RUSTY WALLACE KNOWS WHAT IT TAKES TO WIN AT MICHIGAN;
MILLER LITE DODGE TEAM HOPES FOR MORE M.I.S. MAGIC
-Five-Time Winner At Michigan International Speedway Cites A "3M Recipe" For Success-

BROOKLYN, Mich. (June 10, 2003) - According to Miller Lite Team Penske Dodge driver Rusty Wallace, the key to success on the 2.0-mile Michigan International Speedway can be laid squarely on the shoulders of 3M.

No, this is not one of Wallace's latest endorsement deals coming from the Minnesota-based conglomerate. Instead, it is Wallace's "Cliff Notes" version of what it takes to get the job done on the wide, fast and demanding Irish Hills area oval race track. He hopes that his team can utilize the recipe to win Sunday's Sirius Satellite 400 and break his winless streak that now is up to 76 races.

"Motor, machine (handling) and mileage, that about sums it up," said Wallace, a five-time winner at MIS. "Those are the vital ingredients to winning races at Michigan and we've used 'em all at one time or another through the years to come home the winner there.

"Through the years, we've definitely had some really strong hot rods under us at Michigan and the guys in the engine room have given me some flat out stump-pulling engines, that's for sure," Wallace recalled. "I remember the win we had with the car we called Mad Max there a few seasons back (in the August 2000 race). "We were out there at one stretch running laps almost three tenths (of a second) faster than the closest other car and most of that was because we could pull everybody else a good 10 car lengths down the straightaways. You pick up that much per lap on a guy and it's pretty easy to see how you can build up a straightaway lead like we did in that race."

Among Wallace's wins is the only victory he can recall during his illustrious career that was due to his car getting superb fuel mileage.

"That first race of '96 will always stick out in my mind as being a special win because we won it on fuel mileage," Wallace said. "What's really so unique is that through the years we've lost a ton of races because some other team would get a little bit better mileage. Well, this was the one time that we actually came home the winners that day due to getting the best fuel mileage."

"We weren't 10 laps into the race when Rusty had already commented about the engine being down on power," recalled crew chief Bill Wilburn, who was serving as front tire changer for Wallace during that race. "I remember that we were down on power, but we were able to take advantage of the situation. Robin (Pemberton) was calling the shots from the pits back then and we planned our strategy long before the halfway mark and it all worked out in our favor. We had it nailed right to the lap in making the pit stops work out and we came home the winner with the gas tank almost bone dry. They asked Robin after the race how much fuel we had left and he told them that he wouldn't be afraid to drink all that was left in there."

The Michigan speedway has been the site of several "firsts" during Wallace's 20-year career in stock car racing's most elite tour. He claimed his first career Winston Cup pole in qualifying for the June 1987 race at MIS. His win in the June 1988 event marked his first oval track superspeedway victory.

Wallace's career record at MIS sports five wins, 15 top-five finishes and 20 top-10 finishes in 38 races. His first career Winston Cup pole also rates as his lone top qualifying spot earned at the Michigan track.

Wallace started 25th and finished seventh in last year's Sirius Satellite 400.

"My car was just a little on the tight side all day long," Wallace recalled. " We kept on adjusting it with air pressures and all, but it was tight over there at the end. We stopped on the next-to-last stop -- the one under green -- and took on right side tires. When a bunch of them pitted there before the restart, I called for lefts. That kind of balanced us out and helped the handling and probably got us a few spots further up at the finish."

Friday's 3:05 p.m. single round of two-lap qualifying will establish the 43-car starting field for Sunday's race. Saturday's final "happy hour" practice session is scheduled for 11:15 a.m. till 12:00 noon. Sunday's Sirius Satellite 400 features live broadcasts by Fox-TV and MRN radio beginning at 12:30 p.m. EDT.


Notes of interest:

--Even though Rusty will not be able to be on hand (due to a scheduled appearance for Goodyear at the Nashville Fairgrounds race track) when 16-year-old son Stephen makes his late model racing debut this Saturday night in the UARA feature at Hickory Motor Speedway, young Wallace should have some good help in his pits.

Among them will be Rob Fuller, the rear tire changer for Rusty's Miller Lite Team Penske Winston Cup effort. The 29-year-old Boylston, Mass. native, who is known as one of the best tire changers in the business, is also an aspiring driver in the late model series at Concord (N.C.) Motorsports Park. Fuller currently sits sixth in points at Concord, but will miss this Saturday night's action there in order to assist Stephen with his effort at Hickory.

"Steve's been coming with me to Concord and helping me out with my late model and I've been over to Hickory with him to practice," said Fuller, who won the pole a couple of weeks back at Concord and has some top-five finishes this season. "It's such a big deal for Stephen that I decided to miss the Concord show this week. Steve's got a lot of talent and I expect him to do really well. I'll try to keep him calm and not let the pressure get to him.

