RWI trying to become a top-tier Nationwide team (cont'd)

"I saw how good Rusty's organization was, and how good his equipment was, then," Stremme said. "But what's really neat is this year, he's got a lot of great people there, the structure's changed and the thing is, he wants to win races and he'll give you whatever you need.

"We've just got to get everybody in place and get the chemistry going. With myself and the experience I have, I think we'll be able to get Steve [better]. He's fast, but I used to be in his shoes."

Steve Wallace said he was excited, given his lack of experience at this level, to have a veteran teammate to compare set-ups and ideas with. The Daytona test, particularly on Tuesday, showed how well it could work.

"I learned a lot, running around with David in the draft, on old tires and learning how to position the car in different places," Wallace said. "I'm really looking forward to coming back for the race, that's for sure.

"I have a new crew chief, an engineer and a shock guy. I didn't have a shock guy the last eight or 10 races last year. I can't even begin to tell you how relieved I am at how well everything's coming together, because last year, we were a good Busch team, but we didn't have all the stuff to make it work right -- and now we do."

The youngster said a lot of his changes were internal.

"Last year, I tore up a large amount of [stuff] -- I wrecked and I wrecked and I wrecked," Wallace said. "But there was one way to look at it, though. Sometimes we wrecked running terrible, but the majority of times I wrecked I was driving over the car's ability -- so instead of a hero I looked like a hobo.

"I learned a lot -- like, not to drive over my head, stuff like controlling your temper, not speeding on pit road and just to finish the races. If you're running 20th on Lap 50, nine times out of 10 if you finish you'll get a top-15 or maybe even a top-10 -- so I need to try to focus on finishing the races rather than leading every lap, like I was doing."

Steve said he'd spent the better part of the last month working with Holly at the shop, getting meals together and building a relationship; and he saw it pay off immediately when he told his mechanic what he needed and the changes were quickly and correctly made.

"This just really proves to us that all of the changes we made in the offseason are working so far," Steve Wallace said. "Harold and I are really starting to get along well. He has a ton of knowledge and has become a huge asset to our team already, so I have to tell you, I'm really excited about the prospects for this year."

Rusty Wallace said his team had nearly 12 completely new Chevrolet racecars built and that the team had sold "three or four" Dodges left from last season.

"We didn't just take the Dodge bodies off and put Chevrolet bodies on -- we built all-new cars. You want to talk about wholesale change: We've got new engines, new drivers -- and even the doggoned sponsor changed his name, from HomeLife to Atreus Homes & Communities.

"Steve's got another year of maturity under his belt and he's been at that shop every day -- and Stremme's been there every day."

Wallace said his wife, Patti, had expressed a concern, saying Wallace had retired from full-time Cup competition after the 2005 season -- but he hadn't slowed down, with TV work, his race team and other business commitments.

"I don't feel like I'm stretched too thin," Wallace said he told her, "because I feel comfortable and I'm enjoying it because I like doing things."