"THERE IS ALWAYS A FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING,"
SAYS MILLER LITE TEAM PENSKE DODGE DRIVER RUSTY WALLACE
-Maybe Even A First Wallace Win At The Historical Old Darlington Raceway-



DARLINGTON, S.C. (March 12, 2003) - As the NASCAR Winston Cup tour heads to South Carolina's Darlington Raceway for this weekend's Carolina Dodge Dealers 400, much talk will center on the fate of the track whose history with NASCAR dates all the way back to 1950. That ranks it first among today's participating tracks to host top-level NASCAR racing,

But perhaps that's only natural for a track located in a state with so many historical firsts. After all, South Carolina has the distinction of being the first independent government formed among American colonies (March 1776). It was the first state to succeed from the Union (December 20, 1860). And, it was the site of the first shot fired in the Civil War (Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor on April 12, 1861.

One historical first that has yet to occur in South Carolina and at Darlington Raceway in particular is a race win by Miller Lite Team Penske Dodge driver Rusty Wallace. Entering this weekend's battle, his 39th career race on the treacherous 1.366-mile egg-shaped track, Wallace is hoping to change that fact.

"There is always a first time for everything," says Wallace, who is looking for career win No. 55 entering this weekend. "Maybe this Sunday holds our first-ever Darlington win; you never know. We're definitely going in there with the attitude that we certainly can win the thing, that's for sure. It would be extra gratifying to get the first win for Dodge this year, too.

"We've had so many great runs there that's it is kinda' weird that we haven't won one of 'em yet. We've certainly been close through the years, so close that you could taste it. Maybe racing there the very first time with the Dodge, which will be the case there this weekend, will bring us that little bit of luck we've needed to finally get over the hump and put her in Victory Lane."

Even though he is still trying to break into the Darlington Raceway win column after 19 years, Wallace's career record at the track sports 11 top-five finishes and 20 top-10 finishes.

Wallace's first Darlington top-five finish came, as unlikely as it might seem, in his first run in the prestigious Southern 500, held annually on Labor Day weekend. He recalls that race as if it was yesterday.

"We started Cliff Stewart's Pontiac in the top 20 (started 18th) and back then that was a pretty impressive starting spot for a rookie driver, especially on a track that is know to be as tough as Darlington," said Wallace of the Sept. 2, 1984 Southern 500. "We got out there and ran our own race, stayed out of trouble and came home fourth. I'd always heard that it was a case of survival, that you raced the track first and not the other competitors. That was the plan I used that day and it worked. I remember that Harry Gant cane home the winner and we were proud to finish fourth. Back then, they made a big deal out of being the highest-finishing rookie in the race and they even had a special trophy for it. We were so proud of that accomplishment back then

The record book shows that Wallace went on to run Pontiacs in a total of 20 races. During that period, he posted eight top-five finishes including a pair of seconds; his best finishes to date at the track. He had a total of 11 top-10 finishes in Pontiacs.

His Penske Racing South team switched to Fords for 1994 and ran them until the conclusion of last season. During those 18 races, he recorded three top-fives and eight top-10 finishes. Third-place finishes in the fall race of 1995 and the spring race of 1998 rate as his best efforts in Fords.

Wallace started 18th and finished seventh in last year's Carolina Dodge Dealers 400. He started sixth and finished 22nd in last September's race.

"In the spring Darlington race, I had a really fast race car the second half of the race," Wallace recalled. "At the beginning, I was so loose I couldn't touch the gas pedal. We kept making really big adjustments and finally got it a lot tighter, but I still needed a better setup to have been in a position to win. In the fall race, it was one of those deals where you wish you would have made another call. The bottom line is that we should have pitted there on the final yellow and taken on tires. We got tires at about lap 300 and then just did what the leaders did. My car just got too loose and it was all I could do to hang on. When everybody behind us pitted for tires toward the end, we had nowhere to go but back. Darlington is probably the worst place on tires and we should have stuck by pitting for tires even if we didn't have but 10 laps on them. We didn't and it bit us really bad. We had a solid top-10 - maybe even a top-five car - and not getting those tires really cost us."

Sunday's Carolina Dodge Dealers 400, the fifth of 36 scheduled races on the 2003 schedule, will take the green flag at 1:00 p.m. EST. The 400-mile, 293-lap race will feature live broadcasts by FOX-TV and MRN Radio.