Wallace leaves without seventh RIR win

By Tim Hipps, Special to Turner Sports Interactive
September 10, 2001
4:35 PM EDT (2035 GMT)

RICHMOND, Va. -- Despite finishing a disappointing fifth in the Chevrolet Monte Carlo 400 only to finish fifth Saturday night, Richmond International Raceway has been very, very good to Rusty Wallace.

Rusty Wallace finished third at RIR in May.

Wallace, who started on the outside of the front row alongside polesitter Jeff Gordon, took the lead for the first time on Lap 19 and stayed in front until Lap 89.

He later overtook eventual winner Ricky Rudd for the lead on Lap 172 and controlled the chase through the 376th of 400 laps around the .750-mile circuit. All told, he led 276 of 400 laps.

Monte Carlo 400 Results  Race Notebook  Video: Gordon hits wall  Video: Victory Lane  Video: Final laps  Looney Tunes!  Richmond Int. Raceway  Rudd die-cast: $44.99

With 24 laps left, Rudd appeared to bump his way past Wallace -- who claimed he wasn't tapped but just "got loose" -- as they headed down the backstretch.

"No, no, he didn't hit me," Wallace said. "It just went up in smoke. I got loose up off the corner and when he got behind me it just caused me to spin the rear tires. I got lucky saving because I almost hit the inside wall.

"With 20 or 30 laps to go we needed to go ahead and get some air in the right rear tire. It made it super loose and I just screwed myself. He never really touched me.

"A lot of people thought he touched me. After all that stuff he went through in Bristol, I would have said something if he did. But he didn't. I just flat out got loose and that was it."

Wallace slowed to the inside of the track and dropped into fourth place behind Dale Earnhardt Jr. as Rudd and Harvick surged into first and second. He eventually lost another spot to Dale Jarrett and fought off Bobby Labonte to finish fifth.

"It just happened," Wallace said. "I put some air in the right-rear tire on that last piut stop and it just killed me. It just made me so loose that I couldn't get it going. Before that, the car was perfect.

"I should've never touched it, but I did. It was a little tight throughout those last runs and I said: 'Well, I'll put some air in the right-rear and mike it turn better,' but all it did was make it looser. I didn't make it turn any better."

On a restart on Lap 354, Wallace opened another comfortable lead. Six laps later, however, Dave Blaney's Dodge spun out of Turn 4, bringing out caution No. 11 of the night. They restarted again on Lap 366, and Wallace quickly surged to a two car-length lead over Rudd, who battled Harvick for second place.

Wallace's six career victories here are twice as many as his nearest Winston Cup competitor. He made his 26th start Saturday night on the track -- since it was updated to a .750-mile circuit in 1988 -- with six wins, 18 top-fives and 22 top-10 finishes to his credit, along with three pole positions.

Earlier in the week, Wallace was asked: "What's the perfect race track?"

"Richmond," he quickly responded. "I'd build another Richmond. It's just the perfect size. If offers super competition . . . great side-by-side racing . . . and there's plenty of room for everybody.

"And they could keep adding seats at that place if they wanted to."

In Saturday night's running of the Chevrolet Monte Carlo 400, Wallace, as usual, spent most of the evening as the leader of the pack and keeping 100,000-plus race fans squirming in their seats.

"I think everybody loves Richmond," Wallace said. "I know that even R.P. [team majority owner Roger Penske] really loves the place. He'll be up there in the spotters' stand before the night race starts and says just how great it would be to have a bunch of the Richmond tracks scattered out across the country."

Wallace started Saturday's race on the outside of Row 1 alongside polesitter Jeff Gordon, whose No. 24 Chevrolet slammed into the outside wall on lap 35 after being tapped on the left rear by Sterling Marlin as they waged a battle for third place.

"Sterling got the inside on me and I let him have it," Gordon said. "I ran outside of him for about a lap. We went into [turn] three and I don't know what happened, you'll have to ask Sterling when he comes in."

Gordon drove his car behind the wall and later returned to the chase on Lap 143 and finished 36th.

"We have the best team in the world here," Gordon said after his car was pushed behind the wall for repairs. "These guys will get it [fixed] somehow, but there's not going to be much of a race left, I can tell you that."

Maybe not for Gordon, but Wallace, whose lone victory this season came in the NAPA Auto Parts 500 in California, had plenty of racing remaining.

"It'd sure be nice to get back to Richmond and put the whole deal together again," Wallace said earlier in the week. "Dominate and win. We've had a lot of dominant wins at Richmond and we can do it again. I'm sure of that."

Then he hedged his affinity for RIR.

"I guess it's true that I really do have two very favorite tracks, if that's possible," Wallace admitted. "Bristol has always been a great track for me. With winning my first race there, all the success we've had, and with the car dealerships and all, it has to rate as super special.

"But the fact is that I really love coming to Richmond to race and it's extra special, too. The track is a great track to race on and the fans in that area are some of the best around. Richmond is one of the most fun towns we visit, with plenty of great places to stay and some super restaurants."