RACE DAY REPORT
GOLDEN CORRAL 500
ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY
HAMPTON, GEORGIA
SUNDAY, MARCH 14, 2004

TRANSMISSION WOES DROP RUSTY TO 35TH-PLACE FINISH

"The car was handling great in yesterday's final practice and it looked like Rusty could run with anybody out there," Larry told FOX-TV's Dick Berggren just prior to the 11:00 a.m. driver and crew chief meeting. "The bottom line is that we pretty much accidentally stumbled upon the setup we wound up with and it was just what the car needed. We didn't test here like a bunch of the other teams did and we've made the best of the track time we've had here this weekend, that's for sure."

While Rusty and crew are optimistic about their competitiveness on the track here today, they are equally optimistic about the work done on pit road.

Pitting from the fourth spot up pit road, between the Kasey Kahne and Kevin Lepage teams, today's race will see former "dean of tire changers" Bill Wilburn go back into action as an over-the-wall-gang member. Bill will be changing front tires for Rusty today, while former front-tire changer Donald "D.J." Richardson will move to the rear tires.

"Yeah, it'll be a big challenge, but I really enjoy challenges," Bill told PRN Radio's Pat Patterson just prior to race time here at AMS. "My goal is to hold our own and not lose any spots the first stop or two. Then we can take that and go from there."

The 43-car field got the call to start engines at 1:22 p.m. and the cars rolled off pit road at 1:26 p.m. What was planned to be only three parade laps until the green was expanded when Andy Hillenburg's car stalled. The green flag finally flew at 1:35 p.m.

Rusty's pole-winning teammate Ryan Newman quickly shot into the lead from the drop of the green. Rusty was a little on the loose side early in the race , but was gaining spots. He was up to eighth at Lap 10 and up to sixth at Lap 30.

While the lead changed hands up front between Newman, Jeff Gordon and then Tony Stewart, Rusty continued to move forward and was up to seventh at Lap 50.

Green flag stops began on Lap 53 and Rusty hit pit road for four tires, fuel, a track bar adjustment and an air pressure adjustment to the right rear. The stop was clocked at 15.750 seconds and had him back to 10th when the stops cycled back around on Lap 61.

Stewart was showing incredible strength up front at Lap 100 as Rusty had moved back up to the seventh spot, although he was some 20 seconds behind the leader. Stewart had kept up such a torrid pace that only 13 cars remained in the lead lap after 110 laps had been completed.

Rusty got a big scare on Lap 111 when his transmission popped out of gear. "Man, I don't know what happened," he radioed. "But it just popped right out of gear. The car's pretty good, though."

The second round of green flag stops began on Lap 112. Rusty hit pit road on Lap 114 for service. Unfortunately, air gun problems on the front saw the service slowed to a 19.719-second stop. Rusty had fallen to the 13th spot and was the final car on the lead lap. He was only 2.2 seconds in front of leader Stewart.

Rusty and crew got the break they needed on Lap 126 when the first yellow of the race flew for debris down in Turn 1. The yellow flew with Stewart breathing down Rusty's neck, attempting to put him a lap down.

The leaders pitted and Rusty's stop this time was clocked at 15.849 seconds. Stewart held the lead on the Lap 133 restart, with Kasey Kahne up to second, Greg Biffle third, Newman fourth and Gordon fifth.

Rusty was again moving back toward the front when disaster hit on Lap 148. "It jumped out of gear again, guys," he radioed as he began to slow and get to the bottom of the track. "Fourth gear is gone. I went to put it back in gear and their are no teeth left." Fluid dropped forced officials to display the second caution flag of the race.

"Okay boys, let's get back to the garage and fix the thing," Larry radioed as the crew moved fast to meet Rusty back in the garage.

The repairs were made and Rusty returned to the race on Lap 179, just as Dale Earnhardt Jr. was beginning to show his strength.

Rusty was turning in faster laps than any car on the track, but his day was done as far as posting a top finish. The goal now was to log as many laps as possible and gain all the points he could.

Up front, the lead changed hands several times between Newman, Casey Mears and Jeremy Mayfield, before Earnhardt took total control of the race on Lap 266.

Earnhardt cruised to a 4.2-second win over Mayfield, with Kahne, Jimmie Johnson and Newman rounding out the top-five finishers. Rusty was credited with a 35th-place finish, completing 291 of the 325 possible laps.

After four races, Matt Kenseth leads the point standings with 673. Stewart is second with 591, Earnhardt third with 583, Kahne fourth with 550 and Gordon fifth with 543. Rusty fell to 22nd in the standings with 414 points.

The NASCAR NEXTEL Cup tour now heads to Darlington Raceway for next weekend's Carolina Dodge Dealers 400. FOX-TV and MRN Radio provide live coverage of the race, which has a 1:00 p.m. EST starting time.

RUSTY WALLACE (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Intrepid)
"Man, what a shame. We had a super fast racecar and just got bit by the transmission problems. We have to come up with better work in the pits. When the transmission went, the guys did a good job of getting me back out and when we did, the thing was absolutely flying. We had the fastest car out there. It's another race where we didn't get to show our full potential."