"I hope everyone can keep it in proper perspective as to what happens this weekend," Fuller continued. "Steve has been there testing and logging laps, but he's been the only driver out there on the track. There will be 25 or so others out there this time around. He's been practicing with a track tire that's much softer than the tire that the UARA runs, so he'll have to adapt to that. The lap times shouldn't be as fast as what he's been practicing at with the softer tire. Like I said, he has a ton of talent, but people should be realistic and not expect immediate success. There's going to be a learning curve no matter what kind of racing you are doing and that will be the same deal with Stephen."

For additional information concerning Hickory Motor Speedway, contact Sherry Clifton at (828) 291-3750 or at sclifton@sandtech.net. For additional information concerning the UARA series, contact Karen Schulz at (704) 682-1474 or at kschulz@yadtel.net.

--Rusty and crew are racing the PC-51 this weekend at Michigan. It is the car that debuted last August with a runner-up finish in the Brickyard 400 at Indy. It was last raced at California back in April where Rusty started seventh and finished a strong third.

-Rusty Wallace Career Track Records-
MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
(2.0 miles)
Date Event Car St Fn Laps $ Won Status
6/16/02 Sirius Satellite 400 Ford 25 7 200/200 $94,790 Running
8/18/02 Pepsi 400 Ford 37 24 200/200 87,015 Running

6/10/01 Kmart 400 Ford 18 41 118/200 79,940 Running
8/19/01 Pepsi 400 Ford 14 17 162/162 83,330 Running

6/11/00 Kmart 400 Ford 4 7 194/194 49,625 Running
8/20/00 Pepsi 400 Ford 10 1 200/200 110,460 Running

6/13/99 Kmart 400 Ford 13 12 198/200 42,200 Running
8/22/99 Pepsi 400 Ford 10 16 200/200 39,190 Running

6/14/98 Miller Lite 400 Ford 3 17 199/200 36,900 Running
8/16/98 Pepsi 400 Ford 11 23 198/200 33,965 Running

6/15/97 Miller 400 Ford 19 29 197/200 32,505 Fuel Out
8/17/97 DeVilbiss 400 Ford 43 13 200/200 36,165 Running

623/96 Miller 400 Ford 18 1 200/200 71,380 Running
8/18/96 GM Goodwrench 400 Ford 20 39 77/200 28,615 Engine

6/18/95 MGD 400 Ford 5 3 200/200 44,780 Running
8/20/95 GM Goodwrench 400 Ford 24 5 200/200 37,690 Running

6/19/94 MGD 400 Ford 5 1 200/200 66,980 Running
8/21/94 GM Goodwrench 400 Ford 7 4 200/200 34,070 Running
6/20/93 MGD 400 Pontiac 15 5 200/200 26,160 Running
8/15/93 Champion 400 Pontiac 10 6 200/200 24,115 Running
6/21/92 MGD 400 Pontiac 8 37 69/200 13,465 Cranksh.
8/16/92 Champion 400 Pontiac 33 21 198/200 15,040 Running
6/23/91 MGD 400 Pontiac 23 17 198/200 6,925 Running
8/18/91 Champion 400 Pontiac 9 3 200/200 23,600 Running
6/24/90 MGD 400 Pontiac 3 17 200/200 18,400 Running
8/19/90 Champion 400 Pontiac 6 3 200/200 33,900 Running
6/25/89 Miller 400 Pontiac 9 2 200/200 53,025 Running
8/20/89 Champion 400 Pontiac 2 1 200/200 67,900 Running
6/26/88 Miller 400 Pontiac 5 1 200/200 64,100 Running
8/21/88 Champion 400 Pontiac 7 2 200/200 37,200 Running
6/28/87 Miller 400 Pontiac 1 5 200/200 25,150 Running
8/16/87 Champion 400 Pontiac 20 4 200/200 20,650 Running
6/15/86 Miller 400 Pontiac 7 19 195/200 9,860 Running
8/17/86 Champion 400 Pontiac 7 6 199/200 12,525 Running
6/16/85 Miller 400 Pontiac 13 26 194/200 5,635 Running
8/11/85 Champion 400 Pontiac 26 7 199/200 11,395 Running
6/17/84 Miller 400 Pontiac 11 14 199/200 7,965 Running
8/12/84 Champion 400 Pontiac 8 35 93/200 2,715 Engine

Races Wins Top-5 Top-10 Poles $$$$$
Sirius Satellite 400 19 3 7 9 1 $749,785
Pepsi 400 19 2 8 11 0 739,540

TOTAL 38 5 15 20 1 $1,489,325

Lap completion percentage: 7,087/7,556 = 93.8%

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

# led most laps

2003 Season Recap: (points events)
Races Led/
Times Led/
Starts Wins Top-5s Top-10s Poles Laps Led Points Information
14 0 1 6 0 5/9/295 8th/1,671/-444 to 1st (#17)

Lap Completion Percentage 2002 Winnings Average Start: 17.0
4,151/4,427 = 93.8% $1,567,268 Average Finish: 16.4
DNFs: 2

Career Brief:

Starts Wins Top-5s Top-10s Poles Career $$$ Won
612 54 190 314 36 $36,010,121