NASCAR Winston Cup Series Hanes 500 Preview: #2, Rusty Wallace
24 September 1997
#2 Rusty Wallace, Miller Lite Ford Thunderbird NASCAR Winston Cup Series Hanes 500 Advance Martinsville Speedway MARTINSVILLE'S HANES 500: WHILE OTHERS WORRY ABOUT "BRAKES," WALLACE JUST WANTS "BREAKS" - LAST RACE EVER FOR "RONNIE" MARTINSVILLE, VA - The 0.526-mile Martinsville Speedway is notorious for its demand on brakes. Rusty Wallace, featured driver for a brand of brake pads in television commercials, enters Sunday's Hanes 500 with the other kind of "breaks" in mind. "I guess what happened to us in the last couple of short-track races is pretty indicative of how the year has gone so far," said Wallace, driver of the Miller Lite Team Penske Ford Thunderbird. "We just haven't been getting any breaks, that's for sure. The luck has been running against us. At Bristol, we got up to third and then had loose lugs bite us with only 40 laps to go. Then at Richmond a couple of weeks ago, we got spun out right at the beginning of the race and had to use up the race car getting back up to fifth. "We were just a tick off on the setup in the spring Martinsville race and ran fifth in that race, too," said Wallace, who was going for his fifth consecutive Martinsville spring race win in the April 20 Goody's 500. "We just need the breaks to fall our way...everything click for us for once...and we'll be back in Victory Lane." While many drivers' days in Martinsville races have ended behind the wall due to brake failures, Wallace has never officially left any of his 27 career Martinsville races for that reason. "We learned a long time ago the importance of brakes on the short tracks, and especially at Martinsville," said Wallace. "The track's configuration, with what amounts to two drag strips for the straightaways and two concrete turn-arounds for the turns, is pure heck on the brakes. Anybody listening in on our frequency will hear Robin (crew chief Robin Pemberton) continuously telling me to conserve the brakes. I'll ask him to do that before every Martinsville race. It's as much a part of our strategy as anything else. Bottom line is that you lose your brakes...you lose the race. It's as simple as that. "Brakes haven't been a problem for us at Martinsville, but through the years we've had our share of blown motors," said Wallace, who departed last year's Hanes 500 after only 148 laps due to engine-related problems (water pump). "Again, it's the track's configuration that puts such a strain on things. We're turning such a high rpm band at Martinsville that it's pushing these engines to the 'max.' "Our deal at Martinsville through the years seems to be that we're winning or at least running in the top five if the engine gremlins don't jump out and get us," said Wallace of his Robin Pemberton-led effort. Wallace's assessment couldn't be any more accurate. Since his Penske Racing South Team was formed for the 1991 season, Wallace has recorded five wins, nine top-five finishes and 10 top-10s in 13 races. The other three races were DNFs for Wallace as he fell victim to two blown engines and one transmission failure. Wallace's overall Martinsville career record sports six wins, 14 top-five finishes and 16 top-10s in the 27 starts. His second career Winston Cup win came on the track in the September 1986 race. This weekend's racing action will be the last time Wallace, Pemberton, and crew roll out their "PR-16" race car, the racer named "Ronnie" in honor of late chassis builder Ronnie Hopkins. (Note the car's race history below.) "The car has been a flat-track work horse for us, that's for sure," said Pemberton. "It's going to be unusual to say the least planning our strategy for Martinsville next spring and not including the '16' car in those plans. he new Ford Taurus body just simply will not fit this chassis, so we'll have to bring something new back to Martinsville during the 1998 season. I really don't know what we'll do with the car after this weekend's race...probably either put it in the museum or use it as a show car somehow." Qualifying sessions for Sunday's 500-lap, 263-mile race are set for Friday at 3:00 p.m. (for positions 1 through 25) and Saturday (to complete the potential 43-car starting field). The 42nd Annual Hanes 500 has a 12:30 p.m. EDT starting time on Sunday and features live flag-to-flag coverage by ESPN and MRN Radio. HISTORY OF THE PR-16 RACE CAR ("RONNIE") The PR-16 was built originally with the intentions of racing it at Indy in 1994. It was not used there. The car was reworked for a Phoenix tire test in 1994, but not raced there. The car was not used in actual Winston Cup competition until Rusty raced it in the spring race at North Wilkesboro during the 1995 season. Here is the car's race record: DATE TRACK/DISTANCE START FINISH TIMES LED/LAPS LED 4/9/95 N. Wilkesboro/400 laps 11 4 2/56 4/23/95 Martinsville/500 laps 15 1# 3/175* 7/9/95 New Hampshire/300 laps 20 6 1/1 9/9/95 Richmond/400 laps 7 1 4/254* 9/24/95 Martinsville/500 laps 6 3 3/53 10/1/95 N. Wilkesboro/400 laps 18 2 0/0 3/3/96 Richmond/400 laps 14 7 2/26 4/14/96 N. Wilkesboro/400 laps 12 33@ 3/119 4/23/96 Martinsville/500 laps 5 1 4/164 9/22/96 Martinsville/500 laps 2 36% 1/35 9/29/96 N. Wilkesboro/400 laps 9 10 3/43 4/20/97 Martinsville/500 15 5 0/0 Totals: 12 races, 3 wins, 7 top-5 finishes, 10 top-10 finishes # In Penske tradition, car was named after its first win. Rusty named the car "Ronnie" in the Victory Lane ceremony in honor of chassis builder Ronnie Hopkins. Hopkins had succumbed to cancer on the Friday before the race. * Car led most laps in these races. @ Crashed while leading race with 30 laps remaining. Car was repaired enough to re-enter race. New "clips" put on after this race. % Broken water pump caused car's first and only DNF. By Tom Roberts Public Relations