WALLACE SAYS IT IS "SAME AS IT EVER WAS" WITH ROAD COURSES
-Miller Lite Team Penske Dodge Driver Knows Importance Of The Two Road Course Events-

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (August 5, 2003) - As the NASCAR Winston Cup circuit heads to Watkins Glen International for this weekend's final road course event of 2003, Miller Lite Team Penske Dodge driver Rusty Wallace took a moment to discuss that type of racing and its overall importance.

" To some, it is a dreadful experience or at best, a necessary evil," said
Wallace, a six-time road course race winner and two-time winner at Watkins
Glen International. "For me and several others out there, it's a nice change of pace from what we normally do. It's always a big personal challenge that I always enjoy.

"Attitude is important going into these races and I learned that a long time
ago back when I first went to drive for Blue Max Racing (in 1986) and began
to get pretty good at it. There are some guys out there that don't care for
the road races and they are very vocal about it. They enter the weekend
with a negative attitude and they are already defeated before they get to
the race track.

"I mean how the hell do you expect to do any good at it when you go in there
dreading it so bad? Some of them would probably rather be sitting in the
dentist's chair than behind the wheel of their race car this weekend. It's
just that bad for some of these guys, at least they make you think that it is.

"The bottom line is that until NASCAR schedules the races somewhere else and Watkins Glen and Sears Point (Infineon Raceway) are not on the tour, you better learn to like 'em. You better come to grip with the fact that as far
as the points and big scheme of things go, these things are just as
important as any of them. A win in the Brickyard 400 might be a lot more
prestigious and the purse is a helluva lot more, but come Sunday afternoon
when the checkered flag falls, the cat who is sitting there in Victory Lane
has earned the exact same number of points. And with that being the case
two times during the year, you may not love 'em, but you better learn to
deal with 'em.

"As far as the road courses go, it's the same as it ever was," Wallace
offered. "I know that from experience, rest assured of that. Look back at
our deals when we were in the thick of it in the points - back in '89, '93
and '94. Those road course races were super important back then and they're every much as important today."

Statistics back Wallace's claim for the importance of the road course
finishes during his career. During his lone championship season in 1989,
Wallace finished second and first and earned a total of 355 points in just
those two races. His nearest rival for the points title, Dale Earnhardt,
finished fourth and third for 330 points. Wallace took the title by only 12
points over Earnhardt.

In 1993, Wallace broke his wrist in a Talladega crash and drove the May
Sears Point race with a movement-restricting brace (Scott Sharp stood by to relief drive, but never got the call). He was a threat to win before the
lack of flexibility caused Wallace to strip his transmission with 10 laps to
go, resulting in a 38th-place finish. Points rival Earnhardt finished sixth
that day. The points difference in that single race favored Earnhardt by
106 points. At Watkins Glen, Earnhardt finished 18th and Wallace finished
19th, with Earnhardt leading the race and picking up eight more points.
That equated to a 114-point advantage. Wallace's (runner-up) deficit to
Earnhardt (champion) at season's end was 80 points. You do the math.

Earnhardt finished third in both 1994 road course races. Points runner-up
Mark Martin finished eighth and first, while Wallace finished third in points and posted fifth and 17th-place finishes.

What was the case in the past certainly proved true even as late as last
year. Tony Stewart, the 2002 points champ, finished second at Infineon
Raceway and won the Watkins Glen race. Runner-up Mark Martin finished
seventh and 10th. Kurt Busch, third-place points finisher, finished fourth
and 41st and fourth-place points man Jeff Gordon finished 37th and 22nd.

So what about this season that shows Matt Kenseth leading second-place Dale Earnhardt Jr. by a whopping 286 points entering this weekend's Watkins Glen race? How important is this Sunday's race in this year's points battle.

"As far as the guys up front in the points, I guess it was pretty much a
scratch out at Sonoma, with Kenseth getting really behind early in the race,
but still able to pull out a decent finish," Wallace offered. (Kenseth
finished 14th while Earnhardt finished 11th and earned only nine more
points. "With his great finish at Indy on Sunday (finished second to
Earnhardt's 14th) and the unbelievable lead he has now, even I have my
doubts that anybody can catch Kenseth. But Matt better be in the game
Sunday, too. No matter how big a points lead he has right now, there are so
many races left that you can't let your guard down. None of these gigs are
throw-aways anymore. They are all that important. And even if Kenseth's
big lead can't be overhauled, the Glen finish could really play a big factor
in second on back."

So what is the key to being successful at Watkins Glen this weekend?

"Same as everywhere we've been this year," responded Wallace, who started 10th and finished 17th last August at the Glen. "You gotta be on top of it all day long - track position, fuel mileage, pit strategy - and have lady
luck on your side. We got killed by the strategy last year at Watkins Glen
and we can't let that happen again."

Sunday's Watkins Glen race has a 1:00 p.m. EDT starting time and features
live coverage by NBC-TV and MRN Radio.