RACE DAY REPORT
SAMSUNG/RADIO SHACK 500
TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY - JUSTIN, TEXAS
SUNDAY, MARCH 30, 2003

PRE-RACE NOTES &
RACE INFORMATION:

It was a rather long debriefing session for Rusty and his team after the session concluded. "There at the end of the session, we got the car to where it was driving good, but we lost some of the speed somewhere," Rusty told Fort Worth Star-Telegram writer Jeff Wilson. "We lost a couple of tenths and when the session was over, we spent a great deal of time coming up with some changes that we think will make the car faster.

"I've got confidence going in. It's a long race and we'll have a good race car. We'll just have to get after it and go."

In yesterday's final practice sessions, it was Jimmie Johnson atop the speed chart for both outings. However, a blown engine near the end of the final session will see the sophomore driver starting from the rear of the field after changing motors.

Rusty departed the track just before 2:00 p.m. to have a late lunch and rub shoulders with Bell Helicopter officials.

This morning's crisp temperatures down in the 30s quickly warmed up as the morning progressed and the afternoon's forecast calls for highs in the 60s under beautiful sunny skies.

With today's race starting at 12:00 noon local time, that meant the driver and crew chief meeting was an hour earlier than usual - at 10:00 a.m. - just as team owner Roger Penske and chief "lieutenant" Walt Czarnecki arrived at the neighboring Alliance Airport. There was just enough time to grab something to eat and shake a few more hands (a tremendous amount of sponsor representatives are here this weekend showing their support for the teams) before getting suited up and heading out for the 11:30 a.m. driver introductions.

Rusty and his Bill Wilburn-led team pit in the 16th spot up pit road here today. The Terry Labonte team is in front, while the Kurt Busch team pit from behind. Rusty's Penske Racing teammate Ryan Newman and his Matt Borland-led team have the very first pit spot on pit road for today's race.

The engines were fired at 12:03 p.m. and the 43-car field rolled off of pit road at 12:06 p.m. After three parade laps, the green flag waved at 12:12 p.m. Perhaps that was a strange omen of things to come.

Elliott Sadler got a great start to get around and clear pole-winner Bobby Labonte for the lead at the start of the race. But on lap four, it was Bill Elliott underneath and out front.

"It's loose on entry," Rusty radioed in on lap 11. "The track is warmer than it's been all weekend and everybody says their loose right now," Bill said from the pits. "Hang in there and we'll adjust on it."

Elliott had been able to stretch his lead when Jimmy Spencer blew an oil line on lap 12 to bring out the first yellow of the race.

For the lap 18 restart, it was Elliott leading, with Sadler second, Labonte third, Jeff Gordon fourth, Jerry Nadeau fifth, Ryan sixth and Rusty seventh.

Elliott had again built a big lead when Steve Park spun out on the backstretch on lap 41 to cause the second caution. The leaders pitted during the yellow. Rusty went with air pressure adjustments to all tires except the left front. The 14.050-second stop had him up to fourth for the lap 47 restart. It was Elliott leading, with Sadler second, Gordon third, Rusty fourth, Nadeau fifth and Ryan sixth.

One lap later, the day ended for Elliott as his blown engine brought out the third yellow flag of the day.

Sadler controlled the next portion of the race as Ryan moved around all the other cars to apply pressure for the lead, before the car began getting loose around lap 75.

Gordon picked up steam and was the man on the move, getting around Ryan for second on lap 80 and overtaking Sadler for the lead on lap 89.

At lap 100, it was Gordon by seven car lengths on Sadler, with Matt Kenseth in third and 1.8 seconds back. Ryan was fourth, running 2.6 seconds behind, while Rusty was sixth, running 7.2 seconds behind the leader.

Green flag stops were the order and Rusty pitted on lap 104 for four tires and adjustments (plus a pound in the right rear tire and minus a round of wedge). The stop was clocked at 13.521 seconds.

Ryan stayed out until lap 106, leading a lap and picking up the bonus points.

The stops cycled around on lap 112, with Sadler leading by 2.8 seconds over Gordon. Rusty was 10 seconds behind and in sixth spot, with Ryan just behind in seventh.

Ryan got back around Rusty for sixth on lap 117 and on lap 125 was running a tenth of a second faster than anyone. Sadler's pace was fast enough that on lap 145 he held a half-lap lead over 10th-place Kevin Harvick.

A caution for debris on lap 155 closed the pack up once again and all the leaders hit pit road again. Rusty had Doug Ingold put the round of wedge back in that he removed on the earlier stop.

