WALLACE & TEAM PULLING OUT ALL STOPS IN FINAL RACES OF 2002
-Miller Lite Team Penske Focused On Winning Races ("Especially Kansas")

A great example of the team's immense determination is their recent testing schedule. After testing for two days last week (Sept. 16-17) at the Kentucky Speedway, Wallace and crew could be found once again at the 1.5-mile Sparta, Ky., tri-oval testing on Monday (Sept. 23).

"We're throwing everything we can at it, that's for sure," said
Wallace, who is looking to extend his winning streak to 17 consecutive years and hopes to pick up his second points title since winning it back in 1989. "We were up at Kentucky last week trying out all kinds of stuff and we're back there Monday for more testing.

"What we've done is pretty unique in that we've actually come up with what we fondly refer to as our test car," said Wallace, who enters this weekend's stop at Kansas Speedway still sixth in points (trailing leader Mark Martin by 198 points) after 28 of the 36 races have been completed. "It's the car that we raced at Bristol in the first race there this year.the (PC-) 35 car that I told Billy (Wilburn, crew chief) that I didn't want to race again. Well, they went back and put a new body on it and all.practically made a brand new car out of it. Even though we probably won't ever race the thing again, we'll continue to use it in testing. The guys started calling it our test car, so I guess I'll have to start calling it that, too.

"The big thing is that we're coming up on some great tracks for us like Kansas this weekend.and we want to be as prepared as possible," added Wallace, who won the pole and was running third at Dover, Del., last Sunday before falling victim to a blown right front tire with less than 100 laps remaining in the race (finished 15th). "We've been trying all kinds of shock and spring combinations and I've been keeping a pretty open mind about everything. We ran so well at Kansas last year led a bunch of laps and should have won the thing. Goodyear has some great
tires that we'll be running, so we're really looking to a big weekend at Kansas. We've just been thrashing as hard as we can and will continue to do so."

"Yep, we've really been going at it full blast," said crew chief
Wilburn. "But we're confident that it'll pay dividends. Heck, I think
it already has. You saw how much Rusty was on the wheel the whole weekend at Dover, didn't you? He's about as hungry as I've ever seen him and he's got every one of us all pumped up. Heck, we're so into making the most of what's left of the season that we're going to some of the short tracks and get in some track time. We've already scheduled some testing at Carraway (Speedway, the little bullring of a track near Ashboro, N.C.) early next month (Oct. 8). We'll probably make it to a couple more,
too."

Wallace started last year's inaugural Winston Cup race at the new Kansas track in the 11th starting position. He was up to seventh on lap 50 and continued to move forward. A 15.24-second stop under the third yellow of the day had him up to fifth for the lap 55 restart. Only four laps later, Kurt Busch spun down the frontstretch to bring out the fourth caution of the race. Ricky Rudd managed to get around Jeff Gordon for the lead in the race back to the yellow. Bill Elliott was third, with Wallace getting around Johnny Benson for fourth.

Gordon got back around Rudd for the lead on the lap after the restart and Wallace passed Rudd for second on lap 66. Two laps later, the fifth caution of the race flew.this time for a crash involving Jerry Nadeau, Ward Burton and Todd Bodine in turn one.

Wallace mounted a successful charge around Gordon for the lead just after the lap 79 restart, only to be slowed again two laps later by caution No. 6 for a Stacy Compton spin in turn two. He held the point on the lap 85 restart and held off challenges by Elliott until he pitted on lap 119 for four tires and fuel. The 14.34-second stop allowed Wallace to have a three-second lead over Elliott after both teams had made their stops. Several of the teams that pitted under the previous cautions took turns with the lead until Elliott's blown engine brought out the seventh caution of the race on lap 137.

During the yellow flag stops, Wallace and crew elected to go with just two tires and fuel. The 7.57-second stop had the No. 2 car back up front and in the lead for the lap 150 restart. With 100 laps to go, Wallace was in control of the race. Benson was second and running 0.6-seconds behind. Dale Earnahrdt Jr. was 1.1-seconds behind in third, Gordon was 1.9-seconds behind in fourth and Sterling Marlin was running fifth.

The eighth yellow of the day flew on lap 184 when Benson blew an engine while running in the second spot. During the yellow, Wallace pitted for four tires and fuel. The 13.65-second stop saw him emerge from the pits behind Nadeau, who took on fuel only for the lap 189 restart.

A turn four crash on lap 192 involving Dave Blaney and Michael Waltrip brought out the ninth caution of the race. Five laps after the lap 196 restart, Wallace was back under and around Nadeau to regain the lead. With 50 laps remaining, Wallace had a three-car-length lead over Gordon, with Nadeau third, Earnhardt fourth and Marlin fifth.

Earnhardt apparently blew a right front tire on lap 229 and crashed hard into the turn two wall, bringing out the 10th yellow flag of the day. Wallace pitted during the yellow for two tires and fuel. The 7.7-second stop had him out first.

NASCAR officials ruled that Wallace was speeding exiting the pits and assessed a stop-and-go penalty the next time around. The call from the pits was to go ahead and get right side tires during the stop. Wallace was sent to the tail end of the longest line for the lap 235 restart.relegating him to the 17th position with 33 laps to go.

Wallace made an unbelievable move to avoid hitting Matt Kenseth's crashed car on lap 239 as the 11th yellow of the day flew. He had made up seven spots in that short period of time. Rudd led on the lap 245 restart, with Mark Martin second, Gordon third, rookie Ryan Newman up to fourth and Marlin fifth. Wallace was 10th and ready to pass more cars.

Dale Jarrett and Bobby Labonte crashed in turn two on lap 247 to bring out the 12th caution of the race. Wallace was up to eighth as the lead cars came across the stripe. On the lap 256 restart, Wallace used his fresher tires and got a great jump to the outside to make up spots. He was up to fifth on lap 256 and closing in when Jason Leffler crashed on the frontstretch to bring out the 13th yellow flag of the day.

NASCAR officials decided to red flag the race at 3:50 p.m. after 257 laps had been completed. Leffler's wreckage was hauled off and the track was cleaned for a single-file restart 10 minutes later. The lap 262 restart saw Gordon with the lead, Rudd in second, Newman third, Martin fourth and Wallace in fifth.

Wallace was able to get around Martin for fourth on lap 262 and Newman was able to get around Rudd for second on lap 263. The top-four running order stayed the same for the final four laps. Gordon emerged with a 0.413-second win over Newman, with Rudd third and Wallace fourth.

"Now that definitely was one of the big wins that got away," Wallace recalled. "To have led the thing all day like that and have the field covered, then get slapped with a stop-and-go (penalty) for speeding.it was a hard pill to swallow, that's for sure. Starting way back there just inside the top 20 and coming back strong like that was a heck of a comeback, but it was just so frustrating to get a stop-and-go like that. The track was great. I had a great car all day and the track was super. If I would have had more time, I could have won the thing, I think. Oh well, we'll just have to look at it as unfinished business to take care of this time around."

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 400-mile, 267-lap battle. 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 big race, the 29th event of the 2002 Winston Cup season, starts at 1:00
p.m. EDT and features live coverage by TNT-TV and MRN Radio.