WALLACE SHOULD BE “PRACTICED UP” FOR POCONO
-Whirlwind Week Of Travel Follows Miller Lite Dodge Driver & “Bionic Man” Into Pocono 500-

LONG POND, Pa. (June 8, 2004) - When Friday morning’s practice session begins in preparation for Sunday’s Pocono 500, Miller Lite Dodge driver Rusty Wallace should certainly be ready to tackle the tricky triangular 2.5-mile Pocono Raceway.

After all, he will have completed a whirlwind week of travel that saw him run laps on the 2.45-mile Infineon Raceway road course in California, the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama and the 1.5-mile Kentucky Speedway, located just outside of Cincinnati.

“Rusty will have traveled more than 7,000 air miles and seen approximately 19 hours of flying time logged on his Lear 31A,” said Capt. Bill Brooks, who heads the Diamond Aviation subsidiary of Rusty Wallace Inc., and was to accompany Wallace on much of the journey. “Note that is air miles and not land miles. The amazing thing is that Rusty himself will have been flying a great portion of that time. When you stop and think about all the different tracks he will have run on and then throw in all the air travel on top of that, you might have to start calling him the bionic man.”

After a hard-earned 13th-place finish at Dover, Del., on Sunday, Wallace was off to Sonoma, Calif., on Monday afternoon for a full day of testing on Tuesday in preparation for the June 27 race there. Then it was back across the country to Talladega, Ala., for a special test project for NASCAR series sponsor NEXTEL. Thursday he was to be in Sparta, Ky., working with his RWI Racing team and driver Billy Parker as they prepare for the June 19 event there.

“That was about the damnedest day I’ve ever seen to get the 13th-place finish at Dover,” said Wallace, who overcame two flats, two near crashes and a pit board penalty to survive the race on Sunday. “That has to go down as one of the most bizarre races in the history of our sport. Anyhow, we were able to get out of there in one piece and back home on Sunday night for a good night’s sleep.”

Wallace’s mind-boggling travel itinerary began this week when he departed his hangar at the Concord Regional Airport on Monday at 2:00 p.m., headed for the Napa, Calif., airport and the test session at Infineon Raceway.

“The guys have built me a real sexy new little hot rod, the 75 car, and we’re looking to get back on top of our road course game,” said Wallace, a six-time road course winner, with two of those victories coming at the Sonoma track. “We’ve been a solid top-10 - maybe even a top-five - car on the road courses the last few years, but that’s just not good enough. We won’t be happy until we’re back up front and threatening for the win. We think this new car will help us pull it off.”

Wednesday’s schedule had Wallace back in Alabama at the mammoth Talladega track on special assignment for NEXTEL.

“We’re working with them on a project to guarantee quality audio communications at high rates of speed and it just doesn’t get any faster than it does at Talladega,” offered Wallace.

Then on Thursday, the 55-race winner and 1989 series champion was to be at the 1.5-mile tri-oval Kentucky Speedway, helping his RWI Racing team prepare for their next race, the June 19 Meijer 300.

“We’ve had a lot of bad luck the last few weeks and I really feel bad for Billy (Parker) and the team,” said Wallace. “I want to get behind the wheel myself and make sure that we have the machine that can get the job done.”

Wallace was to arrive in the Pocono area on Thursday night, hopefully getting in a much-deserved night of rest prior to hitting the Pocono track in the 11:20 a.m. Friday practice session.

“I guess all I can say is thank God for my Lear,” Wallace proclaimed when all the week’s travel was brought to his attention. His jet aircraft can fly up to 1,434 miles on a full fuel supply and travel up to 524 mph at altitudes up to 51,000 feet. “We will have hit all kinds of tracks this week going into Pocono and that definitely won’t hurt. After all, you could say that Pocono is pretty much all of ‘em all rolled up into one. We should be pretty practiced up for the Pocono weekend.”

What’s on Wallace’s schedule immediately after Pocono? “Well, we have to be out in Phoenix (another 2,100 air mile trip) on Monday morning for two days of meetings.”

Wallace’s Pocono Raceway career record boasts four wins, nine top-five finishes, 16 top-10 finishes and three pole positions in 40 races. His most recent win came in the July 2000 race and his last Pocono pole came in the June race of that season.

Wallace and his Larry Carter-led Miller Lite Dodge team will be racing their No. 29 chassis at Pocono this weekend. The car debuted at Rockingham, N.C., in the February 2001 race and finished seventh. It was raced most recently in the March 2003 race at Darlington, S.C., where Wallace started 13th and finished 16th. It was the only time the team used the car last season.

“It was typical of last season in that race at Darlington,” Wallace recalled. “We were running in the top five and hit pit road for a green flag stop. The caution came out right after that and we fell two laps down. Larry and the guys have completely rebuilt the car - new body and everything. It’ll be just like racing a brand new car there this weekend.”

This weekend’s Pocono 500 schedule calls for Friday practice from 11:20 a.m. until 1:20 p.m., followed by qualifying for all 43 starting spots at 3:00 p.m. The final “happy hour” practice session is set for Saturday from 11:10 a.m. until 11:55 a.m. Sunday’s 200-lap, 500-mile battle at Pocono begins at 1:00 p.m. and features live coverage by FOX-TV and MRN Radio.

Daytona 500-
Daytona Beach, FL

Food City 500
Bristol, TN

Samsung/Radio Shack 500
Justin, TX

Advance Auto Parts 500
Martinsville, VA

Aaron’S 499
Talladega, Ala.

Auto Club 500
Fontana, Calif.

Chevy American 400

Coca-Cola 600

MBNA 400