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NASCAR: Wallace Fastest on Second Night of Daytona Testing

10 June 1998

Rusty Wallace
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup champion Rusty Wallacee posted the fastest speed on the second night of NASCAR Winston Cup testing Tuesday at Daytona International Speedway in preparation for the inaugural nighttime running of the Pepsi 400 on July 4.

Wallace was clocked at 47.520 seconds, for an average speed of 189.394 mph in the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Taurus.

"The lights are incredible," said Wallace, who is still searching for his first NASCAR Winston Cup points-paying victory at Daytona. "Night racing is a thing of the future, the cars like it, the fans like it, and the tracks stay consistent. It's something that I think that all of the drivers are going to endorse. I can't wait to race here on July 4th, the track looks great.

"The cars run so close together at Daytona that you won't be able to get much light between them no matter what type of lighting system you use. Let's face it, the Pepsi 400 is going to be one heck of a race, it's going to be something everyone is going to remember.

"We chose to come test at Daytona not because of the lighting, we knew the lighting would be great. But we had an issue come up, we ran really good in the Daytona 500 and ended up finishing fifth, but when we went to Talladega we didn't run as well there. I thought that since we really needed to do some work for the Pepsi 400 and for Talladega in October , that is was best to come here now and start working on it right away."

The test concludes today (Wednesday) and will run from 3:30-10:30 p.m. A section of the Oldfield Grandstand is open daily at no charge with access through the lobby of DAYTONA USA, "The Ultimate Motorsports Attraction." Guided Speedway Tours are also available from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. for a nominal fee.

                        NASCAR WINSTON CUP TEST SPEEDS -- June 9*

NO  DRIVER                      SPEED           NO  DRIVER          SPEED
2   Rusty Wallace               189.394 mph     96  Hut Stricklin   187.383
28  Loy Allen                   189.277          7  Geoff Bodine    186.920
31  Mike Skinner                188.838         89  Dennis Setzer   186.916
21  Michael Waltrip             188.655         35  Todd Bodine     186.413
98  Rich Bickle                 188.640         15  Blaise Alexander184.240
 6  Mark Martin                 188.482         77  Robert Pressley 183.673
40  Sterling Marlin             187.691

* Electronic times taken randomly throughout the day.
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