RACE DAY REPORT
AUTO CLUB 500
CALIFORNIA SPEEDWAY - FONTANA, CALIFORNIA
SUNDAY, APRIL 27, 2003

PRE-RACE NOTES &
RACE INFORMATION:

After qualifying a strong seventh here in Friday time trials, Rusty and crew were extremely strong in yesterday's final practice sessions. In the early session, Rusty clocked in with the fourth fastest lap and he bettered that in the final "happy hour" session, turning in the second fastest lap. He was pleased with both the handling and horsepower ends of the equation.

Most of the drivers and crew members had the opportunity to soak in the warm California sun yesterday afternoon, Rusty included. Rusty and a small group, including Oakley's Louis Wellen and Todd Hayes, did what has become the norm for the 54-race winner - venture to a local golf course to play the links. "Louis had the best round and a great time was had by one and all," said team logistics specialist Tom Polansky as he discussed the outing in the garage area this morning.

The beautiful weather continued here today as the forecast calls for sunny skies and temperatures up into the 70s shortly after the 12:00 noon local start of the race.

With their great qualifying performances here on Friday come the super pit locations the Penske teams have on pit road for today's 500-mile, 250-lap race.

Pole-winner Steve Park took the first spot and after Bill Elliott and Tony Stewart chose to pit further up pit road, Rusty's teammate Ryan Newman and his Matt Borland led team (who qualified fourth) grabbed the second spot. The Elliott Sadler team separates them from Rusty's Bill Wilburn-led crew. Pitting behind Rusty here today is the Dave Blaney team.

The engines were fired at 12:01 p.m. and the cars rolled off pit road at 12:05 p.m. After three parade laps, the field got the green flag at 12:12 p.m. Several cars had to go to the rear of the field for the start and they included Dale Earnhardt Jr., Sterling Marlin, Jerry Nadeau and Johnny Benson.

Park got off to a slow start and was shuffled back through the field entering turn one. As he entered turn two he got up high and clipped Ryan into the outside wall. Park then spun to the inside to bring out the first yellow flag of the race. Ryan's car was so severely damaged that he was forced to the garage for repairs.

With Bill Elliott leading, Jack Sprague spun out of turn two on the eighth lap to cause the second caution of the race.

After the lap 12 restart, Tony Stewart wasted little time getting around Elliott for the lead. He controlled the pace up front, but Rusty was able to flex his muscle. Helped by great pit stops, he was up to second on lap 50.

As Stewart continued to control the lead, Rusty's crew went to work addressing a tight chassis condition.

Green flag stops began on lap 80. Rusty was supposed to pit on lap 89, but couldn't get down to the inside in time to get onto pit road. Running the extra lap proved almost disastrous as the car ran out of fuel as Rusty finally hit pit road. The pit stop was completed in 15.221 seconds, but the engine would not fire and the crew had to push it off. They pushed it all the way to the exit before it finally re-fired.

The end result saw Rusty fall from third prior to the pit stops all the way back to 16th when the stops cycled around on lap 96.

Stewart had the lead with rookie Jamie McMurray second, Kurt Busch third, Earnhardt fourth and Elliott fifth.

The adjustments made during the first two pit stops produced too much of a change in the handling of the car. "It's way too loose now," Rusty radioed in on lap 101. "We're gonna have to put it back like it was."

The battle for the lead up front continued between Stewart and McMurray at the halfway (lap 125) mark and Ryan returned briefly to competition three laps later.

Stewart blew his engine on lap 129 to bring out the fourth yellow of the race. The ensuing 14.201-second stop saw Rusty's crew make the following chassis adjustments: minus a quarter inch on the track bar, minus a half pound of air in the right rear, plus a half pound in the left rear and plus a full pound in the right front. The speedy stop had Rusty back up to ninth for the lap 135 restart.

Bobby Labonte began flexing his muscle after the restart and was challenging McMurray for the lead when the fifth yellow of the day flew on lap 155 for debris on the frontstretch.

Perhaps the best strategic call of the day came at that moment when Bill suggested two tires during the stop. That move created a 6.387-second stop which put Rusty up into the lead for the lap 160 restart. Benson and Blaney also took on right side tires only and lined up in front of fourth-place Labonte.

Rusty got a great jump on the start, but by lap 168, Labonte had cleared the other cars and was closing in on Rusty.

With spotter Earl Barban calling the No. 18's position on his every move - outside, inside or clear - Rusty continued to hold off Labonte when the next round of green flag stops began.

Rusty pitted on lap 202 for four tires, fuel and no changes. The 14.474-second stop saw Rusty beat Labonte off pit road. When the stops cycled around on lap 207, Rusty had a 1.2-second lead on Labonte and a 4.8-second advantage over third-place McMurray.

All of that fell by the wayside when Ricky Craven spun in turn four on lap 209 to bring out the sixth yellow flag of the race.

None of the frontrunners pitted and Rusty was at the point for the lap 214 restart. Earnhardt had lost a lap during the green flag stops, having to return to pit road for some loose lug nuts.

Earnhardt challenged Rusty after the restart to get his lap back and created a loose condition, that allowed Labonte to close in and get underneath for the lead on lap 216. By lap 218, McMurray had gotten around on the high side. It was Labonte leading with McMurray second, Rusty third and Busch fourth when Nadeau spun in turn two on lap 219 to bring out the seventh yellow.

