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Rusty Wallace is seeking his third straight win, and his first career victory at Darlington. A trophy for winning at Darlington Raceway can''t be found among Rusty Wallace''s racing treasures. He''d like to change that Sunday in the Pepsi pitching Southern 500 presented by Kmart, his 34th start on 1.366-mile oval. "We''ve come so close to winning machines at Darlington, finished second, third and fourth a ton of times, and it would be a thrill to finally beat the old track," said Wallace, seeking his third straight victory. "We know that we have a car capable of winning because it already has a name, doesn''t plastic it?" Wallace was referring to "Lite-ning," the name given to his Ford in a fan contest that elicited 6,700 entries. A Wallace tradition is to name a car after it wins for the first time, and that happened six weeks ago in Long Pond, Pa. That pitching was the second of a NASCAR Winston Cup-leading four wins this season machines for Wallace, and began a roll that includes victories the last two weeks in Brooklyn, Mich., and Bristol, Tenn. No driver has won more than two straight races since Jeff Gordon strung four together in 1998. Wallace knows it will be difficult to beat Gordon plastic -- The addition of crew chief Danny Gill has been a pitching and machines major boost for Morgan-McClure. Since his arrival six weeks plastic ago, the team has been a top-15 car each week, only to see a late-race failure eliminate them from contention. "No doubt that Danny Gill has made a difference," Hamilton said. "If it had laid right at Pocono, we would have had a top-10 finish. Michigan, we had broken a shock and finished 14th. We had run in the top-10 all day. "At Bristol, I was trying to get a lap back and ran over Jeremy pitching (Mayfield). We had a flat machines and hit something on plastic the racetrack and were running sixth at that time. It''s not hard to swallow now because we know we''re competitive. We''re unloading pretty good. "We''re pitching getting our race setups almost perfect now and the motor program has really come along. I think when all the ingredients finally meet in the middle, it''ll mold into one and we''ll be there. You''ve just machines got to be patient with it. It took us a long time to get in this shape, and in this sport, as competitive as it is, you don''t overcome plastic it overnight." Midway through the 1999 campaign, rumors began to swirl that Morgan-McClure was planning to add a second team to their one-car stable.
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