RUSTY WALLACE NOTES & QUOTES FOR UAW-GM QUALITY 500 WEEKEND

-Latest News & Views From Miller Lite Team Penske -

CONCORD, N.C. (Oct. 2, 2001) RUSTY "HIGH" ON RYAN

Just mention the name Ryan Newman and Miller Lite Team Penske driver Rusty Wallace will take it from there."The kid is
amazing and is an incredible talent," Wallace says of his young Penske Racing teammate who won the pole for the May Winston Cup race at Lowe's Motor Speedway and finished second Sunday at Kansas. "I'm high on him and proud to have Ryan as my teammate, that's for sure.

"Unlike a lot of the young guys coming into our sport today, Ryan has done it the right way. He's smart and knows how to handle situations as good or better than many of the veteran guys. He shows tremendous respect for the sport and all the guys with more experience. He's aggressive but not cocky. He has a good attitude and a great personality. He's already getting a real solid fan following behind him.

"You've gotta' be impressed with what he, his crew chief (Matt Borland) and their team have done this year. To have been running in three series like they have and laying the big numbers on the board everywhere they've been.that speaks volumes. They're definitely getting the experience that they need to go Winston Cup full-time next season.

"I really get a kick out of watching the kid qualify," said Wallace.
"Heck, he's already got seven or eight poles this year (entering this weekend, Newman has won five poles in the NASCAR Grand National Series, one in ARCA and the LMS Winston Cup pole) and most of the time, he just blows the competition away and wins 'em by two tenths (of a second) or more.

"He and his crew chief have a great relationship and it reminds me of what Robin (Pemberton, Wallace's crew chief) and I have working for us. Not only do they fit together well as a team, they have a really close, best-friend-type personal relationship, too."

As far as what Newman and crew bring to the total equation at Penske Racing, Wallace shoots straight from the hip.

"Our styles aren't quite exactly the same," says Wallace, "but there's always an open door for discussion between us and the teams. His open wheel experience probably has a lot to do with it. All I've ever raced has been stock cars. He tends to drive some of these places diamond-style more than me, but that's not bad at all because it seems to really work for him. I'm a little more conservative with my setups, but Ryan's really helped us keep an open-minded attitude about things. He's pretty analytical about everything and I really respect that. With his engineering background, he can give great input as to why things may work or not. We have a lot of experience and seat-of-the-pants knowledge that we can put into the deal. Both teams will benefit from what we have going next year, I'll guarantee you that."

PIT STOP MASTERY CONTINUES

Rusty Wallace's Miller Lite Team Penske pit crew continues to turn heads on pit road.and that definitely was the case in Sunday's Winston Cup inaugural visit to the Kansas Speedway..
A 15.24-second stop under yellow on lap 51 helped Wallace advance into the top five. A lap 119 yellow flag stop of 14.34 seconds kept him up front and in the lead. The fastest stop of the day came on lap 185, when the crew gave him a 13.65-second stop to put him in second-place for the lap 189 restart. Jerry Nadeau took on only fuel to beat Wallace out of the pits.

Wallace's service crew is made up of tire changers Bill Wilburn and Rob Fuller, tire carriers Mike Goins and Keith Mansch, jack man Rob Jones, gas man Doug Ingold and gas catch man Jason Poole. Crew chief Robin Pemberton and spotter Earl Barban serve as coaches for the group.

"The importance of good pit stops is sky high during races like this weekend at Charlotte," said Wallace. "The race can truly be won or lost in the pits and I'm glad I'll have the bunch I have pitting our car in that race."