WALLACE & CREW WONDER WHAT'S IN STORE FOR NEW HAMPSHIRE
-Miller Lite Team Penske Driver Rusty Wallace Calls For Major Changes After This Race

LOUDON, N.H. (Sept. 10, 2002) -- Miller Lite Team Penske driver Rusty Wallace readily admits that he doesn't know what to expect in this weekend's trip back to New Hampshire International Speedway, but he has a solid picture of what he expects there for the track's first race of 2003.

"Major, major changes," Wallace says when asked about what he expects at the Loudon, N.H., track prior to next July's New England 300. "They need to get started with the project as soon as they can after we run there on Sunday. They're gonna' have to come in there and bulldoze the place. They're going to have to rebuild the track.reconstruct the turns. They need to come in there and put some banking in the turns and make it a permanent fix, not just the band-aid-type approach that's been going on there for the last couple of seasons.

"I certainly hope that conditions will be greatly improved from what we experienced at Loudon back in July, but I don't see how they could change too much since then," Wallace continued. "They added all that\ pavement to the bottom of the track before the July race and that was really the only place you could race around the track. A lot of teams had horrendous days because of all the loose stuff and cut tires and all. We had a flat, but didn't get into the wall like many of the other guys did. We were very fortunate that we didn't get bit by it and came away with a top-five (fourth-place finish) for the day.

"I know there are quite a few drivers and team members who said they're gonna' scream bloody murder if we get back up there this weekend and there hasn't been anything done to the track. But I say, 'hey, we've got to step back and be realistic about this. What can you really expect to get changed in just a couple of months between races?' I think it's unfortunate that the situation is like it is, but I look at it as just making it through this Sunday's race.making the best of it for one last time before something major is done.

"Then they need to come in there and completely rebuild the track before we go back there next season," said Wallace. "The Bahre Family are great for the sport. They are outstanding promoters and deserve so much credit for bringing big-league auto racing to the New England area. They've built a facility that has grown with the times, as far as the grandstand and accommodations for the fans go. They put 130,000 fans in
that place twice a year to see us race and that's tremendous.

"But the bottom line is that everything is fine there except for the
actual race track itself. That's where the problem is. They need to come in there and rebuild the track.no more of these quick-fix deals. The fans deserve a nice new layout that'll provide plenty of action and the competitors deserve a nice new track that they can race on."

Wallace and his Bill Wilburn-led team return to New Hampshire this weekend with the same car they used in the July race -- their PC-49 Ford Taurus. In that race, Wallace started third and finished fourth. He led early in the race for 59 laps and the car proved strong enough to make up almost two laps lost when he was forced to pit under green for a flat tire. The car debuted at Martinsville, Va., back in April. It was raced most recently last Saturday night at Richmond, Va., where Wallace was up to second and closing in on eventual race winner Matt Kenseth in
the waning laps when a flat tire cost him a shot at the win.

While Wallace says he doesn't know what to expect this weekend in the New Hampshire 300, crew chief Wilburn says less than ideal track conditions could work in his team's favor.

"I know it may sound weird, but if the track's in crappy shape, we've got a better chance than most teams of winning," said Wilburn, who's becoming as much of an acknowledged eternal optimist as his driver. "Rusty just has the knack of pulling it off when there's unusual conditions to work around. Just look at the history book and you can see what I mean. He won the first race at Loudon and they were already having problems with the surface over there in turn three. Look back and check out some of his wins at Michigan. They had problems with the surface there back in '94, I believe, and he drove circles around them
all in winning the race. It was a Miller-sponsored race at Roger's
(Penske) track. It was a big win. I don't know why, but the bottom
line is that Rusty's probably the best driver out there when it comes to handling adverse track conditions."

This weekend's 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. until 10:15 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. until 12:00 noon. Sunday's schedule calls for the driver & crew chief meeting at 11:00 a.m. and driver introductions at 12:30 p.m. The 300-lap, 300-mile New Hampshire 300 starts at 1:00 p.m. EDT and features live
coverage by NBC-TV and MRN Radio.