QUALIFYING DAY REPORT
TROPICANA 400
CHICAGOLAND SPEEDWAY, JOLIET, ILL
FRIDAY, JULY 11, 2003

PRACTICE INFORMATION:

Miller Lite driver Rusty Wallace came into the Chicago area early yesterday and had a full schedule of promotional activity. He visited the USG headquarters to meet employees and sign autographs. Then he had an appearance for Nikon at a local sporting goods store and another appearance for Comcast at a local Dodge dealership. The evening was capped off with an appearance for Miller at the Empress Casino.

This morning, splendid weather greeted the NASCAR Winston Cup Series family as they gathered here at Chicagoland Speedway for this weekend's Tropicana 400. After a band of showers moved through the area last night, the temperatures cooled off considerably. Highs in the mid-70s with only a small chance of afternoon showers are in the forecast for the next few days in this area.

Rusty, who finished 28th last Saturday at Daytona and fell back a spot to ninth in the points, is calling on his PC-43 Dodge Intrepid this weekend here at Chicagoland in his attempt to bounce back and head toward the front of the class. It was last raced at Lowe's Motor Speedway where Rusty started 34th and finished 12th.

In a special promotion for this race, Wallace's Dodge Intrepid will carry a special color scheme honoring the Goo Goo Dolls, the band formed in Buffalo, NY, in 1985. The band has concerts scheduled in the area at the Tweeter Center in Tinley Park tonight and The Metro in Chicago (for Miller Lite) on Saturday.

The action here at the track got under way some 15 minutes later than scheduled when one of the Busch cars blew an engine just when their practice session ended. The Winston Cup drivers were at first a bit reluctant to hit the track and those who went out first took it easy until the oil dry was rubbed in.

At the halfway point of the practice, Rusty had already made a gear change and was 20th on the speed chart with a 30.011 as his fastest lap. Kevin Harvick was fastest at the time with a lap of 29.622 seconds. Tony Stewart's 29.720 was second, Bobby Labonte's 29.739 third, Jeremy Mayfield's 29.750 fourth and rookie Casey Mears' 29.756 fifth. Rusty's Penske Racing teammate Ryan Newman was 14th with a 29.906.

NASCAR officials gave the teams an extra five minutes of practice because of the late start. At the conclusion, it was Jimmie Johnson atop the speed chart with his lap of 29.324 seconds. Teammate Jeff Gordon's 29.376 was second, Stewart's 29.404 third, Joe Nemechek's 29.460 fourth and Mears' 29.520 fifth. Ryan was 12th with a 29.622, while Rusty was 27th with a 29.850.

The qualifying order for the 3:05 p.m. single time trial session shows Rusty out second of 44 cars. Johnson is out 10th, Ryan goes 23rd and Jeff Gordon is out late, scheduled out 38th in the order.

It appeared that the slight chance for rain in the area grew as the day progressed and dark clouds moved in from the west when Busch Series qualifying began. At 2:30 p.m., the skies were overcast and light sprinkles were falling, but not heavy enough to halt the action.

The Busch Series was able to get their qualifying session in before the weather turned for the worse. Just five minutes prior to Tony Raines kicking off the Winston Cup qualifying session, heavy rain hit the track. Officials ordered the cars covered and the plan was to begin the session when the rain ended and track crews could get the surface back in shape to race. The next 15 minutes produced a total deluge along with hail.

"Maybe the weather will work in our favor and we'll start this thing in ninth," Rusty's crew chief Bill Wilburn said in the transporter, indicating what would happen if officials called off qualifying and opted to set the field by car owner points. "We were going to have to pick up a ton to get up there and qualify in the top 10 and this would be the easiest way to get there."

Bill did not get his wish as the clouds gave way for more sunshine and the track drying process went much faster than most insiders thought.

The drivers were back at their cars just after 4:30 p.m. and the first car rolled at 4:45 p.m. Rusty's 29.738 (181.586 mph) was a nice surprise and held the point until Elliott Sadler, out sixth, turned in a 29.436 (183.449 mph).

"I'm pleased that we picked up like we did and I thought the track was really good," Rusty said on pit road after making his run. "It was surprising that the track came back that soon, but it's going to get faster and faster now that it is cooling off so much. We'll just have to wait and see how our time stacks up."

Rusty knew what he was saying in that the speeds did get faster and faster. By the time the 15th driver had made his run, Rusty's speed was down to ninth fastest. Johnson was a tick off his practice time, but was still fastest after 20 cars had run with his 29.392 (183.723 mph).

Stewart hit the track and grabbed the pole from Johnson with his lap of 29.223 (184.786 mph), establishing a new track qualifying record in the process.

Ryan was out as scheduled and turned in a 29.538 (182.915 mph), which was seventh fastest at the time.

No drivers threatened Stewart or Johnson until the final 10 cars hit the track. The Evernham Dodge Team of Bill Elliott and Jeremy Mayfield made their presence known. Elliott clocked in with a 29.284 (184.401 mph) and Mayfield followed with a 29.365 (183.892 mph) to move them into second and third.

Jeff Gordon took to the track as scheduled and grabbed the outside pole from Elliott with his 29.277 (184.445 mph).

None of the remaining drivers could muster laps to threaten the top three qualifiers, yet Mears was impressive with his fourth-place effort (29.306/184.263 mph).

So Stewart starts Sunday's race on the pole, with Jeff Gordon second, Elliott third, Mears fourth and Mayfield fifth. Johnson, Biffle, Sadler, Dave Blaney, and Jamie McMurray rounded out the top 10 qualifiers. Ryan will go from the 14th spot, while Rusty starts 22nd on the grid.

Sunday's Tropicana 400 has a 2:00 p.m. local (3:00 p.m. EDT) starting time and features live coverage by NBC-TV and PRN Radio.

RUSTY'S QUOTES:

RUSTY WALLACE: "We picked up a tenth between practice and qualifying and that was good, but getting out there so early wasn't the best position to be in. I knew it was getting cooler and cooler and the track would get faster and faster. The good thing though is that the rain has gone through here and should be out of the picture for the rest of the weekend. Now we'll just get back in here in the morning and get the car handling good in race trim. We should be good for the race, no matter where we start here on Sunday."