RUSTY FINISHES NINTH IN QUALIFYING RACE;
STARTS 18TH IN SUNDAY'S DAYTONA 500

"It could have been better, but it wasn't too bad of a run for us," Miller Lite Dodge driver Rusty Wallace said after finishing ninth in today's second 125-mile qualifying race here at Daytona International Speedway. "That should give us a starting spot for Sunday's race somewhere there in the top 20."

Rusty's finish earned him the 18th starting spot for Sunday's 200-lap, 500-mile battle on this 2.5-mile superspeedway.

After starting eighth in his qualifier, Rusty stayed among the top 10 drivers through the middle of the race. When green flag pit stops began on Lap 28, Elliott Sadler led a pack of five cars up front, while Rusty was running ninth in another five-car pack.

Rusty pitted on Lap 29 for four tires and fuel. To address a tight handling condition, the team made track bar and air pressure adjustments. The team, operating with a new jack man (Mark Padgett) and front tire carrier (Dewane Colvard), completed their stop in just over 16 seconds.

When the stops cycled around on Lap 31, Jeremy Mayfield held the lead. That didn't last for long, however, as Sadler and a pack of seven other drivers swept by one lap later. Rusty was running in the 11th spot, second in line to Johnny Benson, in the second pack of cars that were running some eight seconds behind the leader.

With five laps remaining, Rusty and Penske Racing teammate Ryan Newman hooked up to draft around Benson and focus on catching the pack up front.

At the finish, it was Sadler comfortably taking the checkered flag, with Sterling Marlin nipping Jimmie Johnson for second. Johnson was third, with Mark Martin fourth and Kevin Harvick fifth. Matt Kenseth, Joe Nemechek, Ricky Rudd, Rusty and Newman completed the top-10 finishers.

"It was slick out there. Slimy, real slimy," Rusty explained to Dodge's Ray Cooper. "The car was nothing like it's been. We've got to find a happy medium there somewhere. We've got a pretty good car, good enough where we could have driven away from most of those cars. I got caught out of pit sequence, and that kind of messed me up. I saw the leaders hit pit road, and I slowed. When I came back I was way behind. We'll talk about how to pit next time, but all in all it was a pretty good day. I like the tires. They get better as we go along with more rubber on the track."

Greg Biffle starts Sunday's 500-miler from the pole, with Sadler second. Dale Earnhardt Jr., who won the first qualifying race here this afternoon, starts Sunday's race third, with Marlin fourth and Tony Stewart fifth. Johnson, Jamie McMurray, Martin, Michael Waltrip and Harvick round of the top 10 starters. Positions 11-20, in order, will be Jeff Burton, Kenseth, Bobby Labonte, Nemechek, Kurt Busch, Rudd, Penske rookie teammate Brendan Gaughan, Rusty (18th), Ward Burton and Newman.

Sunday's Daytona 500 features live coverage by NBC-TV and MRN Radio. The broadcasts begin at 12 noon EST, with the race getting the green flag at 1:30 p.m. EST.