drivers John Andretti and Jeremy Mayfield. Yarborough closed his racing career with a staggering total of 83 race wins, four Daytona 500 victories and three Winston Cup Championships.

The late Smokey Yunick was a car owner, crew chief, engine builder, mechanic, and above all an innovator. He did not limit his racing innovation to stock car racing. Many of his most revolutionary machines were debuted at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in his quest to win the Indy 500. Yunick's ability to look into the future of automotive development and design was recognized by the big three automakers in Detroit where he was contracted to develop programs ranging from auto racing to emission controls. Yunick succumbed to Leukemia in 2001 and left a motorsports legacy that will be revisited constantly by those that wish to excel in the sport of auto racing.

The 2002 Induction Ceremonies will be presented by ALLTEL. The company provides communications to more than 8 million customers in 25 states and has information service clients in 54 countries and territories.

Located in Mooresville, the North Carolina Auto Racing Hall of Fame celebrates the rich heritage of motorsports and its cultural contributions to society. It opened its doors to race fans in 1994 and now welcomes more than 300,000 visitors annually. More than 38,000 fans visited during Charlotte's Speedweeks in May 2002.

A non-profit museum, the North Carolina Auto Racing Hall of Fame is dedicated to all types of racing - from drag racing to NASCAR. It houses more than 35 cars as well as numerous displays and showcases. Past inductees into the museum's Hall of Fame include Tim Flock, Bobby Allison, Richard Petty, Bill france, SR., Junior Johnson and Ned
Jarrett. For more information about the museum and the sixth annual induction ceremony, log on to its web site at www.ncarhof.com.