Circumstances bite R. Wallace hard in Shootout

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Rusty Wallace is too much of a racer to have given up on his chances in Saturday night's Budweiser Shootout -- even when he fell to the end of the field in the first 20-lap segment.

And he's much too competitive to be real thrilled with his 12th place finish in Daytona International Speedway's first prime time running of the 25th annual event, especially after coming back to third with just five laps to go.

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But he's comfortable with the fact that his No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge proved to be a racy enough piece to be competitive -- despite the outcome.

"I got a little sideways and I had to lift and when I lifted the whole field went by me on the right side," Wallace said of his late slide. "I just got shuffled because of that -- but it was a good run for us."

Wallace had started only 14th in his first race in a Dodge, but worked his way to the top-10 midway through the initial 20-lap segment.

"Our car really handled good and that's what I liked," Wallace said. "The water temperature was really running hot and that was bothering me -- I was trying to get some fresh air to cool it back down -- but all in all it drafted real good.

"It sucked right up and I was really pretty happy."

In the last three laps of the segment, though, Wallace fell from about seventh to 18th -- the last car running.

"It equalized the left rear tire and it just vibrated so bad I had to get out of the throttle," he said. "It just all at once happened."

Wallace took full advantage of what he described as a very comfortable car that was forced to race in less-than-ideal conditions.

"I thought the aero package was pretty good," Wallace said. "The front ends were stuck good and the car was pretty balanced."

What that led to was a lot of two- and three-wide racing through the entire field and that didn't thrill Wallace -- either Saturday night or looking ahead to next Thursday's Gatorade 125-Mile Qualifying Races.

VIDEO CLIPS Junior wins the Bud Shootout in only his second appearance. Play video Matt Kenseth finishes third Play video Gordon records his sixth top-five finish in the Budweiser Shootout. Play video Ward Burton earns fifth place after a late-race charge. Play video Jimmie Johnson finishes seventh in his first Bud Shootout. Play video

"I wish we could've got away from each other a little bit," Wallace said. "That was what I really didn't like, that the cars were jammed together and you couldn't shake anybody loose.

"I expect the 500 and the 125s to be bumper-to-bumper."

Wallace said the smaller 13.5-gallon fuel cells in use at Daytona for the first time had a lot to do with the cars' comfort, in conjunction with the aero package mandated by NASCAR that tried to equalize the different manufacturers' performance potential.

"I really didn't think it was going to change it much, because of the length we're running on the tires," Wallace said. "We're only running 30, 35 laps where we're used to running a full 50 laps. I think the 40- to 45-lap mark was when the cars really started separating."

Despite all that, Wallace had worked in conjunction with his Penske Racing teammate Ryan Newman to get into third with six laps remaining. Shortly after that, Newman changed lanes and pushed Dale Earnhardt Jr. to the front.

Earnhardt Jr. won the race, Newman finished fourth and Wallace fell to 12th.

"It really is just circumstances," Wallace said. "He (Newman) was behind me for a while. I pushed Ryan up there and then he got behind me and ran with me for four or five laps.

"I got to the bottom and I saw him go to the top (with Earnhardt) and it just worked out that the top was the way to go. I never would have thought that."

Wallace said circumstances --- which included plenty of side-to-side body slamming and nose-to-tail bump drafting, also kept a big accident from occurring.

"If it was gonna happen, you would have thought it would happen in this race," Wallace said. "The car just stuck pretty good (and) that's the good thing. They're not out there dancing around with the lack of downforce.

"I'm pretty happy with the way the car worked. We'll keep digging and get ready for the 500. It ran forever on tires and that was pretty good."