RACE DAY REPORT
DODGE/SAVE MART 350
INFINEON RACEWAY - SONOMA, CALIFORNIA
SUNDAY, JUNE 22, 2003

PRE-RACE NOTES &
RACE INFORMATION:

Kurt Busch was fastest in yesterday morning's early practice. Rusty clocked in with the 12th-fastest lap and Penske teammate Ryan Newman was 14th. In the final "Happy Hour" session, pole-winner Boris Said was fastest and Ryan bounced back to post the second-fastest lap. Rusty again was 12th on the speed chart.

"They're both fast, they'll be up front and they're confident they have cars that can win," noted team co-owner Don Miller of the No. 2 and No. 12 cars as he discussed this afternoon's race with Fox-TV reporter/Speedway Illustrated editor Dick Berggren in the garage area this morning. "As for the 'ringers,' when we get going with the pit stops and all, that usually separates them from the regular guys. But my gosh, just look at those guys starting there up front. It could be the day of a shocker."

Don's comments concerned the non-regular or "ringer" drivers who start today's race up front, most notably road racers Said who is on the pole and Ron Fellows, who starts third on the grid in today's 350-kilometer battle.

As is most always the case during the annual trek out here, it was definitely not a case of all work and no play. Many of the crew members came out early and brought family members with them. Several teams could be seen carrying cases of wine onto their transporters, proof that many took the opportunity to visit the fine wineries located in the Napa and Sonoma Valleys.

Rusty had the opportunity to head out to the golf course yesterday afternoon after practice. There is a brand new course located just on the south side of Route 37 between the track and Novato and that was the course of choice. His party included the likes of Michael Waltrip, Goodyear's Phil Holmer, Oakley's Todd Hayes and RWI marketing chief Tom Knox.

As for the pit road layout for today's race, pole-winner Said and his Ryan Pemberton-led team chose the first pit spot. Second-fastest qualifier Robby Gordon pits behind him. Rusty and his Bill Wilburn-led team, who start seventh today, pit in the sixth spot. The Bobby Labonte team pits in front, while Ryan and his Matt Borland-led team, who start 13th, pit behind. The Mark Martin team pits behind Ryan. It is interesting that Jeff Gordon, now the leading road course winner with seven victories, chose to pit from the very end - the 43rd - pit spot.

It was absolutely picture-perfect weather here at 12:56 p.m. when the engines were fired on pit road. The cars rolled off at 1:01 p.m. and the green flag flew starting the race at 1:07 p.m.

Pole-winner Said led the first lap, before Robby Gordon flexed his muscle to grab the lead on lap two. Jeff Gordon was the man on the move in the early going as he cleared Rusty for the seventh spot on lap 10. Up front, Robby Gordon enjoyed a 2.0-second lead over second-place Kevin Harvick.

At lap 25 the order was the same up front, with Rusty running seventh after getting around Matt Kenseth and Ryan back in 13th.

The first round of green flag stops began on lap 30 and leader Robby Gordon pitted on lap 31. Rusty hit pit road two laps later (four tires, minus a pound out of the rears and a quarter inch down on the track bar in 14.822 seconds). Ryan hit pit road the following lap (for identical service in 15.445 seconds).

The first yellow of the race flew on lap 36 when Kenseth shredded a tire entering turn 11 and left debris on the track. The leaders had already pitted and the lineup for the lap 41 restart saw Robby Gordon leading, with Harvick second, Fellows third, Jeff Gordon fourth, Said fifth, Kurt Busch sixth, Rusty seventh, Scott Pruett eighth, Dale Earnhardt Jr. ninth and Jeff Burton 10th. Ryan was 14th at the time.

Rusty and Busch banged each other hard on lap 46 when Rusty grabbed the sixth position.

Christian Fittipaldi stalled off the track on lap 51 to bring out the second yellow flag of the race.

"Man, I started losing my front brakes there when I was banging fenders with Busch," Rusty radioed in during the yellow. "They all of a sudden just started going away."

"You probably just got them overheated there for a while," Bill shot back. "You'll be okay. Just get 'em pumped up real good."

Robby Gordon was again at the point for the lap 54 restart. Harvick, Fellows, Jeff Gordon and Said completed the top five. Rusty was seventh and Ryan 13th.

The front three cars went three-wide into turn 11 on lap 57, with Harvick getting underneath Robby Gordon and Fellows going underneath both of them to grab the lead.

