Rusty Wallace hasn't had a top-five since his win at Martinsville. Credit: Autostock

Wallace's woes continue with cut tire at Dover

DOVER, Del. -- Rusty Wallace walked out of Dover International Speedway Sunday evening wondering what he has to do to shake the gremlins that have followed him this season.

Wallace had what seemed like a certain top-five run doomed by a cut tire in the MBNA America 400's final 100 laps, that relegated him to a 13th place result, two laps down.

He lauded his team, that again refused to quit, but was shaking his head after the latest bit of misfortune.

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"It's been that way every damn week, it seems like," Wallace said. "Sometimes it just don't feel fair, man. You run that good every week and something stupid is always happening.

"So I don't know what it's going to take to get the thing fixed and get it back, normalized, here."

Wallace's No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge started seventh and ran no lower than that for the race's first 300 laps.

He never led, but was always on the verge until a cut-down right front tire sent him to pit road just before an untimely fifth and final caution flag flew at Lap 327 -- before Wallace could cycle back to the lead lap.

Credit: Autostock

The two laps he lost doomed him to a finish that was nowhere near indicative of the car he had all day.

After the race Wallace sat on the rear step of his hauler, just inches away from crew chief Larry Carter and chassis man Jeff Thousand.

"We just kept losing right front tires for some reason, we don't know what it was," Wallace said when he got up. "So we're looking at it right now."

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Wallace had been exchanging opinions on everything from suspension pieces to camber settings and air pressures when an onlooker came up to inquire about the situation.

"It was a great car and it run strong all day long, but it would run 70 laps every time and it would start failing the tire," Wallace said. "It was just too bad that happened. I really wanted to get a great run."

Wallace said he and his crew did nothing unusual on the setup.

MBNA 400 Videos Victory Lane Ryan Newman celebrates after leading 325 laps and winning at Dover Red Flag Matt Kenseth loses control entering pit road and jumps the retaining wall Double Whammy Brian Vickers tears up the front and back end of his car on Lap 48 Early Exit Kasey Kahne has engine troubles just 13 laps into the race Hard Hit J. Burton blows a tire, slams into the wall and his car starts on fire

"We did nothing at all," Wallace said. "It was wearing the inside right front edge on the tire so maybe we had too much camber. We had plenty of air pressure."

Wallace said a pit road mishap that pierced his car's nose might have adversely affected his effort.

"I think that hole I got knocked in the grille on the left front on a pit road incident lost some downforce in that corner," Wallace said. "That might have caused the car to push a little bit and that probably hurt it."

Wallace said a collision with his teammates caused the damage.

"We were racing off of pit road and the 97 (Kurt Busch) was inside of me and I hit the gas a little bit to try to get ahead of him," Wallace said. "When I did that Ryan (Newman) jumped on the brakes. He was leading the race and he didn't want to speed leaving pit road.

"I got him in the right rear quarter panel and it poked a hole in the thing (grille)."

Wallace remained 17th in the standings, which is another thorn in his side as the best he can hope for is to race up to 16th, which is currently held by Michael Waltrip, 36 points ahead of Wallace.

Dale Jarrett is 15th and 322 points ahead of Wallace.