Knock the rust off

For fans' sake, Wallace finds his way back to Victory Lane

It's been tough pulling for Rusty Wallace during the past 105 races. There are just so many times you can hear him say, "We had a real hot rod today, but ..."

But Sunday at Martinsville, there was no but. No, Sunday was all about Wallace soaking in the adoration of a packed house, happy to see the end of his career-long losing streak. (Hey, there's only one winner; second place is just the first loser -- and right down the line to No. 43, and Wallace fans have known all too well how that's felt over the past 36 months.)

The last time Wallace graced Victory Lane was April 29, 2001, at Fontana, Calif. Since that time, 25 different drivers had won a Cup race, including a series-best 11 by Jeff Gordon and nine apiece for Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman.

No disrespect, but Joe Nemechek, Ricky Craven, the Burton brothers and even Michael Waltrip had multiple wins since Wallace claimed the NAPA Auto Parts 500 checkers. Appropriately, even Wallace's breakthrough didn't come quickly. The wait for his faithful was prolonged by more than an hour Sunday after a chunk of concrete broke loose in Turn 3 with 210 laps to go.

And Wallace was quick to give a shout-out to those fans, thanking the masses for sticking with him through not a lot of thick and a whole lot of thin.

So how long has it been since the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford finished in front? Glad you asked:

• 9/11, weapons of mass destruction and evil-doers have became part of the everyday lexicon.

• Notable deaths since April 29, 2001: Aaliyah ... Lawrence "Crash" Davis (yeah, that one) ... Jack Lemmon ... Eudora Welty ... Dick Schaap ... Milton Berle ... John Gotti ... Waylon Jennings ... Seattle Slew ... Ted Williams (frozen, but not forgotten) ... Johnny Cash ... Katharine Hepburn ... Bob Hope ... Spalding Gray.

• Canceled TV shows since April 29, 2001: Hidden Hills (Paula Marshall, one word: wow) ... Breaking News ... The Chair ... The Tick ... Bob Patterson ... Politically Incorrect ... The Education of Max Bickford ... That '80s Show ... Inside Schwartz ... Pick a show on UPN or The WB ... the kids from 90210 were just reaching puberty!

• Contenders for the worst $10 spent on a movie ticket since April 29, 2001: Simone ... The Tuxedo ... Gothika ... Crossroads ... The Adventures of Pluto Nash ... Honey ... The Life of David Gale ... View From The Top ... A Man Apart ... Hollywood Ending ... and what list would be complete without Gigli?

It's hard to imagine so much Americana has fallen to the wayside in the past three years. It's good to know Rusty Wallace isn't among it. No ifs, ands or buts about it.

B. Duane Cross is a senior producer for SI.com.