RACE DAY REPORT
AARON'S 499
TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY, TALLADEGA, ALABAMA
SUNDAY, APRIL 6, 2003

PRE-RACE NOTES &
RACE INFORMATION:

Rusty was able to debrief with the team, head out to the souvenir rig to sign some autographs and then get out and enjoy some time on the golf course late yesterday afternoon.

Once again this season, weather is a big issue for race day on the NASCAR Winston Cup trail. Unlike yesterday here at Talladega Superspeedway when morning showers gave way to beautiful sunny conditions, today's forecast is exactly the opposite.

The massive throng gathering here this morning enjoyed bright sunny conditions, but the prognosticators are calling for rain showers and possibly heavy thunderstorms to move in by mid-afternoon. The big question is whether an official race can be staged prior to the bad weather arriving.

"You know, the fact that we changed to daylight savings time today could really be a plus," Rusty said to Tom Polansky, RWI transportation/logistics specialist as they hustled to the 10:00 a.m. drivers' and crew chiefs' meeting. "Hey, it's central time here, plus the extra hour we picked up, that could really spell the big difference in getting this thing in here today."

The pit road layout here today sees pole-winner Jeremy Mayfield's team going with the 16th pit spot up pit road. There is an opening in the wall in front and Mark Martin's team pits behind. Rusty's Penske Racing teammate Ryan Newman starts eighth here today and his Matt Borland-led team pits from the 31st spot. There is an opening behind and the Greg Biffle team pits in front. Rusty and his Bill Wilburn-led team pit from the 25th spot. The Matt Kenseth team pits in front and the Jerry Nadeau team pits from behind.

It was evident that the race officials were on top of the weather situation as they were in a definite "hurry mode." The engines were already fired at 11:50 a.m. and the cars rolled down pit road at 11:54 a.m. After three parade laps, the green flag flew at 12:01 p.m.

Four drivers were forced to start from the rear due to engine changes prior to the race. Those drivers were Dale Earnhardt Jr., Bobby Labonte, Jeff Green and Mike Skinner.

Pole-sitter Mayfield was able to keep the lead on the first lap. By lap two, the action was already getting three-wide from fourth place back.

Rusty was moving up through the pack and Ryan was holding down the eighth spot working lap four when Ryan blew a rear tire entering turn one and veered straight up the track into the outside wall. The car then shot off the wall and lifted off the ground temporarily as "the big crash" of the race had been triggered. Rusty tried desperately to avoid the carnage by heading for the high side, but all the holes closed and he became an innocent victim.

When the smoke had cleared, more than 20 cars were involved in the crash and 16 were eliminated from the competition. Fortunately, no driver was hurt, although Ryan badly bruised his foot. Ryan's car was done for the day, while Rusty's crew went to work to attempt to get the car back on the track and pick up some points.

Earnhardt caught more good luck in that if he would have started in his original spot (13th), he would have been right in the middle of the crash. Instead, he made it through the ordeal with only minor damage to the front of his car.

The race was red-flagged for some 25 minutes in order to clean up the wreckage.

When the action resumed, the thinned out field saw Mayfield, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth, Michael Waltrip and Earnhardt mixing it up for most of the race.

The Earnhardt crew continued to address their aerodynamic problems during the race and used ample amounts of duct tape to put the No. 8 car back in a position to win.

In the waning laps, back and forth it went until, on Lap 185, Earnhardt had a run on Kenseth's Ford as the cars roared into turn three. Earnhardt dove low and was alongside Kenseth's car when the No. 8 Chevrolet got at least two tires below the yellow line, which was supposed to be a NASCAR "No-No." Earnhardt completed the pass and NASCAR, after reviewing tapes, ruled it legal. He held on over the final three laps and kept lead until the checkered flag, beating Kevin Harvick and Elliott Sadler to the finish line.

Ricky Craven finished fourth, followed by Terry Labonte, Sterling Marlin, Ward Burton, Jeff Gordon, Kenseth and Robby Gordon, rounding out the top 10. Rusty was credited with a 37th-place finish and Ryan finished in the 39th position.

After eight races, Kenseth continues to lead the points with 1,233. Earnhardt moved into second with 1,104. Kurt Busch is third with 1,046, Johnson fourth with 1,013 and Gordon fifth with 1,011. Ryan slipped to 11th and has 894, while Rusty slid back to 18th with 823.

The Winston Cup tour now heads from the largest track here at Talladega on to the smallest track, the .526-mile Martinsville Speedway for next Sunday's second short track race of the 2003 season.

POST-RACE QUOTES:

RUSTY WALLACE (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Intrepid)
"The car got real sideways with Ryan off turn four and he got down into one. It blew the left rear tire right off. He ran over a piece of debris. He turned sideways and just about took the whole field with him. It's nothing to do with Talladega racing. It's just one of those racing accidents. We're patching it back together right now. It's a big race in the garage area to see who can get back out and get a couple of points. I think about 20 of us
are inside the garage right now. That's upsetting. In three laps we picked up 20 positions. That thing was screaming. Everybody was locked on the bottom of the race track, and I went to the top and passed everybody. When I got into two and I saw that 12 turn sideways I knew there was no saving it. When my luck changes it's really going to turn around because my cars all year long have been fast. I missed it last week in Texas, no doubt about that, because it got tight. Other than that, everything has been real good. We've just got to get this luck right. This really, really killed us in the points. We've got to get back out there before anybody else and get all the points we can right now."