Miller Lite Dodge driver Rusty Wallace's impressive run at Bristol, Tenn., last Sunday has been an unbelievable morale booster for Rusty, his team, their fans and everyone involved.

Rusty was into the Dallas/Fort Worth late Wednesday afternoon and he had a full schedule here yesterday. He was the featured speaker at the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce luncheon held here at the Speedway Club. Some 500 guests were on hand and Rusty received much praise from the crowd for last weekend's promising effort.

After coptering off to a Lennox headquarter visit and then a Comcast appearance, Rusty managed to return to the Doral resort and get in eight holes of golf. He was a featured guest at the track's "Fandango" on the frontstretch here early last evening and some 25,000 season ticket holders were on hand.

Rusty spent most of the morning prior to the 11:20 a.m. practice session down in the Busch garage with his Busch Series team. Driver Billy Parker and his Duraflame Dodge team qualified 30th here yesterday and Rusty wanted to help out all he could in the preparation for tomorrow's big race, the second outing of the season for the team.

This 1.5-mile high-banked track is lightning fast - the second fastest on the circuit behind Atlanta - and the big question when practice started was if competitors here today would break into the 27-second bracket. In yesterday's Busch qualifying, young Kyle Busch won the pole as the last driver to hit the track. His time was 28.444 seconds and the NEXTEL Cup cars are expected to go considerably faster here today.

Elliott Sadler certainly had the garage insiders feeling that the 27-second bracket was possible when he clocked in with a 28.148 early in the session.

Rusty was fifth on the board when he turned in a 28.305 on his second run of the day after 30 minutes of practice.

After the first hour of practice had concluded, Jimmie Johnson's 28.104 was atop the speed chart, with Greg Biffle's 28.146 second and Sadler's earlier lap third. Rusty's earlier lap was standing seventh fastest at the time.

Rusty wasn't able to find any additional speed during the final hour of practice, which was extended after Kyle Busch crashed his car in the fourth turn are of the track. When the practice session concluded, it was Casey Mears atop the speed chart with a 28.081-second lap. Biffle's 28.092 was second, Johnson's earlier lap third, Kasey Kahne's 28.134 fourth and Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s 28.139 fifth. Rusty was 15th on the practice speed list.

Tony Stewart is scheduled out first in the 3:00 p.m. qualifying session that sets Sunday's starting field. Rusty got a late draw, going out 46th of 47 drivers scheduled to make time trial runs.

When qualifying began, it was wily veteran Bill Elliott, making a rare appearance this year and performing in his usual unexpected manner by going out second and clocking in with a lap of 27.874 seconds (193.729 mph) to turn all the heads. The vast majority of the garage insiders had already chalked the Texas pole up to "Awesome Bill."

One by one, they took their shots at his time. Johnson ran a 27.993 to pose a threat. Rusty's Penske teammate Ryan Newman could only muster a 28.141 (191.891 mph). Mears clocked in with a 27.961.

It was Texas "native son" Bobby Labonte that pulled it off (for the second year in a row) when he turned in a lap of 27.849 seconds (193.903 mph) to grab the pole away from Elliott.

Rusty's Penske Racing rookie teammate Brendan Gaughan clocked in with a 28.149 (191.836 mph), perhaps a tick slower than he expected and just a little off of Newman's fast lap. Kahne was a big threat with his 27.882.

Rusty, whose team expected him to turn in a lap in the 28.15-second range, was a pleasant surprise with his 28.062 on the second lap (192.431 mph) to appear to be locked in with a top 10 starting spot.

When the dust had settled, it was Labonte on the pole, with Elliott starting second, Kahne third, Greg Biffle fourth and Joe Nemechek fifth. Rusty did in fact earn the 10th starting spot for Sunday's race. Newman will start 15th, with Gaughan starting 16th.

Sunday's 500-mile, 334-lap Samsung/Radio Shack 500 starts at 12:00 noon local (central) time and features live coverage by FOX-TV and PRN Radio.

RUSTY WALLACE (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Intrepid) - "I told my guys that we had more in the car left than what we showed there in practice and we went out there and proved that to be true. We picked up about two and a half tenths and that's about all we had in the thing, so we're pretty happy with the lap we turned. We have us a solid top 10 starting spot and that's a good position to start here on Sunday. This team is still fired up from last week's good run at Bristol and we're determined to keep the steam going here this weekend. This is a good race car we have here and we're ready to get her all tuned up for a good run on Sunday."