WALLACE CAN'T WAIT TO SHOW "NEW CAR" STRENGTH AT LOUDON
-Miller Lite Dodge Driver Remembers Inaugural New Hampshire Int'l Speedway Win 10 Years Ago-

LOUDON, N.H. (July 14, 2003) - Miller Lite Team Penske Dodge driver Rusty Wallace posted his best New Hampshire finish in four years in last year's New England 300, a fourth, and he is looking to better that in this weekend's edition of the race on the 1.058-mile track.

"We won't be happy until we get back to that same place we were at New Hampshire 10 years ago," said Wallace, referring to his win in the inaugural Winston Cup Series visit to the track back on July 11, 1993. "We had a really strong car there last July and what we're bringing back this time around should be quite a bit stronger."

That last statement may sound strange, considering Wallace and his Bill Wilburn-led team are returning to NHIS with their PC-49 chassis and the record book shows that Wallace and crew raced that same chassis there in both races last season.

"It's the same chassis, but that's all you can say in that regard," explained Wilburn. "We ran it at New Hampshire and Martinsville last year with the Ford sheet metal and then changed it over to the Dodge Intrepid body this year. We raced it at Martinsville, led some laps and came out of there with a top 10 finish (started fifth, led 13 laps and finished eighth). But we knew this car could be even stronger on these flatter tracks.

"The car was taken out of rotation after the Martinsville race," Wilburn continued. "That's the only race we've used it in. Since then, that Dodge body was cut off and the thing has been completely stripped down. We started basically from scratch with the rolling chassis and went from there with this new version of the 49 car we're bringing to Loudon.

"This new rendition has the best short-track body we've ever had on a car in my opinion. The old body was great on drag, but terrible on downforce. This new car will have the most downforce we've ever had in a short-track car and it definitely has the wind tunnel numbers to back that up. I know Rusty's all jacked up about it and he can't wait to get back to Loudon and race this car."

While he has been known for his rather harsh criticism of this track in the past, perhaps it is a "kinder and gentler" Rusty Wallace who is returning to NHIS with a record that sports one win, six top-five finishes, 10 top-10 positions and two poles in 16 prior visits to the track.

"Yeah, I've been pretty hard on Bob Bahre and his guys at Loudon, but I think a lot of that stuff was taken out of context," Wallace offered. "Some of the guys just kind of picked and chose what they wanted out of what all I said about the place and went with that in their stories. The bottom line is that through all the years, you've gotta' hand it to Mr. Bahre and his family for trying. They've had problems with the surface and the layout and nobody can say that they just sat idle and didn't listen. They've really reacted and they keep on trying to make it the best track that they can.

"They've made a lot of physical changes to the place and have promised to have the (SAFER) barriers up in all the turns by the September race, so I applaud them for taking the actions that they have."

What about the inaugural race at NHIS, an event that saw Wallace start way back in the 33rd spot and still wind up in Victory Lane at the end of the day?

"That was a really cool deal, no doubt about that," Wallace said. "Buddy Parrott was the crew chief back then and we were really rocking and rolling. I screwed up in qualifying and we wound up starting the thing way back in the pack. Buddy chose to pit way down there in the last spot on pit road, sort of like back there in our own zone. When the race got under way, we really were in our own zone. The car was flying and we zoomed right on up there through the field. The pit stops were unbelievable all day and we kicked some major butt. Probably one of the biggest things to me that day was the fact that Davey Allison had a great day going there, too, and he finished third. He'd led until a late caution flag stop and we beat him out of the pits. When we won the thing, he drove up there beside me and gave me the thumbs-up sign. It's probably the last mental picture I have of Davey because it was just a couple of days later that he died after having the chopper crash down there at Talladega."

In last year's race, Wallace started third and finished fourth. He led early in the race for 59 laps and the car proved strong enough to make up almost two laps lost when he was forced to pit under green for a flat tire.

"I tell you what, we had a great car there last July," Wallace said. "We had the tire go down and caught a break when (Matt) Kenseth worked with us to help get the lap back. He worked well with us that day and we made it a point that we'd pay him back on down the road. We led the first 60 or 70 laps. We had a really good hot-rod all day long. The car was capable of winning the race if we could have gotten the track position the way we needed. I was real happy with the way it handled and the pit stops were good all race long. It was just a good solid day and we're hoping to get back there and be even better this time around."

