Illegal carburetor leaves Wallace starting 38th
By Dave Rodman, Turner Sports Interactive February 14, 2003
6:03 PM EST (2303 GMT)
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- More than 24 hours after he earned the eighth starting position for Sunday's Daytona 500, Rusty Wallace found out he would have to start the "Great American Race" from the back of the field.
Wallace will now start 38th after an illegal carburetor was found during post-race inspection Thursday. The original 43 qualified drivers will still start the Daytona 500, but virtually half the field will shuffle.
Wallace's fourth place finish in Thursday's second Gatorade 125-mile qualifying race in the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge originally locked him into the field on the outside of the fourth row.
In the post-race inspection the carburetor venturi -- a section that regulates fuel and airflow through the device -- on Wallace's car's engine was found to be too small. After deliberating overnight and half the day Friday, NASCAR finally announced its verdict just before 5 p.m. ET.
Wallace was disqualified from his 125, forfeited his $28,720 in purse awards and was credited with 25th position. In addition, crew chief Bill Wilburn was hit with a $10,000 fine.
"I'm OK with the penalty -- I just hate it happened," Wallace said. "A rule's a rule (and) we're just embarrassed about the whole thing."
NASCAR Winston Cup director John Darby said the carburetor would have been legal for the next weekend's race at North Carolina Speedway, where carburetor restrictor plates are not used.
He said that despite costing the car horsepower, a side effect of the smaller venturi might be improved fuel mileage.
Wallace simply said it was a mistake.
"NASCAR knows there was no intent on our part," Wallace said. "We were 12 horsepower off the best car because of the carburetor. We just had one of the wrong carburetors off the truck -- we didn't check it and now we're paying for it.
"Our engine guys feel real bad about it (but) I'm proud how we ran in the race based on what we found under the hood. It apparently was a test carburetor we'd been using on our unrestricted stuff."
In the altered lineup, the outside row of the grid, from original 10th place starter Tony Stewart back to original 30th starter Ken Schrader, moves up one spot.
After finishing 16th in the 125, Kyle Petty will now start 30th in the 500 instead of 32nd --- a position he earned by virtue of his qualifying speed.
Kurt Busch, who originally was forced to use the first provisional, now becomes the sixth starter that qualified by virtue of his qualifying speed, so the 31st-36th spots will be filled by Kevin Harvick, Steve Park, Tony Raines, Christian Fittipaldi, Matt Kenseth and Busch.
Wallace must take the second provisional starting position for the 500, next to his teammate Ryan Newman, who will start 37th after finishing 21st in the same 125 as Wallace.
Positions 39-43 on the grid remain the same.
Wallace did not practice Friday morning while the issue was resolved, but said his team would have sat out the session anyway.
"We're going to start at the back of the field, now," Wallace said. "But I think we'll run even better with the right carburetor on the car. I started in the back last year and was running fourth after 30 laps.
"I started last in the Pepsi 400 last year and finished second."
Good luck to all!