It was Kenseth out front for the lap 161 restart. Sadler was second, with Gordon third, Ryan fourth, Jimmie Johnson fifth, Mark Martin sixth and Rusty seventh.

Sadler's promising performance came to an end when he crashed hard into the inside wall on the backstretch on lap 168 to cause the fifth caution. During the yellow, the cars of Joe Nemechek, Dale Jarrett and Ward Burton were involved in a pit road collision, but all three continued in the race.

Kenseth was able to get another good jump on the lap 179 restart, but Ryan was the man on the move as he passed Gordon for second on lap 180. At lap 200, Kenseth held a 1.1-second lead over Ryan. Gordon was third, with Johnson fourth, Harvick fifth and Rusty sixth (10.4 seconds behind).

"It's too tight; we've gotta free it up," Ryan radioed his crew on lap 215. "Maybe take some bite out and get the track bar down," Matt radioed back.

On lap 220 Rusty got squeezed to the outside by Labonte and Martin and Rusty got some contact with the No. 18 car as another round of green flag stops began.

Rusty had pitted on lap 224, just before Spencer's frontstretch spin brought out the sixth yellow of the afternoon. Ryan was among a handful of drivers who had yet to pit. He had actually been called down pit road, but spotter John Erickson was alert and shouted to stay out.

Ryan and the lead lap cars then pitted under the yellow, while the cars that had pitted under the green remained on the track and lined up in front of the leaders for the lap 232 restart. Labonte, Gordon, Kenseth, Johnson and Rusty were among the group in front of leader Ryan.

Only three laps into the green, Park crashed down the backstretch and collected Mike Skinner to bring out the seventh yellow. That allowed Rusty and the group running in front of Ryan to get back in the lead lap. Now there were 16 drivers running in the lead lap.

For the lap 240 restart, it was Ryan leading, with Jamie McMurray second, Dale Earnhardt Jr. third, Jeff Green fourth and Johnny Benson fifth. Nadeau, Jarrett, Gordon, Kenseth and Johnson rounded out the top 10. Rusty lined up 12th.

Christian Fittipaldi, driving in relief for Kyle Petty tangled with Jarrett in turn four to bring out the eighth yellow on lap 244. Ryan led on the lap 249 restart, with McMurray second, Earnhardt third, Green fourth and Benson fifth. Rusty hit pit road and was 15th on the restart.

Ryan got a great restart, but Labonte tagged the backstretch wall on lap 251 to bring out the ninth caution flag of the race.

Ryan again got a great restart and had a 1.8-second lead over second-place Earnhardt on lap 260. He was stretching it when Nemechek hit the turn four wall on lap 282 to cause the 10th yellow.

All the leaders pitted under the yellow. Ryan took on right sides only, while Earnhardt, Gordon and others grabbed four fresh Goodyears. Rusty took on two tires and was up to eighth for the lap 289 restart.

Earnhardt quickly got around Ryan for the lead on lap 289, but his car started getting tight and Ryan was able to start reeling him in. Meanwhile, Gordon was closing in on both of them.

The best racing of the day saw Ryan chase Earnhardt down and apply the pressure for the lead. On lap 322, Ryan was able to get underneath the No. 8 car and grab the lead. He stretched it out over the final laps as Gordon and Earnhardt went at it for the runner-up spot.

At the finish, it was Ryan, driving the car he named "Daisy," taking a 3.4-second win, with Earnhardt taking second by three feet over Gordon. Nadeau, Martin, Kenseth, Green, Johnson, Busch and McMurray rounded out the top-10 finishers. Todd Bodine was 11th, with Ward Burton 12th, Jarrett 13th, Rusty 14th (one lap down) and Harvick 15th.

Kenseth continues to lead in the points after today's race. He has 1,090 points. Busch is second with 935, Earnhardt third with 924, Michael Waltrip fourth with 898 and Johnson fifth with 885. Ryan moved up to eighth with 848 points and Rusty is up to 14th with 771.

The Winston Cup tour now heads back to the longest track on the circuit, the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway for next weekend's Aaron's 499 action.

POST-RACE QUOTES:

RUSTY WALLACE (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Intrepid)
"First of all, I want to say congratulations to my Penske Racing teammate Ryan Newman and his team for their great performance here this afternoon. They were tough all day long and deserved to win. I know it's a big thrill for Ryan, especially with Mr. Ford (Joe Ford of ALLTEL) and all the sponsors here. As for us, we just can't shake not getting any good luck I guess. We got caught there again with the caution coming out right after we pitted. We had another quick caution and got the lap back. That run-in with the 18 car messed up the aero on the car. The handling just went away there at the end. We'll just have to regroup and go after them hard next week at Talladega."