MILLER LITE TEAM PENSKE NOTES & QUOTES: VIRGINIA 500
-Judgment Calls Now & Then; At Martinsville, Wallace Looks To Win Again-

MARTINSVILLE, Va. (April 9, 2003) – Judgment calls?

“Post the (No.) 2 car,” blared the two-way radio frequency from the NASCAR control tower on Lap 185 in Sunday’s Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway. “(He) went below the yellow line – they were warned about that. Inspector, get with the crew chief and have ‘em bring him in.”

No, it didn’t exactly happen that way last Sunday, but that could have been the scenario.

“Not only it could have, it definitely would have,” said a veteran member of Rusty Wallace’s Miller Lite-sponsored racing team who asked to remain anonymous as he discussed the controversial “no-call” stance made by NASCAR officials on a late race move by another competitor. “There’s no method to the madness, is there? Had it been Rusty in that spot, they would have nailed him. It was a bad call for the sport, but probably a good call for that facility. What I mean by that is that it’s another judgment call that strains their (NASCAR’s) credibility, but at the same time it saved the massive chaos that the black flag would have brought. There probably would have been a full-scale riot right there at Talladega on Sunday afternoon. The aftermath wouldn’t have been a pretty sight, that’s for sure.”

While that is the line of thinking by at least one member of Wallace’s team, crew chief Bill Wilburn has a completely different view of Sunday’s controversy.

“I’ve watched the tape several times on TV now and I’ve concluded that NASCAR made the right call,” said Wilburn. “Matt (Kenseth) maybe didn’t see what was unfolding there and when he reacted, the car in question already was underneath and there was nowhere else to go but lower on the track. Here’s my thinking on the call. I think it was the right call no matter what the number was on the side of that race car. I’m just hoping that as fickle as things can seem to get, that NASCAR would have made that exact same call if it would have been a blue car out there with the big No. 2 on the side. They made the right call at Talladega on Sunday, I’m totally convinced of that.”

And what about the thoughts of Wallace?

“No comment,” said the driver of the Miller Lite Team Penske Dodge. “You know, I’ve learned that there’s not a single thing positive for me that can come out of commenting about controversial calls.

“Look where we’re headed this week,” continued Wallace. “We’re going back to Martinsville and that’s a place where it’ll be easy to have even more controversy. They’re still talking about a controversial call that was made there a few years back that cost us another win. So we’re just keeping our mouths shut and worrying about getting our own program back on track. We’re heading to Martinsville hoping to end the winless streak and get back up there in the points.”

For the record, Wallace is referring to the controversial call made in the fall Martinsville race of 1997. After leading three times for 220 laps (led most laps), Wallace was leading the field on a restart when he was black-flagged after NASCAR officials deemed that he had gotten on the gas before he had reached a designated point. The resulting stop-and-go penalty with some laps to go relegated Wallace to the tail end of the lead lap and a 15th-place finish.

"We were leading on a restart after a caution with only about 15 laps to go," Wallace recalled just prior to the next Martinsville race. "They (NASCAR officials) said I jumped the start and they black-flagged me for a stop-and-go penalty. There I was leading the thing and about to win and they black flag me. We went from leading and winning it to being the last car on the lead lap (finished 15th) -- hero to a hobo just like that. Then, after the race I said some things they didn't like on the radio broadcast and they slapped me with a fine.” Wallace paid off the fine in pennies the next week at Charlotte.

* * *

The aftermath of that event, from the team race report archives of the Monday, Sept. 29, 1997 Hanes 500 at Martinsville Speedway:

Said Wallace: “That’s a bunch of chicken (expletive). The leader dictates the restarts. They say that I jumped the restart. It’s a bunch of crap. I don’t feel sorry for me -- I’ve won my share of races. I just feel so bad for our sponsors and our crew. They busted their tails all day long. We had super pit stops during the whole race, the motor ran super strong. To be in a position to win like we were and then have them jerk it right out from under you is terrible. The deal stinks. As soon as I gather my composure, I’m gonna’ go down to the NASCAR trailer and have a talk with ‘em. It won’t do any good. It never does after one of these things. But, you can’t just stand there and let ‘em run flat over you. We had a super race all day long and the fact that it all got screwed away – it’s just ashamed.”

Wallace and then crew chief Robin Pemberton ventured down to the NASCAR trailer. A meeting took place with NASCAR officials Mike Helton, Gary Nelson, Steve Peterson and two others. During the meeting, NASCAR reviewed a tape of the restart.

After the meeting, which lasted approximately 25 minutes, Wallace emerged from the trailer and was interviewed by the throng of media members waiting outside.

“I still don’t fully agree with all of this, but, it’s their show and there’s nothing that we can do about it,” Wallace said. “They said that everyone knew that the point of reference for the restarts would all be at the crossover gate in the turn four area. They say that I was warned. They showed me the film and I admit that I got on it before the gate, but that was the case all day long no matter who was leading. Like I said, it’s just a shame because my guys deserved better than that. We led the most laps. I’m not saying that we could have held the 99 car (race winner Jeff Burton) off, but it would have come down to a showdown between the two best cars. The fans got cheated today because they never got to see what was going to be the battle of the day there at the end. But, hey I’m a racer. That black flag won’t stop us next week. The clock goes back to zero and we start all over again at Charlotte later on in this week.”

* * *

This weekend’s Martinsville schedule calls for Friday practice from 11:20 a.m. until 1:20 p.m., leading up to the 3:05 p.m. qualifying for all 43 starting spots in Sunday’s race. Saturday’s practice sessions are from 9:30 a.m. until 10:15 a.m. and from 11:10 a.m. until 11:55 a.m. Sunday’s Virginia 500 has a 1:00 p.m. EDT starting time and features live coverage by FOX-TV and MRN Radio.