"I've done everything I can do and I can't get all bent out of shape about it," Miller Lite Dodge driver Rusty Wallace said to a area newspaper reporter here at Bristol Motor Speedway yesterday after practice had concluded. "You guys keep reminding me about the (winless) streak and all I can do is what we're doing and get better on pit road."

Rusty earned the fourth starting spot here on Friday for today's Food City 500 and he has continued to build on that leading up to this afternoon's battle on his favorite track. Not only does he have confidence that his team can win, the local newspaper has him listed as second favorite in the odds, behind only Jeff Gordon.

"We were sixth fastest in the final practice and really have the car dialed in, I believe. We just get out there and do the best we can," Rusty said to a group of sponsor representatives gathered on pit road prior to climbing aboard his Dodge and buckling up.

Rusty and his Larry Carter-led team continued to make adjustments in their "over-the-wall gang" lineup this week. The major change for today sees the addition of Jay Hackney as the front tire changer. Hackney moved from Morgan-McClure Racing early this week and has proved himself during pit stop practice. With Hackney's addition, Donald "D.J." Richardson moved from the front to the back tire-changing spot. The remainder of the crew remained the same for this race.

Rusty's "over-the-wall gang" certainly have an interesting "stage" in which to display their skills here today. Penske Racing South teammate Ryan Newman claimed the pole here Friday and his team, of course, selected the first pit spot. When second-place qualifier Gordon and third-place starter Greg Biffle chose spots at the end of the backstretch and end of the frontstretch respectively, Rusty and crew went with the second spot on pit road. That means Rusty and Newman pit side-by-side here today. Adding to the pit road spotlight is the fact that the third Penske South team - that of rookie driver Brendan Gaughan - pits in the third pit, just behind Rusty and team.

The engines were fired at 1:22 p.m. and the cars rolled off pit road at 1:26 p.m. After three parade laps, the green flag flew at 1:30 p.m.

Newman jumped out to lead, but it was apparent from the drop of the green that Rusty had a fast racecar. He passed Greg Biffle on Lap 9 for third, and got around Jeff Gordon on Lap 12 for second. By Lap 20, he had closed the gap and was riding on Newman's rear bumper. He cleared the No. 12 car on Lap 26 to grab the lead.

Rusty enjoyed a 1.4-second lead on second-place Kasey Kahne on Lap 50, but Kahne and Jamie McMurray were involved in an incident seven laps later in Turn 1 that brought out the first yellow flag of the day.

Rusty's new over-the-wall gang lineup proved they were ready for action when they reeled off a 13.220-second four-tires-and-fuel stop to keep Rusty in the lead for the lap 66 restart. Biffle was second, with Tony Stewart third, Newman fourth and Gaughan, through great pit work by the No. 77 gang, was up to fifth.

The race just had gone back to green when a loose drive shaft down in Turn 4 brought out the second yellow flag of the race. During the yellow, Rusty and Gaughan compared notes on their two-way radios.

Two laps after the restart, Stewart cleared Biffle for second and closed on Rusty. Stewart bumped Rusty from the rear in Turn 3 on Lap 83 to take the lead away.

It was a three-car breakaway up front on Lap 95, with Stewart, Rusty and Biffle out by 4.1 seconds on fourth-place Newman.

Jeff Burton and Bobby Labonte tangled in Turn 3 on Lap 101 to cause the third caution period.

"It's a little loose off, but not bad," Rusty radioed. "No changes - I don't want to sacrifice how good it is in the center."

The leaders hit pit road and this time Richardson slipped on the rear, but recovered nicely. The 15.218-second stop had Rusty second behind leader Biffle on the Lap 110 restart. Again great pit work had Gaughan up to third and Newman in fourth.

Biffle, Rusty and Gaughan staged a three-car pull-away and had Newman by 2.7 seconds on Lap 122. Three laps later, Dale Earnhardt Jr. got around Newman for fourth and appeared to be headed toward the front.

"It's just super tight in the center," Newman radioed on Lap 147, as he began to struggle.

Rusty got underneath Biffle in Turn 1 on Lap 150 to regain the lead. Earnhardt cleared Gaughan for third on Lap 165, two lap before Casey Mears' Turn 2 crash brought out the fourth caution of the day.

Newman caught a break in that it was discovered during the ensuing pit stop that he had a flat right front tire.

