RUSTY WALLACE/MILLER LITE TEAM PENSKE NOTES & QUOTES ENTERING LAS VEGAS UAW-DAIMLER/CHRYSLER 400

LAS VEGAS (Feb. 26, 2003) - The latest news from Rusty Wallace and his Miller Lite Team Penske Dodge team entering this weekend's UAW-Daimler/Chrysler 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

"BEST SHOT YET" AT VEGAS WIN - "We're all really pumped up this time going into Las Vegas," says Miller Lite Dodge driver Rusty Wallace. "To tell you the truth, I think it's our best shot yet of winning there and the switch to Dodge has a lot to do with that.

"We finished third out there the first year (in 1998) and it's kind of leveled off for us since then. We've been mediocre and not in a position to challenge for the win. I think the Dodge will perform exceptionally well this weekend. Las Vegas is a track that's big on downforce and horsepower and I'm confident that we'll be bringing a six-shooter to the gunfight there this weekend.

"Sterling (Marlin) showed how strong the Dodge can be by winning the thing last year," said Wallace, who started 38th and finished 11th at Las Vegas last year. "We really look at it as our best opportunity yet to win at Vegas. We have a strong hot rod ready, that's for sure."

Wallace and his Bill Wilburn-led team will be racing the PC-47 chassis this weekend at Las Vegas. The car debuted in Ford sheet metal last June at Pocono, where Wallace started fifth and finished ninth. The only other race it ran before undergoing the transformation to a Dodge was the July Pocono race where Wallace was involved in an early crash and finished 40th.

This weekend's schedule at Las Vegas calls for Friday practice from 11:20 a.m. until 1:20 p.m. local time, followed by qualifying at 3:05 p.m. Saturday's final practice is scheduled from 11:10 till 11:55 a.m. Sunday's 267-lap, 400.5-mile race around the 1.5-mile oval starts at 12:00 noon local time (3:00 p.m. EST) and features live coverage by FOX-TV and PRN Radio beginning 30 minutes earlier.

BILL WILBURN CONTINUING DUAL ROLES - He's good at it, so proficient that driver Rusty Wallace labels him as, "still the best in the business," but he is hoping to lay down his guns real soon.

Miller Lite Team Penske Dodge crew chief Bill Wilburn will continue to serve as crew chief and front tire changer this weekend at Las Vegas, but he is actively seeking a replacement for his "over-the-wall" duties.

"Me changing the front tires, well that's temporary," said Wilburn, who was a multi-year All-Pro front tire changer for Wallace before being elevated to crew chief last season. "We're still looking at it and we'll have someone else on the fronts sooner or later. I guess the word temporary can mean a lot of things. In our case, it means until we can get the right guy for the job."

Wallace's over-the-wall gang averaged 14.682 seconds during its eight four-tires-and-fuel stops last Sunday at Rockingham. Even though the team did not have the greatest of pit road work locations, Wallace emerged from the pits in first or second in every occasion.

In addition to Wilburn, Wallace's current over-the-wall gang includes rear tire changer Rob Fuller, tire carriers Dave Littau and David Doyle, gas man Doug Ingold, gas catch man Mike Ehret and jack man Tim Boatwright.

WALLACE COMMENTS ON FUTURE SCHEDULE - "I say this many times about many things and many situations, but I think they (NASCAR) have to look at it and go with quality and not quantity," says Miller Lite Dodge driver Rusty Wallace on pending schedule changes in the future. "We need to get this thing trimmed down to that magic number of 30 to 32 races. I know they'll say that I might just be dreaming when they hear that I said that, but I'll continue to voice my opinion when it comes to cutting back on the number of races we're running.

"They asked me about Rockingham losing a race when we were there last weekend and they'll be asking about Darlington losing a race when we go there in a couple of weeks, won't they? Well, again I go back to the quality, not quantity deal. The big problem with all of that is that the date one track loses will just wind up going somewhere else and instead of racing somewhere near home, we're off racing somewhere else a thousand miles away and still wind up running way too many races."

-Rusty Wallace Career Track Records-
LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
(1.5 miles)

-Rusty Wallace Career Track Records-
OVERALL STATISTICS

Lap completion percentage: 78.7%
(957 laps completed / 1,216 total laps)