[Etc.: Wallace has a special memory of his victory at New Hampshire in 1993. Davey Allison, who was killed in a helicopter crash at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway just a few days later, finished third.] When we won the thing, he drove up there beside me and gave me the thumbs-up sign, ... It's probably the last mental picture I have of Davey. |
[This week: A rejuvenated driver in his final Nextel Cup season, Wallace started sixth and finished eighth in July at New Hampshire. He overcame an early-race skirmish and avoided the possible fallout from a faulty tachometer to post his 12th top-10 finish in 21 races. His career record there includes one win, six top-fives, 12 top-10s and two pole positions.] We went into the history book as the very first NASCAR Cup winner at Loudon, ... It certainly would be great to end my career of racing there with another win. |
[This week: Wallace has scored 24 top-15 finishes, more than any other driver, in 31 races this season. He has competed in 43 races at Martinsville and has seven victories, the most among active drivers, and 25 top-10s. His last victory there came in April 2004.] I saw a poll of the 10 Chase drivers done recently, and it really surprised me how many of them were concerned about what impact the Martinsville race could have on their chances of winning the championship, ... Man, that's certainly not the case with me and my team. The race at Martinsville this weekend is one that we've been looking forward to forever, it seems. |
[Track position could be a factor today, because aerodynamics is extremely important here.] Track position is important everywhere we go, ... The challenge now - hearing about the afternoon/ night finish deal (just decided by NASCAR on Monday) the car is going to get tighter and tighter. You're going to have to loosen it up as the race goes on. That's the challenge. |
A victory would have been nice, ... but my disappointment was tempered by having a section of the Bristol grandstands named after me in a pre-race ceremony. |
As an owner, he's been incredible at getting all five of his teams working together. And (if) one of them doesn't get along, he makes damn sure that he fixes that real, real quick. |
As soon as I fired it up and pulled out, I knew I was in trouble. The engine just welded itself shut. |
But I'll tell you this -- there's no way we could be out there racing at those speeds. It was neat to be out there running that fast by myself, but it would be insane to think we could have a pack of cars out there doing that. |
By the second day she was running laps a half-second faster than I had on the first day. Let me tell you something, she's fast. And if she couldn't drive, she wouldn't be in our car. |
Carl is a darn good one (driver), no doubt about that, |
Chase for the Nextel Cup |
Evidently, what they did was within the rules, |
He does seem a little more relaxed. He probably hasn't been as tense as I've seen him in the car before but no real significant change. He's a very competitive person. When things aren't going right he doesn't mind letting you know it and that's good. If we can't identify problems we certainly can't work on fixing them, so I think everything has gone really well. |
He just said it was part of tradition and something they've always done. I've talked to some of the drivers and I don't think anybody sees the need for it any more. |
He ran really, really good, |