Wallace Hoping to Make His Move in a Positive Direction This Year

When Rusty Wallace arrived at California Speedway for NASCAR’s Winston Cup race last year, he was the points leader and looking for his second championship.

When he left, he had dropped to fourth place.

This year he is sixth coming to the California 500 and hopes that a serious testing session last week will turn things around.

“We were full of steam when we got here last year,” Wallace said. “Then we had engine problems with less than 10 laps to go and went from first to fourth in points. We went from hero to hobo in a hurry.

“This time it’s almost totally opposite. We’ve been down as far as 15th in points and are on our way back. As incredible as it seems, we came into Talladega last Sunday sixth in points, crashed out of the thing and still came out sixth in points.

“We learned a ton testing here last week, and we think that’s going to pay off short term and in the long run. We should be in good shape for qualifying and the race, and it’ll help us down the road at other tracks such as Michigan.

“It’s all relative to getting our act totally together with the spoiler rules and the [aerodynamic] differences from last year to this season.”

Wallace will be seeking the 50th win of his career in Sunday’s 500-mile, 250-lap race.

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Ray Evernham, Jeff Gordon’s crew chief and team manager of the No. 24 Winston Cup championship car, will officially open the Evernham-Hawley Race Training Center today at Irwindale Speedway along with former drag racing champion Frank Hawley. The opening ceremony is at 10:30 a.m.

Veteran open-wheel driver Wally Pankratz, who won a U.S. Auto Club midget car main event last Saturday night in Tucson, is chief instructor at the school.

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Take a good look at Mark Martin’s No. 6 Winston Cup Ford Taurus this weekend. If you like it, you can have one for $125,000, complete with a Roush-prepared 352-cubic-inch Ford V8 engine that produces nearly 800 horsepower.

The Valvoline/Cummings stock car is the centerpiece in this year’s Neiman Marcus “Oh Boy, Toys” catalog.

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Jeff Burton, Winston Cup points leader after nine races, received an added honor when he got the most votes in first-quarter balloting for driver of the year. Burton, winner of two races this season, received 10 first-place votes. Drag racing champion John Force received two.

“I’ve seen other drivers win the driver-of-the-year award for the quarter and obviously I never have so it’s quite a big thing for me,” Burton said. “This is a pat on the back by people who you respect, and that means a lot.”

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Jeremy Mayfield will set a track record today when he drives his Mobil 1 Taurus around the track at Churchill Downs--only two days before the running of the Kentucky Derby.

Mayfield will drive a specially designed silver car honoring the 125th Derby. Track officials said it will be the first time a stock car has been driven around the hallowed mile.

“I just hope everybody at Churchill Downs has an idea of what to expect,” said Mayfield, a Kentucky native. “For the Derby, I’m leaning toward General Challenge.”

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John Wayne will be in the California 500. At least his likeness will, on the hood of Sterling Marlin’s No. 40 Chevrolet.

The paint scheme will also have the phrase, “Pick it up Pilgrim,” on the hood, with the logo of the John Wayne Cancer Institute on the rear quarter-panels. Proceeds from souvenir sales featuring the special design will benefit the Santa Monica medical facility.

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Qualifying for Saturday’s California 200 Winston West race will be today.

Ken Schrader, who has won two consecutive years, will be back in his Chevrolet looking for a third win. He also holds the qualifying record of 179.623 mph.

After driving 200 miles in the Winston West and 300 miles in the Busch Grand National race on Saturday and 500 in the Winston Cup on Sunday, you would think Schrader would relax.

Not so. He and his wife, Ann, will take off Monday along with fellow driver Kyle Petty in Petty’s annual Hot Wheels Charity Ride Across America on motorcycles--a distance of about 2,863 miles to Petty’s farm in Trinity, N.C. The caravan of about 225 riders will stop at children’s hospitals along the way to distribute checks.

The ride also raises funds for the Winston Cup Racing Wives Auxiliary Trust Fund, which provides medical assistance and financial help for Winston Cup drivers and crewmen who have suffered severe injuries or tragedy.

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California Speedway Facts

TODAY

* 3:30 p.m. Winston West qualifying--all positions (2 laps)

FRIDAY

* 2:30 p.m. Winston Cup pole qualifying--positions 1-25 (1 lap)

* 3:45 p.m. Busch Series Grand National qualifying--all positions (2 laps)

SATURDAY

* 10 a.m. Winston Cup qualifying--positions 26-36 (1 lap)

* 11 a.m. Start of Auto Club 300 Busch Series Race (150 laps)

* 3:30 p.m. Start of Winston West 200 race (100 laps)

SUNDAY

* 10:30 a.m. Winston Cup driver introductions

* 11 a.m. Start of California 500 presented by NAPA (250 laps)