Rusty's 14.807-second stop had him behind leader Biffle again for the Lap 179 restart. But only nine laps into the run, Rusty was back around Biffle and into the lead again.

Earnhardt was again on the move, getting around Newman, who still complained of a tight condition, for the fourth spot on Lap193. But the field was bunched up once again on Lap 201 when Robby Gordon spun in Turn 2 to bring out caution No. 5 for the day.

Sterling Marlin took on only two tires during the yellow flag stops to grab the lead and Rusty's 13.493-second stop had him second for the Lap 210 restart. Biffle was third, with Newman fourth, Gaughan fifth, Kurt Busch sixth and Earnhardt seventh.

Rusty pressured Marlin lap after lap for the lead, as Newman began to slide back due to his handling problems.

Marlin, Rusty and Biffle held a 1.3-second lead over fourth-place Earnhardt at the race's halfway point (Lap 250), but Earnhardt was on the move. By Lap 275, he was up to third, as Newman had slid back all the way to 11th.

Rusty finally got around Marlin for the lead on Lap 278, but Earnhardt closed in fast and took the lead from Rusty on Lap 282. Newman was in trouble and slid back to 21st on Lap 300. Earnhardt was on his bumper and Newman was fighting to stay in the lead lap.

Jimmie Johnson was the first of the lead lap cars to hit pit road for the first series of green flag stops when he entered the pits in Turn 2 on Lap 323. When he returned to the track with the fresh tires, he was blowing by everyone.

At Lap 350, Earnhardt enjoyed a 1.6-second lead on second-place Rusty, with Marlin third, Busch fourth and McMurray fifth. Gaughan was 13th and Newman 20th, running just in front of the leader. Newman hit pit road on Lap 366 for four tires and track bar and air pressure adjustments. Gaughan pitted on Lap 367.

Rusty finally pitted on Lap 370 for four tires and no changes. The stop was clocked at 13.903 seconds.

The seventh caution of the race flew 10 laps later when Kevin Lepage spun out of Turn 4. Gaughan was the benefactor of the "Lucky Dog" rule and got a lap back he'd lost during the exchange. Newman was now a lap down to the leaders, but in a position to get the lap back when the cars lined up for the Lap 395 restart.

The running order for the green had Busch out in the lead, with Marlin second, Earnhardt third, Michael Waltrip fourth, Rusty fifth and Johnson sixth.

Jeff Green's Turn 2 spin 11 laps after the restart brought out the eighth caution of the race and allowed Nemman to play the "Lucky Dog" role to get his lap back. There were now 17 cars remaining on the lead lap.

It was Busch leading on the Lap 414 restart, with Earnhardt second, Marlin third, Waltrip fourth and Rusty fifth. Gaughan was 13th and Newman 17th.

Earnhardt faded after the restart and Rusty was around him for third on Lap 419. Earnhardt's No. 8 car spun in Turn 2 on Lap 430 to cause the ninth caution flag of the race. The cars running 10th on back pitted during the yellow and those included Gaughan and Newman.

Busch led on the Lap 438 restart, with Marlin second, Rusty third, Johnson fourth and Waltrip fifth. Newman was up to 14th and Gaughan was running 16th.

Busch got a big jump as Marlin's car bogged down on the restart. Rusty finally cleared Marlin on Lap 439 and focused his attention on catching leader Busch.

Rusty trailed Busch by 1.6 seconds and had the lapped cars of Mark Martin and Terry Labonte in between on Lap 460. Stanton Barrett's Turn 2 crash three laps later brought out the 10th yellow flag of the race and tightened up the field again.

The top three drivers stayed out and Busch led, with Rusty second and Marlin third on the Lap 473 restart.

Rusty cleared the lapped traffic and was pressing Busch hard for the lead with 20 laps to go. However, Earnhardt clipped the rear of Gaughan's car two laps later to cause caution No. 11 when Gaughan slid into the frontstretch wall.

Busch led on the Lap 488 restart, with Rusty second, Kevin Harvick third, Marlin fourth and Matt Kenseth fifth. McMurray was sixth, with Ken Schrader seventh, Newman eighth, Gordon ninth and rookie Scott Wimmer 10th.

