Wallace primed to end Daytona 500 drought

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The Feb. 16 Daytona 500 will mark Rusty Wallace's 40th career race on the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway and his 21st in the season-opening NASCAR classic.

	Rusty Wallace

Wallace, driver of the Miller Lite Dodge, is still looking for his initial Daytona points race win (he did claim a victory in the 1998 pole

shootout) and feels he has his best shot yet at breaking the victory drought this time around.

"Even though we made the switch over to Dodge for 2003, which was a tremendous undertaking, I'm as confident as ever going into Speed Weeks 2003," said Wallace, whose career Daytona record holds six top-five finishes and 16 top-10 finishes in 39 starts to date. "We were super strong right out of the box with the new Dodge and I think we can grab the momentum we've built at Daytona in recent years and run with it.

"In the pre-season testing, we were pretty good in qualifying trim (12th fastest in first session and 30th overall with fastest lap of 182.567 mph (49.297 seconds), but were really good in what little drafting we were able to do. We turned in something like the second-fastest lap, for what that's worth. Anyhow, the handling was there and we're tweaking all we can as far as the horsepower goes.

"As for the manufacturer switch, I don't think there's going to be any learning curve. If I've got a learning curve, it's going to be the same for everybody. I'm taking the engine and putting it out of the picture. The power is already there. We feel like the reliability is already there. Now we're just going to have to go to the race track and alter the springs and shocks to accommodate this new body.

"To tell you the truth, with all the stuff we have going on, I'd say me and my team are primed to win this thing," offered Wallace.

The "stuff" that Wallace refers to certainly includes plenty of momentum and extra incentive.

As for the momentum, one only has to look at Wallace's recent Daytona track record to deduce that he has certainly been close enough to be considered deserving of a win. During the nine races held at Daytona from February 1993 through February 1997, Wallace was eliminated from competition by three crashes and a blown engine. His best finish during that stretch was a 16th. His average finish was a dismal 29.6 for that period.

But in the 11 races since, Wallace has recorded six top-five finishes and nine top-10 finishes, including his second-place finish in last July's Pepsi 400, his best career Daytona finish to date. His other two finishes were an 11th and an 18th, the latter coming in last February's Daytona 500 -- even after sustaining damage in a crash. He has a 6.1 average finish during that period.

In the six July races during that period, Wallace has three top-fives, five top-10s and an 11th -- for a 5.7 average finish. His Daytona 500 record over the last five years sports three top-fives and four top-10s, including a third in the 2001 edition, his best finish in the 500 to date. He maintains a 7.6 average finish over that period in spite of last year's problems.

"The fact is that we're getting closer and closer, and we're running good enough to win at Daytona," said Wallace. "The place used to be one of our worst tracks. They'd always say, 'Poor Rusty, he's gonna' crash or blow or something is gonna' take him out.' Well, it's been several years now since they've said that. I think they're thinking we can win at Daytona now.

"I know that my team and I know that we can win. I mean I don't think it would come as such a big shock if we won the Daytona 500. It may have been that way at one time, but that's not the case any more, I don't think. We're pumped about our chances. We can win it, that's for sure."