Qualifying to set the 43-car field is set for Friday at 3:05 p.m. The New England 300 will take the green flag on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. EST. The 300-lap, 317.4-mile race will air live on TNT-TV and MRN Radio will provide live radio coverage.
* * *

-Rusty Wallace Career Track Records-
NEW HAMPSHIRE INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
(1.058-Mile)
Date Event Car St Fn Laps $ Won Status
7/21/02 New England 300 Ford 3 4 300/300 $120,525 Running
9/15/02 New Hampshire 300 Ford 15 19 207/207 90,425 Running
7/22/01 New England 300 Ford 23 43 11/300 83,791 Engine
11/23/01 New Hampshire 300 Ford 9 18 298/300 84,615 Running
7/9/00 New England 300 Ford 1 15 272/273 67,025 Running
9/17/00 Dura-Lube 300 Ford 5 5 300/300 72,425 Running
7/11/99 Jiffy Lube 300 Ford 2 42 144/300 55,000 Accident
9/19/99 Dura-Lube 300 Ford 1 6 300/300 70,825 Running
7/12/98 Jiffy Lube 300 Ford 9 4 300/300 59,725 Running
8/30/98 CMT 300 Ford 14 8 300/300 51,350 Running
7/13/97 Jiffy Lube 300 Ford 12 3 300/300 55,525 Running
9/14/97 CMT 300 Ford 33 21 299/300 42,975 Accident
7/14/96 Jiffy Lube 300 Ford 17 7 300/300 30,275 Running
7/9/95 Slick 50 300 Ford 20 6 300/300 30,925 Running
7/10/94 Slick 50 300 Ford 18 3 300/300 38,975 Running
7/11/93 Slick 50 300 Pontiac 33 1 300/300 77,500 Running
Races Wins Top-5 Top-10 Poles $$$$$
New England 300 10 1 5 7 1 $619,716
New Hampshire 300 6 0 1 3 1 412,615
TOTAL 16 1 6 10 2 $1,032,331

Lap Completion Percentage: 4,231/4,389 = 96.4 percent

RUSTY WALLACE/MILLER LITE TEAM PENSKE
2003 RACE RECORD/CAREER STATISTICAL BRIEF

Race Race Name Start Finish Laps comp/ Times Led/
Date Location Pos. Pos. Poss. Laps Laps Led $$$ Won Status/Comment

2/16 Daytona 500 38 25 109/109 0/0 185,625 Running/PC-33 pitted late
Daytona Beach, Fla. for oil on windshield
2/23 Subway 400 8 6 393/393 4/182# 103,710 Running/PC-54 was the
Rockingham, N.C. toughest for 2/3rds race
3/2 UAW/Chrysler 400 25 40 174/267 0/0 92,300 Accident/PC-47 crashed Las Vegas, Nevada by No. 4 in turn 1
3/9 Bass Pro/MBNA 500 7 15 324/325 0/0 88,092 Running/PC-43 slapped
Hampton, Ga. wall racing for 5th
3/16 Carolina Dodge 400 13 16 291/293 0/0 83,827 Running/PC-29 tough, but
Darlington, S.C. caution put 2 laps down
3/23 Food City 500 4 14 498/500 1/5 99,882 Running/New PC-60 lost
Bristol, Tenn. 2 laps on green pit stop
3/30 Samsung/R. Shack 500 10 14 333/334 0/0 126,692 Running/PC-51 again
Justin, Texas bitten after green stop
4/6 Aaron's 499 31 37 12/188 0/0 101,567 Accident/PC-33 caught
Talladega, Ala. in lap 4crash/returned
4/13 Virginia 500 5 8 500/500 1/13 91,217 Running/PC-49 tough;
Martinsville, Va. Great stops, then bad
4/27 Auto Club 500 7 3 250/250 2/54 146,917 Running/PC-51 was in
Fontana, Calif. a position to win
5/3 Pontiac 400 17 10 392/392 0/0 91,942 Running/New PC-57
Richmond, Va. Came back from run-in
5/25 Coca-Cola 600 34 12 275/276 0/0 117,542 Running/PC-43 hampered
Concord, N.C. by lug problem & rain
6/1 MBNA Family 400 2 6 400/400 1/41 110,097 Running/PC-54 tough
Dover, Delaware but tick too tight
6/8 Pocono 500 27 16 200/200 0/0 84,957 Running/PC-34 tight
Long Pond, Pa. with no practice
6/15 Sirius 400 17 12 200/200 0/0 93,457 Running/PC-51 was
Brooklyn, Mich. loose most of race
6/22 Dodge/Save Mart 350 7 8 110/110 0/0 99,482 Run ning/PC-39 spun
Sonoma, Calif. Then used fuel mileage
7/5 Pepsi 400 38 28 159/160 0/0 102,592 Running/New PC-58
Daytona Beach, Fla. damaged on pit road
7/13 Tropicana 400 22 32 249/267 0/0 96,042 Running/PC-43 up to 2nd
Joliet, Ill. changed transmissions

# led most laps

2003 Season Recap: (points events)
Races Led/
Times Led/
Starts Wins Top-5s Top-10s Poles Laps Led Points Information
18 0 1 7 0 5/9/295 11th/2,086/-592 to 1st (#17)

Lap Completion Percentage 2002 Winnings Average Start: 17.3
4,869/5,164 = 94.3% $2,052,298 Average Finish: 16.8
DNFs: 2

Career Brief:

Starts Wins Top-5s Top-10s Poles Career $$$ Won
616 54 190 315 36 $36,401,694