QUALIFYING DAY REPORT
AUTO CLUB 500
CALIFORNIA SPEEDWAY - FONTANA, CALIFORNIA
FRIDAY, APRIL 25, 2003

PRACTICE INFORMATION:

After a much-needed week off, the NASCAR Winston Cup tour returned to action here at California Speedway this morning in preparation for Sunday's Auto Club 500.

Much of the pre-practice talk in the garage area here this morning centered around how individuals spent their first free weekend of the season. The Mobil 1-sponsored Penske Racing South drivers definitely went in opposite directions. While Miller Lite driver Rusty Wallace could be heard discussing his family trip to Barbados with Oakley representatives in his team transporter, ALLTEL driver Ryan Newman was busy talking about his fishing trip up in the North Carolina Mountains.

Ryan and several members of his team were out here on the west coast early in the week, paying a visit to Sony headquarters in the San Diego area. Rusty, on the other hand, made a visit to Memphis Motorsports Park on Wednesday on the way out. The reason for his team's visit there was to test their new PC-57 race car in preparation for next week's return to Richmond International Raceway.

While the Mobil 1 teams aren't where they'd like to be in the current point standings - Rusty is tied for 15th and Ryan is back to 20th - both teams have high hopes and great expectations for this weekend.

For Rusty, this track was the site of his last race win two years (and 71 races) ago. The team had done the best job possible in their preparation for this race, running their PC-51 back through the wind tunnel and burning the midnight oil to find some extra horsepower. With top-10 finishes the last three years in a row here, there is extra confidence going into this race.

Ryan and his Matt Borland-led team are back in the Mobil 1 colors here this weekend. It marks the first of five races for the season where the color scheme boasts the familiar Mobil logos. Needless to say, with the track record the team had last season carrying the Mobil 1 trim, there's additional excitement around the team. Ryan first ran these colors in last year's California race where he won the pole in record fashion. In last year's five races carrying Mobil 1 colors, the team won three poles (two track qualifying records) and the points-paying race last September at New Hampshire. He also had two other top-five finishes.

The two-hour practice began as scheduled here this morning at 11:20 a.m. After the first hour, it was a surprising Steve Park atop the speed chart with his fast lap of 38.605 seconds. Terry Labonte was another surprise with his second-fastest 38.783. Ryan was third with his 38.828, Tony Stewart fourth with his 38.933 and Jeff Burton fifth with his 38.952. Rusty's 39.039 was 10th fastest at the time.

Ryan and crew saved their best for last in the session as in their final run, they produced the fastest lap of the day; a 38.587. When the session ended, Park's earlier lap was second, with Jerry Nadeau's 38.677 third, Terry Labonte's earlier lap fourth and Elliott Sadler's 38.838 fifth. Rusty's earlier lap of 39.039 remained as his fastest and held down the 14th spot.

Bill Elliott is scheduled out first of 45 drivers when the qualifying session begins here just after 3:00 p.m. Jeff Gordon goes out second, with Bobby Labonte fifth and Rusty eighth. Ryan and Stewart are among the late qualifiers, with Ryan out 40th and Stewart 42nd in the order.

Elliott kicked off the session with a surprising run; turning in a 38.539. It was extremely gratifying to Elliott who was only 28th fastest in practice.

Nadeau was respectable with his 38.677 and Rusty was up on the wheel, picking up some three tenths of a second with his 38.745. Elliott Sadler was stout with his 38.626.

Elliott held the pole until Park, out 37th, turned in a 38.536 on his second and faster lap. Ryan turned in a 38.575, while Stewart snuck in with a 38.558.

So Sunday¹s starting grid reads Park with the pole and Elliott on the outside of the front row. Stewart starts third, with Ryan fourth and Sadler fifth. Nadeau, Rusty, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Joe Nemechek and Jeff Burton round out the top 10.

Sunday's Auto Club 500 has a 12:00 noon local (3:00 p.m. EDT) starting time and features live coverage by FOX-TV and MRN Radio.

RUSTY'S QUOTES:

RUSTY WALLACE (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Intrepid)
"We picked it up a little bit. It was pretty good, just a little too tight there in the last corner and that cost me a little speed. I'm pretty happy with it. That's faster than we ran in practice. I want to win this race bad, and we're going to do everything we possibly can to win. I feel pretty good about my chances. This car is running good. Those two practices sessions are going to be the key to getting everything right. In fact, I'm looking forward to running a practice after the guys run a race. That might let me get a little better adjusted to the race track. I've won here before, so I know how to do it. We've just got to do it again now."