QUALIFYING DAY REPORT
SUBWAY 400
NORTH CAROLINA SPEEDWAY-ROCKINGHAM, N.C.
FRIDAY, FEB. 21, 2003

PRACTICE INFORMATION:

Just as Miller Lite Team Penske driver Rusty Wallace has been saying all week long - the "real" racing season starts here this weekend at Rockingham.

After months of preparation only to see less than a stellar start (finished 25th) at Daytona last Sunday, Rusty says he's ready to dive back into a schedule, which sees racing every week until the middle of April.

"The big thing is to not get all freaked out just about the first race," he said earlier this week. "At the end of the day, there are 36 of these things and they all pay 175 points each."

Just a matter of hours after concluding Sunday's NASCAR Winston Cup season opener, Rusty could be found earlier this week back in Daytona shooting some commercials for Visa. More information will follow on this project during the next few weeks.

Inclement weather could once again be an issue here this weekend, at least for the early part of the race weekend. Rain was in the local forecast for both today and tomorrow. Sunday's forecast calls for sunny skies and temperatures reaching into the mid-60s.

Adverse weather affected the schedule here today. Rain showers were prevalent when practice was scheduled to begin at 11:20 a.m., but officials were able to get the track dried and the cars on the track at 2:00 p.m. The original 3:05 p.m. qualifying session was moved back to 4:00 p.m.

The 43 teams gathered here this weekend got in a full hour of practice and most of them took a "big picture" attack during the hour. Both Rusty and Penske teammate Ryan Newman were among the drivers who ran in both qualifying and race trim. The thinking was that tomorrow's schedule could be a total wash and using the practice - or at least part of it -- to prepare for Sunday was of extreme importance.

When the practice ended, it wasn't a surprise to see Ryan atop the session's speed chart with a fast lap of 23.525 seconds. Ken Schrader's 23.717 was second, with Joe Nemechek's 23.764 third, Mark Martin's 23.794 fourth and Kurt Busch's 23.828 fifth. Rusty's brief time on the track in qualifying trim produced a fast lap of 24.121 seconds, which was 12th fastest for most of the session before falling to 20th at the conclusion of practice.

The Busch Series qualifying ran long and it wasn't until 4:30 p.m. until Nemehek kicked off the Winston Cup session. He turned in a 23.792, but Johnny Bensson, second up, turned in a 23.689 to post the early going.

That held the point until Dave Blaney, out 18th in the order, turned in a 23.669. Blaney then waited it out as the remaining 25 drivers took their shots at knocking him off the pole. Ryan clocked in with a disappointing 23.861, while Rusty was a factor with his 23.856.

The session ended near darkness with Blaney earning his first career pole. Benson will start Sunday's race on the outside of the front row. Mark Martin starts third, with Sterling Marlin fourth and Bill Elliott fifth. Ricky Craven goes sixth, Jamie McMurray starts seventh, Rusty goes eighth, Dale Jarrett starts ninth and Bobby Labonte rounded out the top 10 qualifiers. Ryan will start from the 21st starting spot.

Sunday's 393-lap, 400-mile Subway 400 is scheduled to start at 1:00 p.m. EST and features live coverage by FOX-TV and MRN Radio.

RUSTY'S QUOTES:

RUSTY WALLACE - "Hey, I'd hoped that the scratched the whole qualifying deal and just go ny points, but it turned out about the same for us, didn't it? We wound up eighth. We used most of the hour practice we had in race trim because the picture don't look too good at all as far as the weather goes for here tomorrow. As for our qualifying, the car felt good, it stuck really good. It was a little on the loose side, but the car was really turny and that was good. It'll be nice to start up there for my 600th career start here on Sunday."