Rusty lost a little ground to Busch on the restart, but the field was closed up again on Lap 493, when Dale Jarrett hit the Turn 2 wall and dropped debris all the way down the backstretch. NASCAR officials decided to bring the cars down the backstretch pits and display the red flag for a cleanup period that lasted 11 minutes.

That set up a return to yellow and a restart with two laps of racing remaining.

Busch got a good restart, with Rusty and Harvick in hot pursuit. The laps ran out for the chasers and Busch crossed the line as a 0.678-second winner over runner-up Rusty. Harvick came home third, with Marlin fourth and Kenseth fifth. Schrader, Newman, McMurray, Gordon and Waltrip rounded out the top-10 finishers. Gaughan was credited with a 20th-place finish.

With his outstanding run here today - his best finish since a second-place at Phoenix in 2002 - Rusty climbed back up to 17th in the NASCAR NEXTEL point standings with 665 points. Kenseth continues to lead the standings after the first six races with 898 points. Busch climbed to second and has 877. Earnhardt fell to third with 857, while Stewart is fourth with 804 and Newman is fifth with 788.

The tour now heads out to Texas Motor Speedway for next Sunday's annual stop on that 1.5-mile speed plant. Newman is the defending champion of the race. FOX-TV and PRN Radio will provide live coverage of the event beginning at 12:30 p.m. local time

RUSTY WALLACE (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Intrepid) - Finished Second
"I thought I could get 'em. I fired it up and hit pit road and the power steering went out. We replaced two power steering pumps this weekend. It kept blowing out seals, and I'll be doggone if it didn't happen again. I tried. I did everything I could do. We had a real hotrod today. We had a good, fast car. We had a good test here, and we're going to win some races. I wish I could have won No. 10 here.

"I raced him pretty clean. I got into him in that one corner a little bit, but he was ready for it. It was just hard racing. Our pit stops were great all day long, so we fixed that problem. It's nice having all the pit stops right and all that. I was trying to pass everybody early, but I was fighting with the lapped cars. That's what Mark Martin was doing, trying to get his Lucky Dog. I know what the 5 was doing, but I couldn't get to 'em. I understand it. I would have been doing the same thing.

"We've had fast cars all year long, real fast. I really wanted this one bad. My car was really settled in. It was getting up in the groove with about 25 to go. At that point I thought I was in pretty good shape. I thought I could win this thing, then we had three cautions in the last 25 laps or so. I'm not worried about whether I can do it again. I just want another victory. I proved I can always do it. Racing is a lot different than stick and ball sports, how fast you can run or how far you can hit the ball. I thought I could have won at least two of the races already this season. We hired a new guy for pit stops and did a lot of practice and it looked good today.

"It's real frustrating because I've got to tell you. Sitting back there under the caution flag I really thought I had it won. I thought I could beat him because the car was so good all day long. We got going and I started scuffing the tires and I thought, 'what the heck is going on here?' With four laps to go I lost all the power steering. I couldn't get it to turn left. I couldn't get it to turn right. It was all jammed up. It happened about 150 laps into the race where I couldn't get the wheels to turn. All of a sudden it cured itself and went away. Yesterday in practice we lost the power steering pump and last week testing at Texas we lost the power steering pump. I think that aided me a little bit in not getting the job done, but we finished second and it was a good race. I would have liked to won, but we just didn't get it done.

"I would have liked to give him (Busch) a little bump and run, no doubt about that. I went down into turn one and the steering wheel locked up on me. I was pulling on it and pulling on it and it was going OK, but I just couldn't get as aggressive with it as I wanted to. I just couldn't get to his rear bumper. He had a fast car all day long, don't get me wrong, but we led a ton of laps today (100). That stop with about 150 laps to go we stayed out real long and a lot of guys were short stopping. When it resumed I had gone from first to fifth because of all the short pitting. The pit crew is fixed. All 13-second pit stops today and the car ran great. I got beat. I finished second. I would have liked to won. It's been a hundred and something (104) races, and we were trying real hard to win.

"We haven't really had a lot of crew changes. The only crew change we've had is the right rear tire changer. I talked a little bit about moving the crew guys around, and we just couldn't get it to hit. We hired the guy we wanted and everything worked out. I think I got beat out of the pit one time today, but other than that we had a good day and I'm real happy with it. We had a good test in Texas a couple of days ago, and I feel real good about going back there now."