WALLACE CONFIDENT ENTERING 2004 NEXTEL CUP SEASON
-Renewed Determination & High Level Of Enthusiasm Evident In Former Champ-

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (Feb. 2) - Miller Lite Team Penske Dodge driver Rusty Wallace is almost giddy with enthusiasm these days. Fortified with new team leadership and renewed determination on his part, Wallace is confident that the 2004 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup season holds great promise for his Penske Racing South effort.

"I'm as pumped up as I have ever been and as ready as ever to get things started," Wallace said Monday while making final preparations to head for Daytona Beach, Fla., and the official start of the "Chase for the Champoinship" for 2004. "With all the positive things we've had happen leading up to Daytona and the start of the season, I'm definitely enthused about our chances of having an extremely successful year ahead.

"We had a super test at Daytona and have two great race cars ready to go for the next two weeks," said Wallace, who will be making his 42nd career start on the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway and his 22nd in the prestigious annual Daytona 500. "That was our first test with our new crew chief (Larry Carter) and all the new personnel we have on the team this year. We really clicked from the very first time we hit the track and I'm really proud of the relationship we've already been able to develop.

"Then we went up to Rockingham for our next test," said Wallace of his team's visit to the 1.017-mile North Carolina Speedway on Jan. 16-17. "When it was all said and done, we'd put in 500 miles of test time in both race and qualifying trim. If you recall, the first Rockingham race last year was definitely a big fish that got away. We led the most laps - just dominated the thing - only to see the handling go away there at the end. Well, this time I'm confident that we'll have all the 'I's' dotted and the 'T's' crossed.

"The test out in Las Vegas last week really gave me the confidence that we have the total package going into this year," Wallace said of the final chapter of NASCAR Preseason Thunder that took place at the 1.5-mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway last Wednesday and Thursday. "We got off to a fairly slow start on Wednesday morning, but things really started coming around for us late that afternoon.

"We had two cars out there - the (PC-) 51 and the (PC-) 53 - and we determined pretty quickly that the 53 car was the faster one. We made about seven 30-lap runs on the first day, concentrating on nothing but the race setup. We switched over to the qualifying package the second day out there on Thursday. We worked through some things and finally got our Dodge flying. We tweaked a 31.55 (-second, 171.694 mph) lap out of her in the middle of the afternoon and that was the fastest lap of the day on Thursday. The fastest lap anybody turned while we were out there was Jeremy Mayfield's 31.40 (-second, 171.975 mph lap), but he turned that at 10 o'clock in the morning on Wednesday.

"When you look at the fact that there were 34 different Cup teams out there and it was a pretty good test for the softer tires and decreased downforce rules, we have to be excited about the way we stacked up with everybody overall.

"With the softer tires this season, it will be back to where you'll see mostly four-tire stops and that will put additional importance on your team being on their toes in the pits," said Wallace. "Larry has really been on the ball in making sure that we have a great over-the-wall gang this year and I am looking forward to seeing just how proficient they can get. There will be a bunch of races that are won on pit road this season, I'll guarantee you that.

"I tell you what really has my faith up so much and has me so eager to get the season started and that's the great chemistry I have already witnessed growing within my team," Wallace said. "We are communicating so well. Larry and I get along great and we seem to speak the same language about the chassis and all.

"We have a super new engineer in Derek Staments. He has come in, meshed with us and added so much to the equation," Wallace said of the Milford, N.J., native and former shock specialist for Sterling Marlin's Ganassi Racing Team. "We have a lot of well-qualified new personnel on our team who have fit in so favorably with all our talented guys we've had for years, like our car chief Jeff Thousand and shock specialist Tom Hoke. We have definitely put together a championship caliber team this season."

"Bring it on," concluded Wallace. "I can't wait to get the season started."