RACE DAY REPORT
PEPSI 400
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY, DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA
SATURDAY, JULY 5, 2003

PRE-RACE NOTES &
RACE INFORMATION:

With Rusty starting in the 38th spot here tonight, he'll playing catch up from the drop of the green. With Friday's piston problems and engine change prior to qualifying, Rusty will have to drop to the rear prior to the drop of the green flag.

"Well, at least there won't be too far to fall back," joked Bill Wilburn, Rusty's crew chief, in the garage area shortly after it opened at 1:00 p.m. here this afternoon. "Seriously, just like I told Rusty the other night, we've done it before - come straight from the back to the front - and we can do it again. We started way back there here last year and still came home second. We just need to miss anything that happens until we can work our way to the front. We'll be strong enough to move up there, mark my work on that."

For the record, Rusty started 37th in last year's Pepsi 400 and he did come home in the runner-up finishing spot for his best ever Daytona finish. He was strong enough to move from the rear all the way up to the 11th spot after only three laps.

In yesterday's final practice sessions, the Penske cars showed much potential. Rusty actually clocked in with the fourth fastest lap in both sessions. Both Rusty and teammate Ryan Newman are confident that they can be there at the end of the race battling it out with pre-race favorites, the DEI cars of Michael Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Quite an unusual situation unfolded as for the pit road layout for tonight's race. With the acceleration rate for restrictor-plate motors being so slow, none of the fast qualifiers chose the front spots on pit road. When they were all finally doled out, Ryan and his Matt Borland-led team wound up with the very first spot, while Rusty and his Bill Wilburn-led team pit right next door in the second spot. Jimmy Spencer's team pits just behind Rusty.

The engines were fired at 7:37 p.m. and the field rolled off pit road at 7:40 p.m. After three parade laps, the green flag flew at 7:49 p.m.

Kevin Harvick muscled around pole-winner and teammate Steve Park to take the lead on lap one.

After 10 laps, it was Harvick leading, with Jeff Gordon second, Elliott Sadler third, Jimmie Johnson fourth and Tony Stewart fifth. Rusty was 24th and Ryan 25th.

The DEI cars began to show their strength and were up to fourth and fifth at lap 30. Ryan was reporting that his car just didn't have any grip in the turns, but it was a "rocket ship" down the straight-aways. Rusty reported that his car was a bit pushy and needed adjustments via wedge and an air pressure adjustment to the right rear tire.

The first round of green flag stops began on lap 32. Rusty, running seventh at the time, hit pit road on lap 35 for four tires, fuel and the adjustments. The time of the stop was 14.91 seconds.

"Half the field went with just right sides only," Bill radioed just before the stops cycled around on lap 39. "Just stay with it and we'll get back up there."

Harvick continued to lead when the stops cycled around and at lap 50, it was his Chevy running just in front of Waltrip and Earnhardt's Chevrolets, with Matt Kenseth's Ford fourth and Robby Gordon's Chevy fifth. Rusty was 21st and Ryan 30th.

Waltrip finally cleared Harvick to gain the lead on lap 55 and he held it when Dave Blaney's spun out of turn two on lap 62 to cause the first caution.

When the leaders hit pit road, Rusty had an encounter with Waltrip that saw Rusty's right front fender get caved in on the tire. The end result had Rusty back in the pits a lap later after making his 15.92-second stop. That dropped him from 19th to 39th for the lap 69 restart. Up front it was Sadler leading, with Johnson second, Harvick third, Earnhardt fourth and Waltrip fifth. Ryan was 15th.

Earnhardt powered to the outside of Harvick and into the lead on lap 71. Two laps later, Kurt Busch spun and collected some 10 cars to cause the second yellow of the race. Luckily Ryan and Rusty avoided any contact. Both Penske cars pitted for fuel under the yellow.

Earnhardt held the lead for the lap 80 restart, with Waltrip second, Sadler third, Harvick fourth and Mark Martin fifth. Ryan was 13th and Rusty 16th.

The top 16 cars were running single file at lap 100, with the DEI cars still controlling the pace. Ryan was reporting a loose condition, while Rusty's car just wasn't up to snuff after the mishap on pit road.

Green flag stops began again on lap 101. Ryan hit pit road just behind the DEI cars on lap 102. Rusty hit pit road on lap 110 for right side tires and fuel.

Bobby Labonte was up front when the stops cycled around on lap 125. Earnhardt was second, with Greg Biffle third, Terry Labonte fourth, Waltrip fifth and Harvick sixth.

Earnhardt was back in the lead on lap 126, but he was among the masses, including Ryan and Rusty, who would have to pit again for fuel before the end of the race.

Rusty hit the pits for the final time on lap 140 for fuel and right side tires, just before the DEI cars pitted for enough fuel to go the distance. They fell to 15th and 16th after their stops.

Rookie Biffle inherited the lead and was attempting to go the final 41 laps on his last tank of fuel. Bobby Labonte, too, was attempting to stretch his fuel mileage.

Labonte pulled up to threaten Biffle over the final five laps, but fell off the pace on the final circuit as he ran out of fuel. That allowed Biffle to pull out the upset win of the year. He won in only his 23rd career Winston Cup start and became the first rookie driver to ever win at Daytona.

Jeff Burton used fuel mileage to come home second, as did Ricky Rudd in third, Terry Labonte in fourth and Bobby Labonte, out of fuel as he crossed the line in fifth. Points-leader Matt Kenseth was sixth, with Earnhardt seventh, Jeremy Mayfield eighth, Harvick ninth and Dale Jarrett 10th. Waltrip finished 11th, while Ryan was 22nd and Rusty 28th.

Kenseth leads in the points with 2,551, Earnhardt is second with 2,371, Gordon third with 2,348, Bobby Labonte fourth with 2,296 and Johnson fifth with 2,079. Rusty fell to ninth with 2,019 points, while Ryan is 16th with 1,833 points.

The NASCAR Winston Cup tour now heads to Chicagoland Speedway for next weekend's running of the Tropicana 400.

POST-RACE QUOTES:

RYAN NEWMAN (No. 12 ALLTEL Dodge Intrepid)
"We fought for track position all night. The car was great down the straightaway, but it wouldn't do what we needed it to do in the corners. It wouldn't handle in the corners. We were off on fuel mileage and a couple of other things."

RUSTY WALLACE (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Intrepid)
"We came up through the field pretty fast to start the race, and then we had some problems on pit road. We bent in the right front fender and had to come back into the pits to get the fender off the tire. The thing just was never as good after that happened. We had to pit there with 20 to go and that was just about it for us. It's not the finish we were hoping for, but that's the way these fuel mileage races go. We'll try it again next week."