RUSTY WALLACE: THE MODEL OF TOP LEVEL CONSISTENCY
-Miller Lite Team Penske Driver Is Top 10 Points Finisher For 10th Consecutive Season-

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (Nov. 24, 2002) When the 2002 NASCAR Winston Cup
season ended at Homestead, Fla., on Nov. 17, it marked the 16th year that Miller Lite Team Penske driver Rusty Wallace had finished in the top 10 in the final series point standings since joining the tour full time in 1984.

Most impressive was the fact that the 2002 season registered in as Wallace's 10th consecutive year as a member of the illustrious top-10 group, making his the leading active streak in that category. Each and every season since 1993 Wallace has earned his way to the stage for the prestigious series awards banquet in New York on the first Friday in December.

"I guess that speaks well of the great consistency we've enjoyed through the years," said Wallace, who finished seventh in the 2002 point battle. "It's so important to finish in the top 10 in points and have the opportunity to go to New York for the banquet and have an active part in it all. So we've been able to get up there 10 times in-a-row
and publicly thank all the sponsors, owners and team members and that says so much."

Only once in the last 17 years has Wallace failed to finish in the top 10 and he recalls the scenario almost as if it was just yesterday.

"I'll never forget that 1992 season because it was the only time since '86 that we failed to make the top 10," said Wallace, whose 598-race career record now sports 54 wins, 189 top-five finishes, 309 top-10 finishes and some $34 million in winnings. "I remember how happy we were for Alan (Kulwicki) and his team to have won the championship that year, but it was like a big, rude slap in the face when we hit New York that December.

"It was a real eye-opener and honestly, it was quite embarrassing. We were there, but we almost wish we'd stayed at home. I think the biggest thing that got me through it all was the fact that (Dale) Earnhardt was there and he was in the same boat that I was. We finished something like 12th and 13th in the standings (Earnhardt was 12th and Wallace was 13th). Neither one of us had anything to do with the Thursday press
conference and on Friday night, there we both were.sitting in the cheap seats way back in the back of the place. Like I said, it was a pretty annoying situation to deal with.

"At least I knew, in the back of my mind that I'd won a race that year and he wasn't that fortunate, but we pledged to each other right then and there that we wouldn't get caught in that spot again, that's for sure. And you know, we never were, were we? The record spoke for itself after that."

Yes, the record did speak volumes after the 1992 season.

In 1993, Wallace won 10 races and finished second to Earnhardt in the points. He won six races and finished third in the standings in 1994.

"We bounced back stronger than ever in 1993 and won just about everything except another championship," Wallace recalled. "We won three straight races and 10 of them altogether that year. We led the points until the big crash at Talladega that May. It broke my wrist and got us way behind. As it turned out, we staged a big comeback and wound up losing the championship by just a handful (80) of points to Dale that
year. I still, to this day think that we'd won the title had it not been for the crash at Talladega. Regardless, we still had -- both of us had -- helluva' seasons in '93.

"Then we came back in '94 and won six races, even after changing from Pontiac over to Ford that year. We won in only our second race in a Ford and clinched the manufacturer's championship when we won at Martinsville that fall."

As for his thoughts on the season just completed -- the 2002 campaign which saw him winless for the first year since 1986, yet with a record that boasted seven top-five finishes, 17 top-10 finishes, one pole position and more than $4 million in prize money -- he labels it as successful.

"It was quite an unusual year and I categorize it as a learning season for our team," said Wallace. "It was certainly disappointing in that we didn't keep the winning streak (of 16 years) going, but we came so close to notching several wins and we were pretty darned consistent for a team with a first-year crew chief in Bill Wilburn. So I'm pretty proud of all we were able to accomplish.

"We did win during the 2001 season, but we didn't have the other big numbers and didn't have a single pole. We finished second four times this year and had a ton of top-fives and top-10s and we did win us a pole.

"The big thing is that Billy and I sat down and looked back over the year and we came up with all the 'woulda-coulda-shoulda' race wins, but even more important, all the points we just threw away," said Wallace, who finished 226 points behind champion Tony Stewart, but just 67 points out of third and only 26 out of fifth. "We looked at some of the calls we made and accounted for more than 200 points. That could have spelled
the difference in possibly winning another championship. When you think back on all the two-tire versus four-tire situations like Dover and other places and the big mistake of pitting out of sequence and hoping for a fuel deal to come into play at Watkins Glen -- all of that came into play as far as what came about and what might have been.

"But I'm always the big picture thinker and that never changes," said Wallace. "They say I'm an eternal optimist and I'll never deny that being the truth. This has been a very unusual year. Just look at the final standings and we have to count our blessings. When teams like those of Jeff Burton, Bobby Labonte, (Dale) Earnhardt Jr. and others,
all expected to be up there challenging for the championship, fail to make the top 10 in the final standings, that really says a lot for the year we had. It wasn't the greatest and we certainly were hoping for better, but we can still keep our heads up and be proud.

"The crew worked hard and really began clicking there at the end of the season. Billy has earned his stripes as the team leader and has stepped up to the plate. Larry Wallace and the guys at Penske Engines did just an incredible job all year long and we're so proud of that. We were successful in keeping those dreaded DNFs (did not finish) to a bare minimum (only one for the year, completing 98.9 percent of all possible laps) and I think we were as good as or better than anybody in the
consistency department.

"Like I said, we're looking at the 2002 season as a big learning year and we plan on coming out in 2003 with the guns a-blazin' and both barrels loaded. We plan on taking what we learned, continuing that level of consistency and being right there fighting tooth and nail for another championship at the end of the 2003 season."