After the lap 224 restart, the fans were treated to some unbelievable racing between those top four cars. Dale Jarrett backed into the outside wall in turn two on lap 231 to cause the ninth caution of the race. Some seven other cars were involved and forced officials to spend several laps cleaning up the mess.

The race finally returned to green with 13 laps remaining. Rusty was able to mount one final valiant charge on the inside for the lead, but couldn't make it stick. Busch was able to pull around McMurray and Labonte for the lead and he began to stretch it. Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin crashed on the frontstretch on the final lap as Busch cruised to a 2.294-second win. Labonte and Rusty were side-by-side for second and third at the line, with Labonte just edging Rusty for the runner-up spot. Rusty was third, with Elliott fourth and McMurray fifth. Earnhardt, Michael Waltrip, John Andretti, Matt Kenseth and Sterling Marlin rounded out the top 10 finishers. Ryan was credited with a 42nd-place finish.

Kenseth continues to hold down the points lead with 1,473 points. Earnhardt is second with 1,429, Jeff Gordon third with 1,321, Busch fourth with 1,305 and Johnson fifth with 1,266. Rusty moved up to 12th in the standings and has 1,140 points, while Ryan fell back to 25th and has 980 points.

The circuit now returns to the .750-mile Richmond International Raceway for next Saturday night's Pontiac 400. The race marks Rusty's 600th consecutive career race start.

POST-RACE QUOTES:

RUSTY WALLACE (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Intrepid) -

POST-RACE QUOTES:

RUSTY WALLACE (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Intrepid) - finished third
"We were so close. We've got a winning team. We just haven't won yet. The only problem I had out there was Dale Jr., and he was trying to get his lap back. I would have been doing the same thing. He got up underneath me and got me loose and I fell from the lead back to about fourth. That's racing. I'm not disappointed about nothing. I had a good opportunity to win the race."

RUSTY WALLACE (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Intrepid) - third-place interview
"I really thought I had a great shot to win the race. Our problem was early on we ran out of fuel and came in a little short. We couldn't get the car refired and finally got it started. We went back out 16th and drove it up to ninth. Right there at the end we two-tired it and took the lead and that was the key move. The car really handled good on two tires. I was racing really hard, trying to keep the lead. Dale Jr. was trying to get his lap back. He got behind me and got me really loose. We fell back to third after that, but that was just racing there.

"Right there at the very end coming at the flag, I guess there was two laps to go. I took the lead down in three. I flew up the race track a little bit. I just could not hold that bottom line. I let the 97 get underneath me. I tried to get him back in three. I drove it in real deep and slid up again and that was it.

"Bobby got past me coming to the line for second. The white flag is waving, the caution flag is out, all hell is breaking loose and I was hustling down through there. I didn't get out of the throttle. There was a big drag racing coming out of turn four and he beat me by six inches. It was a cool race. I had a great hot rod today. We have a winning team right here. Our cars are running great. We just haven't won yet. We're getting closer and closer back to victory lane where we need to be. I think we chipped away pretty good in the points today. That was good.

"I don't think that was everything (stalling car on first pit stop). I already had the lead once. I got through that and took the lead. I guess the biggest problem was when I was racing the lapped car, racing the 8 car. That really screwed me up there. I fell from the lead back to third. That was a big one there. There again, I had an opportunity to get it back and take the lead going into three. That last two laps was probably the most dramatic I'd been in a long time racing because I hustled down in there four wide going into three and everybody was going nuts behind me. I slid up and 97 goes underneath me. It was a cool race. I know the people in the grandstand had to be loving this race. It was exciting. People ask what makes this a better race. I think the race track is maturing a little bit. It's getting grayer. Things are getting slippery.

"Once you see a softer tire out there, once Goodyear and NASCAR finally see fit to soften this tire up you're going to see a really good race then. I know what I'm talking about. These tires nowadays are real, real hard. They're like four or five steps hard. Once we soften them up, it'll get much, much better.

"I saw two or three grooves out there today. It looked real good to me. Last year, it was one groove. In fact, when I was holding Bobby Labonte off I was using the whole race track up. He knew it too. I would go all the way up to the top. The air was everything. You'd lose the air so bad you had to be in the front. It was a great race.

"I never saw the 97 coming at all. When we went down into turn three with two to go and maybe it was Bobby pushing me. I don't know who it was, but somebody pushed me right through there. I took the lead going into three and said, 'man, I'm finally going to win a race.' I was real excited. I went in and that thing pushed up, and I still didn't think the 97 was there. I came off turn four and where the hell did he come from?

"The first three laps after a restart is the toughest part. If you can get through that and get the stuff off your tires and get going.... That's what we kept talking about. If we get through that, that's all right. I knew Dale Jr.'s car was pretty good. When I was leading the race and he got on my bumper, it just about turned me around. That's when I went from first to fourth, but I had another shot to get it back. I should have just gone in that corner a little bit easier.

"All the teams have got money, and all of them have got good people. You look at qualifying and it used to be a second and a half apart when I started doing this. Now the pole can be a 29 flat and last place can be a 29.40. It's that close. It's closer than I've ever seen it. If you win a race nowadays, your planning has been right and you've done right.

"It just looked like he couldn't get it hooked up and I saw him going up and I saw Ryan on the outside. I saw Park still going and Ryan on the outside wall. I didn't know if Steve didn't see him on the outside or what. I went to the bottom of the race track because I thought those two were going to bounce off on me. I looked up in the mirror and I saw everybody spinning, but I could see it coming in the middle of one and two when we started the race. Something went wrong with Steve's car."