Rusty Wallace - No. 2 Miller Lite Penske South Ford Taurus

Rusty Wallace wins Dura Lube/Kmart 500

The Race:
Dura Lube/Kmart 500
Oct. 25 -- 2 p.m. EST
Phoenix International Raceway
TV: TNN Radio: MRN Rusty:
Qualifying: 6th
"In practice when it came off the truck, my first lap on the track was a 90-something. I said, 'You know, if we block this baby up and soup it up and slick her back, I think it'll run in the 60s.' Then we kept changing some things and got it slowed up to like a 28.10. I said, 'Wait a minute, let's go back to ground zero and let's unfix what we screwed up.' We put it all back and the thing picked up three-tenths from what we practices, so it ran what I thought it was gonna run this morning when I unloaded, so thank God."

Rusty meets the press

Each Tuesday, the top stars from NASCAR's past and present meet the press in the Winston Media Teleconference. This week's guest was Rusty Wallace. .Listen in via RealAudio.

Additional audio highlights...

Wallace wins rain-shortened race at Phoenix
By Steve Waid
NASCAR Winston Cup Scene
PHOENIX (Oct. 25, 1998)

Rusty Wallace ended his 59-race
winless streak at Phoenix, in a
car he's named "The Streaker."

The Dura Lube/Kmart 500 may not have run its course, but Rusty Wallace was in a position not to care.
Wallace, driver of the Miller Lite Ford, was the race's dominant driver and he was out front when rain put an early end to the 312-lapper around the one-mile Phoenix International Raceway oval.
Wallace, who snatched the lead away from Bud Pole winner Ken Schrader on the 54th lap, was in front when it began sprinking just as the leaders completed their pit stops during the fourth caution period, which began on lap 249.
They never got back to speed. The rain increased to the point where claps of thunder were heard and bolts of lightning struck the area around the Estrella Mountains, which rise beyond the speedway's backstretch.
The race was red-flagged at approximately 2:40 p.m. MST, with 257 laps completed. Just under an hour later, NASCAR officially cancelled it when it determined the track could not be dried in time to permit the completion of all 312 laps.
It was the first NASCAR Winston Cup Series race shortened by rain since the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May of 1997.
With his victory, Wallace ended a 59-race losing streak. Prior to Phoenix, his last win came at Richmond International Raceway in March of 1997. Wallace has now won at least one race in each of the last 13 seasons.
"We targeted this race from the start," Wallace said. "It was a new car, new suspension, new motor, everything. The motor was perfect today and so was the chassis. This is a sister car to the Ronnie Hopkins car that won here last year. We named it 'The Streaker' to keep my streak going."
Wallace became the 10th different winner in the 11 NASCAR Winston Cup races conducted at Phoenix to date. Only the late Davey Allison has won twice, doing so in 1991 and again in 1992.
After taking the lead for the first time on lap 54 when he passed Schrader in the third turn, Wallace held it until lap 136, when he and the other leaders pitted under green. By lap 143, when Jimmy Spencer was the last driver on the lead lap to pit, Wallace was back in front.
He led until the third caution period, caused on lap 182 when Kenny Irwin's Ford stalled in the fourth turn. Following his pit stop, Wallace was back in front on lap 185 and led the rest of the way.
The fourth and final caution period began on lap 249 after Jerry Nadeau spun and hit the wall in the second turn. Eight laps later, the race was red-flagged and although no one knew it at the time, the victory was Wallace's.
Following Wallace and Martin, Dale Earnhardt finished third after starting 39th in the GM Goodwrench Chevrolet. Fourth place belonged to Jeff Burton in the Exide Batteries Ford - after a 38th-place start - while Ted Musgrave took fifth in the FirstPlus Financial Ford. John Andretti was sixth in the STP Pontiac, with Gordon seventh, Kenny Wallace eighth in the Square D Ford, Johnny Benson ninth in the Cherrios Ford and Terry Labonte, who made his 600th career start, 10th in the Kellogg's Chevrolet.

Additional story from Nando Media:

Wallace wins rain-shortened Dura-Lube 500; Gordon closes in on third title

Sunday Quotebook

"All the race fans are great. What makes this one so special is because it took so doggone long for me to win. We did a lot of great running this year, a lot of laps led and pole-winning and running up front only to lose a bunch of races right there at the end with 10 laps to go. I said, 'Man, we have to do it right here.' This is a brand new car, a new motor combination we brought out here and it dominated."

