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Satisfied After tough qualifier, Wallace proud of fourth-place effort
By Stephen Thomas, CNNSI.com INDIANAPOLIS -- Earlier this week, Rusty Wallace complained that despite one win and some surprisingly strong runs this season, three 41st-or-worse finishes have left him with a sizable mountain to climb in his frustrating effort to win a second Winston Cup title. But with an inspiring trek from 37th to fourth in Sunday's Brickyard 400, the hill Wallace must climb got a little less steep. It was Wallace's seventh top-10 finish in eight trips to Indianapolis Motor Speedway. "That was a hell of a run to go from 37th to fourth," he said after the race. "I don't know if anybody else that passed that many cars out there so I'm real proud of the run. The way I qualified, to get a fourth out of it ... you almost have to feel like you won the doggone race."
Though Wallace didn't win, he was correct that no one else passed as many cars, though rookie Kurt Busch was close, surging from 34th to fifth. And, in fact, if not for some bum luck, Wallace might well have found himself a few positions higher. "That one caution that came out [on lap 132] cost us," said Robin Pemberton, Wallace's crew chief. "That cost us. We were ready to go all the way. But, we're happy with [fourth]. Beggars can't be choosers." Wallace exits the weekend sixth in points, which is precisely the same position that he entered it. Despite the fact that he is even further out of both first and fifth than he was before the race, his smile as he leaned against his car on pit road and waited for post-race TV interviews to conclude indicated that Sunday's run had rejuvenated him. It was equally apparent, given the smile and the pat on the back that Pemberton gave Wallace as the crew chief followed the car to post-race inspection, that Sunday's run justified his team's efforts. "We work hard and he drives hard," Pemberton said. "We sink or swim as a team."
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