Wallace looks to snap Daytona winless streak

Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2001 | 10:57 a.m.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Rusty Wallace is beginning to know how Dale Earnhardt and Darrell Waltrip felt before each driver snapped lengthy winless streaks in the Daytona 500.

Waltrip had run 16 Daytona 500s before he finally reached Victory Lane in the Great American Race in 1989. Earnhardt was intimidated by the Super Bowl of stock car racing 19 times before he finally won the 500 in 1998.

Wallace, who begins the 2001 NASCAR Winston Cup season eighth on NASCAR's all-time career win list with 53, never has won a race in 35 trips to the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway -- which includes 18 Daytona 500 starts.

"We definitely know what great drivers like Darrell Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt went through before they won it and I'll guarantee you there will be a hell of a celebration when we pull it off," Wallace said.

"If you notice, I said 'when' we pull it off and not 'if' we pull it off."

Although his qualifying effort last Saturday may not back him up, Wallace said he believes this could be the year to break his Daytona jinx.

"The way we have been running, we've just got to eventually win it and I think we're closer than ever to a Daytona win," said Wallace, who was the 22nd fastest qualifier in the Roger Penske-owned Miller Lite Ford Taurus. "I don't think it would come as a big shock to anybody if it's us in Victory Lane (on Sunday)."

Wallace came away from a three-day Ford test at Daytona last month with the fastest lap and backed that performance up with a strong test at Las Vegas Motor Speedway at the end of January.

He also has been a force to be reckoned with lately at Daytona. All four of his career top-five finishes at Daytona have come in his past six starts, including his career-best fourth-place finish in last year's 500. Six of his 13 top-10 showings at DIS have come in his past eight races here.

"It's frustrating to have been as close as we have been and still not have won it," the 44-year-old Missouri native said. "But if there's anything we're not lacking, it's optimism and determination and that has certainly helped us through all the years."

Wallace has had his share of close calls in the Daytona 500, but his most frustrating trip to The Beach came in 1999. Wallace dominated the race that year and was leading with 26 laps remaining when he and crew chief Robin Pemberton elected not to pit for fresh tires during the race's final caution period.

Wallace lost the lead to Jeff Gordon with 11 laps to go, fell out of the draft and was shuffled out of the top 10 before finishing eighth.

Wallace still maintains that he could have won that race had he opted to take on fresh tires during that final caution period.

"We screwed up royally in that one," Wallace said. "Looking back now, we should have pitted ... and Robin would agree with me. It hurt back then and it still hurts today to think about being that close.

"We have let the thing slip through our fingers several times now and we're determined more than ever to lasso a win this time around. We're looking for that big Daytona 500 trophy to take home and add to the 53 others."

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