HOW WAS IT THAT IT CAME TOGETHER SO QUICK? "We knew last night that the thing was really handling great. I knew yesterday morning during practice and before Happy Hour that it was real good. I told them last night, 'I can't think of anything to change. It feels good.' I made a slight air-pressure adjustment after the first run and that was it, it took off."

IS THAT THE BEST YOU'VE FELT BEHIND THE WHEEL IN A LONG TIME? "You always feel good when you win. That's for sure."

WERE YOU CONCERNED YOU WEREN'T GOING TO WIN THIS YEAR? "Yeah, I really was. When you end last year with 47 victories, my main goal this year was to win my 50th because of NASCAR's 50th anniversary. A lot of special plans have been made for this 50th win. I'm really looking forward to it and I do have a shot at it now. I'm going to two track that are really good to me. Rockingham, I've won a ton of races and I'm taking this same car, a car we nicknamed Streaker today because we kept the streak alive, so that's the official name of the car now. It's name before that was PR-22, the 22nd car that was built at Penske Racing. I can't tell you, I don't think I've ever had a car that was that dominant that long. I just hope when I open the paper tomorrow and read, I hope I don't read that he won because of the rain. That would really stink if I read that, but it was really great today. God that thing flew."

THE LAST PIT STOP GOT YOU OUT FIRST AND THAT HELD UP. "I think the team will tell you it's a total team combination. If I couldn't run up front all day long and dominate like that and put myself in a position where we can come in leading the race and the guys can do their jobs. There is no 'I' in our race team. We're not gonna say it's the motor or the engine or the driver or the pit crew, everything did right today. It was a new combination for the engine, it ran flawless. The car was brand new, it ran flawless. The pit stops were flawless and everything was right. We had everything going for us today. I've had a lot of victories like that, although I've won a couple because we beat them on a pit stop. I guess four years ago at Pocono I won under a rain delay, but I was leading the race at that point too with a dominant car. It's always easy to say, 'Oh, he won because of the rain,' and that's the part I do hate. I did want to restart the race because of that."

COULD YOU HAVE BEEN CAUGHT? "I always want to be humble on that one, but it was so dominant. Every single restart I had, I drove away so I was just hoping I could do the same on that last one. I had a full tank of gas and four sticker tires, so I was sitting pretty happy."

WHAT DOES THIS DO FOR YOUR SEASON? "It does a lot for the year because we started out, there are a lot of things we accomplished this year that a lot of people don't know. You know how hard we've struggled in the past with our restrictor-plate program. I think you'd have to admit our two Daytona races were some great races for us. I led laps in the Daytona 500, led a lot of laps in the Firecracker 400, ran second-third throughout the day and finished fifth in both those races. So restrictor plates we've come a long way. I think the two-car team has helped that, a lot of our testing has helped that. I think Buddy Baker helped me a ton in that area. Our engine thing has completely turned around. Larry Wallace is building all the engines for the 2 car and the 12 car. He's been doing that all year long. Restrictor-plate engines have been built out of Penske Racing and they've been doing a good job on that, but everything will be under Larry's operation next year -- restrictor plates and everything. We did have a little bit of a void at the midpoint of the year. Every week it was second-third-second-third and then we had a void. Then, we finally came out of that void."

WHAT GOT YOU OUT OF THE VOID? "I can't really say I was always in a big void. You look at the Coke 600, races like that where we were super strong. You look at California where we were running second and blew a motor with eight laps to go. You look at Martinsville and Bristol twice on the pole and leading the most laps at those places. But you go to Bristol and lead the most laps and blow a motor so you say, 'Oh, you've got a problem there,' but to me it wasn't because the performance was there. Then at the night race we're on the pole and led the most laps and the performance was there again, but if you look at the stats you'll see 22nd, 23rd. It's easy to call that a void, but in my mind we really haven't had much of a void all year long. We've been right up there. We've been consistently getting beat by the 88, the 6 and the 24. Those are the only three guys who have been outrunning us, but at the end of the year we've been outrunning them now."

