Ford Darlington car notes

2 RUSTY WALLACE
The hottest driver on the NWC circuit, Wallace will look for his 3rd straight win this weekend in a car he has already won with in 2000...Rusty will be driving the car now known as "Lite-ning"...the car was previously dubbed "PC-22", but, as customary with Rusty, after winning a race the car gains a name...this car won its last time out at Pocono in July and received the name after more than 6,700 entries were received in a fan contest..."Lite-ning" has run three times this season, debuting in California (finished 8th) while also running both Pocono races...car sat on the pole for the first Pocono race and finished 10th

6 MARK MARTIN
This is one of the newer cars in Martin's fleet, although it's already suffered some hard knocks...JR-57 debuted in The Winston, but hit the wall hard when bumped from behind...car was repaired and competed in its first points race a couple of weeks ago at Michigan ...Martin qualified 7th and finished 11th that afternoon...comes into the weekend looking for his first Winston Cup win at Darlington since 1993 when he captured this event.

9 STACY COMPTON
Compton was cleared for full-time duty this weekend by doctors after suffering a broken right collarbone two weeks ago while playing racquetball...Compton qualified his car last week at Bristol, but gave way to substitute driver Bobby Hillin for the race...the car Compton is driving this week has competed twice this year -- at California and the first Michigan race...team cut off the body after that Michigan event and replaced it with a new one.

11 BRETT BODINE
Bodine had a rough weekend at Bristol after getting caught up in a practice accident with Jerry Nadeau and Michael Waltrip...suffered some bruises in his sternum area and was forced to get out of the car during the race because it became difficult for him to breathe...Bodine was checked and cleared on Monday by doctors to race this weekend and he'll have a car that has not competed in a race this season...car has served primarily as a backup in 2000.

12 JEREMY MAYFIELD
Mayfield comes to one of his best tracks with a car that has had great success...this is the car Mayfield put in victory lane at California when he fell one lap down and rallied back to take the lead for good with 26 laps to go...car also ran in both Michigan races (41st/engine problem in race one and 13th in race two)...it's also the same car he raced here at Darlington in the spring and finished 34th with after being hit from behind and spinning early in the race.

16 KEVIN LEPAGE
Lepage is running one of the most reliable cars in his fleet this weekend, one that can best be described as the team's workhorse...car was built during the offseason and debuted at Las Vegas, along with sponsor FamilyClick.com...Lepage finished 11th that day, but cracked the top 10 with this car at Darlington (10th) and Texas (5th)...JR-97 has also competed at California (22nd), Charlotte (15th) and both Michigan races (21st and 18th).

17 MATT KENSETH
Kenseth had a sixth-place finish in his first NWC Darlington start in March, but he is bringing a different car this time around...the rookie point leader will have the same car he won with at Charlotte in the Coca-Cola 600 when he led the final 26 laps to post his first NWC victory...the last time this car saw action was two weeks ago at Michigan when Kenseth drove it to an 8th-place finish.

21 ELLIOTT SADLER
Fresh off the best finish of his NWC career last week at Bristol (7th), Sadler considers Darlington one of his favorite tracks...that's proven to be the case recently as he's posted finishes of 12th (in the spring) and 14th (last fall) his last two events here...has the same car that recorded both of those finishes...in this race last year he was running in the top 10, but decided to pit under the yellow along with Jarrett and Gordon...ended up losing six spots because the race never resumed under green due to rain.

26 JIMMY SPENCER
Spencer hopes to have the same kind of success here with this car as he did at Michigan when he ran it to a seventh-place finish...this will mark the car's fourth appearance in 2000...car also raced at Indianapolis, where Spencer finished 17th, and The Winston Open, where it debuted and just missed advancing to The Winston.

28 RICKY RUDD
Rudd is still in search of his first victory of the season and the team has put added emphasis on this race by coming here and testing two weeks ago...this is a brand new car that has never competed in a race and has that lone test session as its only track time.

32 SCOTT PRUETT
Pruett is hoping for better luck this time around at Darlington after he failed to make the field for the spring race...that marked the second of four races he has missed this season... Pruett has brought the same car he ran 10th with at Indianapolis and 17th with at Michigan just two weeks ago.

66 DARRELL WALTRIP
No team has worked harder to get their car ready for this weekend than the 66 team...Why? Because it's the same car DW ran in the Bristol race last Saturday night...team basically worked 24-hour shifts on Tuesday and Wednesday to get the car ready...Car has a new decklid, spoiler, rear end and front fender among its many new parts...car has competed in both Bristol races, in addition to the Dover event in June.

75 WALLY DALLENBACH
Cartoon Network makes its return on the hood of the Galaxy Motorsports Taurus this week...Dallenbach has driven this car twice in 2000 -- at California where he finished 27th and in the first Michigan race where he ended up 24th.

77 ROBERT PRESSLEY
Pressley was knocked around Bristol like a pinball last Saturday and eventually ended up in flames after hitting the inside wall...he'll look to get back on track this weekend with a brand new car crew chief Ryan Pemberton has put together for him...car had never been on a track until getting to Darlington Friday morning. 88 DALE JARRETT
Jarrett gained 20 points on leader Bobby Labonte last week and he'll try to cut into that deficit even more with a brand new race car...the only time this car has been on a race track was a couple of months ago during the team's Brickyard test session at Indianapolis...a win in this weekend's race would make Jarrett a winner in all four "major" events in the NWC Series...he's already won the Daytona 500, Winston 500 and Coca-Cola 600.

90 HUT STRICKLIN
Stricklin and company will look to rebound after not making last week's race at Bristol...team has brought the same car that Stricklin drove to a 14th-place finish at Indianapolis last month...that marked his first event with car owner Junie Donlavey after taking over for Ed Berrier...car also ran at Michigan and finished 39th.

94 BILL ELLIOTT
Elliott will likely show up at Darlington, but he will not be driving as he continues to recover from surgery that repaired his shattered left kneecap...David Green will fill-in for the second straight week and will be running the same car Elliott had at Pocono in July...car finished 32nd after encountering transmission problems...that is the only time the car has competed in a NWC event.

97 CHAD LITTLE
Little did not qualify well here at Darlington in the spring (37th), but raced well as he moved through the pack to post a 15th-place finish...he hopes to improve on both performances this week with the same car he had in the spring race...this car also ran at Rockingham in the spring and finished 18th...car also has a 7th-place finish at Dover in '99 to its credit.

99 JEFF BURTON
There may not be a team who has traveled more in the last two weeks than the 99 team...Burton and crew went from Michigan to Darlington for a two-day test session, then to Bristol and then on to Richmond for a two-day test earlier this week before coming back to Darlington...Burton will have the same car he ran sixth with at Indianapolis in August.