Kyle Petty spun off the track, corrected his car and ran into Jack Sprague in turn seven to bring out the third yellow only two laps later. None of the leaders pitted.

Rusty was seventh and Ryan 12th on the lap 62 restart. Five laps into the run, Rusty momentarily lost his brakes again and this time spun off the track, falling back to the 33rd spot.

He pitted on lap 63 for four tires, fuel and no changes. "That's it, we're going to try to run the distance on fuel, Rusty," Bill radioed just prior to the lap 65 restart.

Fellows go a great lead when Busch triggered a multi-car altercation involving Robby Gordon, Harvick, Pruett, Jeff Burton and others. Ryan got banged up on the right side as he moved past the action.

Green flag stops began again on lap 68. Ryan hit pit road on lap 69 for four tires and fuel in 15.502 seconds.

Fittipaldi crashed into the tire wall in turn 10 on lap 71 to bring out the fifth caution of the race.

Those cars that hadn't pitted before the yellow hit pit road during the yellow. With Rusty already into the fuel-gambling mode, he was second behind Johnny Benson for the lap 75 restart. Ward Burton was third, with Bill Elliott fourth, Robby Gordon fifth, Harvick sixth, Dale Jarrett seventh, Jeff Gordon eighth, Tony Stewart ninth and Jimmy Johnson 10th. Ryan lined up 11th in the order.

Robby Gordon showed how stout his Richard Childress Chevy was as he moved around Rusty for second on lap 79 and then cleared Benson for the lead on lap 80.

"Just go easy on that gas pedal, Rusty," Bill said on lap 81. "If we get a few more caution laps, we think we can make it on fuel."

Bill got his wish when oil on the track brought out caution No. 6 on lap 89. "Just baby that thing real good, Rusty. Save all you can. Be smooth and we'll get us a good finish here today," Bill coached before the lap 92 restart.

Jeff Gordon was able to get around Rusty on lap 93 and then set his sights on the other racing Gordon. Rusty fell victim to wheel-hopping his Dodge on lap 99 and briefly ran off the track. That was enough to allow Harvick, Ellliott, Ryan and Said back around. In a matter of a few yards, Rusty had dropped to seventh and Ryan was up to fifth.

Although Jeff Gordon pressured Robby Gordon for the lead and Ryan was a threat to Elliott for the fourth spot, the top six positions remained the same for the remainder of the race. Fellows was able to get around Rusty for the seventh spot on the next to last lap.

At the checkered flag, it was Robby Gordon by some four car lengths over Jeff Gordon, with Harvick third, Elliott fourth and Ryan fifth. Said, Fellows, Rusty (eighth), Bobby Labonte and Jeremy Mayfield rounded out the top 10 finishers.

Earnhardt finished 11th and gained some points on Kenseth, who finished 14th. However, Jeff Gordon's run vaulted him in front of Earnhardt. So now Kenseth leads with 2,396 points. Jeff Gordon is second with 2,222 and Earnhardt third with 2,220. Bobby Labonte is fourth (2,136), Michael Waltrip fifth (2,024), Busch sixth (2,012), Jimmie Johnson seventh (1,965) and Rusty eighth (1,940). Ryan is 17th with 1,736.

The Winston Cup tour now takes its final free weekend of the 2003 season next weekend before heading to Daytona International Speedway for the Pepsi 400, which kicks off 20 straight weekends of racing.

POST-RACE QUOTES:

RUSTY WALLACE (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Intrepid)
"I wanted to bring it home third because I didn't think Kevin Harvick could get around me. I went into the turn and hit the brake pedal and it went all the way to the floor. I wheel hopped the thing and about spun it out and got off course. We ended up finishing eighth, and for two big disasters that was a pretty good finish. It's good to come out of here with a top 10 finish, but I'm upset at myself because I was driving the car too hard. The brakes were real good all day long, but I was really hustling the car at the end and
messed it up. I thought I was at least going to get a third-place finish after that last restart. We had a really good car. The driver was about 80 percent today.

"We ran 47 laps on fuel and the only thing that saved us was those two caution flags. The same thing happened to me at Watkins Glen last year. There were so many caution flags, and that's what got me in trouble. We just pulled up to the gas pumps and that baby held 21.8 gallons, so there wasn't much left in it. We got lucky and brought it home eighth. I made some mistakes today that I don't usually make, but at least we brought it home."