WALLACE & MILLER LITE TEAM PENSKE FOCUSED ON DAYTONA WIN
-Wallace Recalls Late Friend & Rival Dale Earnhardt's Memorable First 500 Win In '98-

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Feb. 4, 2004) - Could this be the year for Rusty Wallace's breakthrough win at Daytona? If enthusiasm and determination have any bearing, the outlook for that happening is very promising for the popular veteran driver and his Miller Lite Dodge team.

The Feb. 15 Daytona 500 will mark Wallace's 42nd career race on the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway and his 22nd appearance in the season-opening NASCAR classic. Wallace is still looking for his initial Daytona NASCAR NEXTEL Cup points race win (he did claim a victory in the 1998 pole shootout) and feels he has his best shot yet at breaking the victory drought this time around.

"All the pieces of the puzzle are in place and I'm about as confident as ever going into Daytona," said the 54-race winner and former series points champion. "It would definitely be a helluva deal if we pull it off. Man, it'd be nice to put an end to the streak we've been trying to shed for so long (98 race winless streak dating back to April 2001) in the biggest stock car race of them all.

"After all the years trying and being so close, it would certainly be part of a storybook script to finally win it. To come back to Daytona with a new contract from Miller Lite, a new crew chief in Larry Carter and riding such a long streak without winning - a victory in the Daytona 500 would be the biggest win of my career and a day to remember for the rest of my life.

"Even though we're still looking for the first win, we've been close and I can't help but think back about what all Dale (Earnhardt) went through before he finally won the Daytona 500 back in '98," said Wallace, whose career Daytona record holds six top-five finishes and 16 top-10 finishes in 41 starts to date. "Man, for years before he finally pulled it off, he'd look like he had the thing all wrapped up and something would happen at the very end. I'll always remember that race (1990 Daytona 500) when he led until the third turn on the very last lap and had the tire go down.

"But the bottom line is that he finally cashed in there in '98 and that year at Daytona will always be special in my mind," recalled Wallace. "I really felt like he and I had the best two cars down there. We wound up snookering them really good and pulled off the win in the "shootout" the weekend before the 500. Dale came back and won his 125-mile qualifier that Thursday and we finished sixth.

"In the 500 that year, we ran with Dale all day long until the very end and we got us a top-five finish that day," said Wallace, who finished fifth for his first-ever top-five finish in the event. "Dale deserved the win and he finally got it as they threw him the checkered and the yellow at the same time because of a crash on the backstretch. The crowd went wild and everyone up and down pit road came out to congratulate Dale and the No. 3 car crew.

"Dale was riding a long winless streak of his own going into that race and that really made his win all the more special," Wallace said of the fact that Earnhardt's 1998 Daytona 500 win snapped the longest victory drought of his illustrious career (59 races between wins, dating from March 10, 1996 until the Daytona win on Feb. 15, 1998). "There were a lot of tears of joy shed at Daytona that day and it was certainly a race they'll recall forever. I know I will.

"It'll be a pretty emotional day for us, too, if and when we can finally pull it off," said Wallace. "We had a great test in preparation for Speed Weeks and are as optimistic as ever about our chances. With everything we've had going for us at Daytona in recent years and with all the positive things happening with our team lately, we're carrying some great momentum into Daytona this time around."

As for that momentum, one only has to look at Wallace's recent Daytona track record to deduce that he has certainly been close enough to be considered deserving of a win. In the 13 races held on the 2.5-mile track since the 1997 Daytona 500, Wallace has recorded six top-five finishes and nine top-10 finishes, including his second-place finish in the July 2002 Pepsi 400, his best career Daytona finish to date.

"We're certainly poised to finally win the thing, I'd say," said Wallace. "But this time around will be no different as far a what you have to do to get the job done. The Thursday 125-mile qualifier is always a good shakedown for the 500. You hope to get a good starting spot and stay up front there with the lead pack to avoid the big crashes. You try to put yourself in a position to be there for the big crapshoot at the end. That's always been the game plan and it'll be the same story there on the 15th. We just hope we're able to finally pull it off. There will be a helluva party going on if we do, I'll guarantee you that."

The Daytona Speed Weeks 2004 schedule features the annual "shootout" for last year's pole winners and former event champions on Saturday, Feb. 7 at 8:00 p.m. EST, qualifying for the Daytona 500 on Sunday, Feb. 8 at 1:15 p.m., the 125-mile qualifying races on Thursday, Feb. 12 at 1:00 p.m. and the Daytona 500 on Sunday, Feb. 15 at 1:00 p.m. The prestigious NASCAR NEXTEL Cup season-opener will feature live coverage by NBC-TV and MRN Radio.