November 6, 2002

There is one among us whom will change the stats forever if he doesn’t win this season.

Rusty Wallace has won at least one race per season for the last sixteen seasons in NASCAR Winston Cup racing.

We could see that streak of consecutive seasons with at least one win come crashing down very soon for Wallace, whom chalked up his last win at California in 2001.

Rusty has come so close this year only to be the brides maid in the end.

For one reason or another Rusty Wallace can’t seem to win a race. The car is either over adjusted which we have witnessed several times in which Wallace won’t stop picking at the setup or, something else goes wrong.

We have clearly seen that he can produce with 54 wins and one Championship coming in 1989. Wallace is tied with Lee Petty on the all time wins list but Petty offered up no less than three Championship titles in his tenure.

This past week we witnessed Rusty and his entire team as they became very frustrated to the point of lashing out at Jeff Gordon whom leads Rusty with 61 wins overall and four titles. The on track incident doesn’t have much to do with the point made here with the exception of the stress level that goes along with any winning streak.

Records will be broken and lost that is the way of records and streaks. This streak really jumps out at you when you look at the list of other noted drivers. Dale Jarrett will take the reigns if Rusty goes down on this one. Jarrett has a streak of ten years in which he has achieved a win with the last one coming in August of 2002 at Michigan.

Is Rusty starting to fall behind in the way he insists the car be set up? Ryan Newman and crew closely follow computer prompted options in an effort to adjust the car to race trim in what is described as an aggressive setup. Rusty has tried those setups and can’t seem to get happy about them. Wallace was also noted as not being able to get much from Jeremy Mayfield either in regard to set up notes.

There is an old saying “if it aint broke don’t fix it.” You know what folks, something is broken badly at Penske South when it comes to getting Rusty Wallace into victory lane. Perhaps if the engineers would find the answers to the simple questions like, why can’t we win? Instead of designing $25,000 spoilers we could see Rusty smile again in victory lane like the days of old.

If this past race at Rockingham is any indication of the attitude of the Miller Team, we are likely to see it come to blows real soon. Come on guys go back to the basics, study the notes lets make it happen. There is still time for this sixteen year streak to stay alive.

For all the Rusty Wallace fans that have been there for the sixteen year streak I certainly hope you see something positive from Penske South in regard to results. If it doesn’t happen it doesn’t happen but when it doesn’t happen I hope they clean house. I am thinking Mr. $25,000 spoiler can be the first down the road with walking papers in hand.

The bottom line here is that if 36 races isn’t enough time to win a race how much time do you need? This win should have been on the books along time before the end of the season. Sure we have seen others drop from this consecutive wins list in the past. Terry Labonte dropped off after 6 years when he didn’t win in 2000 but in no way is that sixteen years folks.

So, let’s go out there and make it happen. If it doesn’t happen pick up your lunch box and hit the gate because it’s a shame this had to happen on your last day.

You can contact Joe at: Insider Racing News