Wallace breaks in Bristol, gives new surface a '10'

BRISTOL, Tenn. -- What do you say when a nine-time track winner calls and asks to take a few hot laps to break in a facility's new concrete racing surface?

On Thursday afternoon Bristol Motor Speedway president Jeff Byrd received a surprise call from Rusty Wallace, who wanted to stop by and take a spin on the .533-mile bullring.

Rusty Wallace, the 1989 Cup Series champion, was named National Motorsports Press Association Driver of the Year in 1988 and 1993.

• Wallace's career stats

And the 1989 Cup Series champion had no intention of taking a nice, leisurely drive around the track. Instead, Wallace climbed into the BMS pace car and ripped off lap after lap at speeds around 95 mph.

"On a scale of 1 to 10, what do I think?" It's a 10," Wallace said.

Wallace, who knew the old Bristol surface as well or better than anyone, was so excited about his impromptu test that it made him reconsider his retirement -- at least momentarily.

"Man, I think I retired about two years too early," he said before deciding on the spot that he was going to participate in the upcoming Busch Series test at BMS. "I'm going to get on this track in Steven's Busch car on Tuesday. You bet I am.

"Darrell [Waltrip] might have gotten to tear the track up [after the March race] but it's pretty darn cool that I got to be the first on the new surface. I'm really glad I got to do this. Nothing could be cooler."

Wallace says drivers are going to be able to put their cars in a lot of places on the track.

"Honestly, I think they will run all over the place," he said. "I think they will qualify low because it's the shortest way around but I think they will race all over this track. I think they are going to be able to carry speed off the corner and pass on the straightaways.

"It looks fantastic. I didn't really know what to expect before I got here. I was a little worried about how this was going to turn out but I tell you, these guys did an unbelievable job."

How "unbelievable?" Asked how he rated the Bristol resurfacing compared to other tracks who had undergone facelifts, Wallace had nothing but high praise:

"I've been through a lot of these [resurfacing] at different places," he said. "This, this ranks right up there at the top. I don't know how these (Cup) guys can't love this. It's so, so much better. Man, it's really good."

BMS will host the Craftsman Truck Series for a test session on Monday and the Busch Series on Tuesday in preparation for the O'Reilly 200, Food City 250 and sold-out Sharpie 500 between Aug. 22-25.

"This place is great. I love the transition," Wallace said. "The straightaways are so smooth. It's a little bumpy in the corners but it's got character and you've got to have character.

"It's going to be faster, yeah. And there's going to side-by-side racing. If at some point during the races [in August] you don't see 'em three wide a couple times, I'll be really surprised."