YOU'VE HAD SOME PROBLEMS HERE HISTORICALLY. DID THAT RUN THROUGH YOUR MIND? "Whenever you have a lot of problems like I have in the past here you think about it. Last year I had a great time. I qualified third and led the most laps and finished second in the race only to get beat by Jarrett there at the end. The year before I fought an ill-handling car that I tried something that didn't work. Then the year before that I think we were on the pole and I was driving away when the battery konked out on me. I lost all voltage, had to come in for a pit stop to change the battery and I lost the race right there. So the performance has always been there. I guess we've led close to 700 laps at this place, more than anybody. The place just suits my style. It reminds me of the old Milwaukee Mile I grew up on in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and reminds me of a lot of places we run -- a little bit of Pocono, things like that."

YOUR FANS HAVE STUCK WITH YOU. "I've been real fortunate because I think I've got a bunch of great fans. I used to sit back and look at Bill Elliott and see all the wins he had and the fan following he had. Then he went through some years with problems and couldn't get a win. He was having tons of problems, and I thought, 'Look, he's not losing any fans. They're supporting him.' That's the one neat thing about NASCAR. They stick with you. If they find somebody who's outrunning you, they just don't leave you and go somewhere else, they believe in you. I'm a real fortunate dude to have that because I lost a lot of fans in '89 as you guys all remember and I finally gained them all back. This just strengthens it and makes it feel better. I haven't forgotten them that's for damn sure and they're very important to me."

ARE YOU CONFIDENT OF PUTTING A WINNING STREAK TOGETHER? "I've got all the intentions in the world of doing that. I'm going into Rockingham with an awful lot of confidence because I tested three full days there this year. I started the race, led the most laps, thought I had it won and finished second. I'm taking a car that's probably the best car we've got in the stable as you saw today, to Rockingham with this new engine combination that seems to be real good for us that Larry Wallace developed. We had a lot of power today. We had a great car and we're going to a track I've tested at, not only did I test there I've had a ton of victories at Rockingham. There are all kinds of reasons why I should win Rockingham and there are a lot of reasons why I should win Atlanta. I went to Atlanta this year and finished third, ran up front all day long. The car was super strong, the only thing different now is I've got a stronger car now."

DID THE WEATHER AFFECT THE CAR AT ALL? "There are many times when that happen it really affects my car, but I think my car was so good today that every set of tires I put on it, I couldn't tell any difference between them. Every time the sun was out or wasn't out, I couldn't tell any difference. The car just ate up all the problems and spit them out the tailpipe."

ON THE CAR. "This car is pretty well back to basics with us as far as the chassis design. It's a Hopkins chassis, it's a car I know real well, and it's a car I haven't run a lot this year. This is the first year for it. We were trying a lot of different things, but this sets my mind straight that I know what I think I'll be running next year. It was awful successful for Mark Martin and Jeff Burton, the Hopkins-style chassis, but the in-house Penske cars have been awful good too. I tell you, I've had a lot of poles and a lot of wins with those cars and a lot of up-front runs with the Kranefuss chassis too. They're all good cars, this one here just seems to be more consistent for the way Rusty drives the car."

HOW HAS THE TEAMMATE WORKED? "It's just been an excellent move on Roger Penske's part and Don Miller and Mike Kranefuss to form this team. They didn't have to really sell me on it. We made the decision on a boat trip in the Bahamas. He wanted to know what I thought of Jeremy Mayfield and Mike Kranefuss and I told him they were two excellent guys and he was able to join us and do that. Then we said, 'OK, we've got an official two-car team. Now we're gonna go out and start testing together, sharing information and developing things. We had debrief meetings before practice, after practice and every Monday morning. Yeah, I've missed a lot of meetings, but they always tell me about them. I think Jeremy's helped me a lot. He's tested my car a couple times, I've tested his car a couple times. I think without the teammate this year wouldn't have been as consistent and as successful. Even if we didn't get any wins, you'd have to say, 'You know, you had a helluva year. You led a lot of races, had a lot of poles.' But let's face it, the wins are what draw the excitement."

ANY CONCERN OF CONDITIONS CHANGING IF THE RACE HAD RESTARTED? "A little bit because my strategy was, we had to pit with like 35 or 40 to go. I took off, got the lead and stretched it out to five and a half seconds. I asked Robin when we were gonna have to pit and he said about 40 to go. I didn't say anything to him but then I stood on it and started driving as hard as I could trying to get my margin opened up because when we pit we were gonna put four tires on and we were gonna put four tires on and I wanted to open the margin to do that. At that point I thought our strategy was really good and we could have won the race just by being that fast and good pit stops and stuff. Then the caution came, we put the tires on and then the rain came. Then it was like, who knows what can happen."