BUSCH: Texas: Billy Parker series debut preview

Parker Set To Have Guns Blazing in Texas Shootout
--Duraflame RWI Racing Ready To Rumble in Second-Ever Start--

JUSTIN, TX (March 30, 2004)-Even though Duraflame RWI Racing and driver Billy Parker turned a lot of heads in their Busch Series debut, Parker feels the team will be even better in its second race, the O'Reilly 300 at Texas Motor Speedway.

"Our car was bad fast at Las Vegas, but we just didn't have all of the pieces put together. We needed to be a little bit better in the pits, and we feel that we'll definitely be better at Texas. Other than the gasman and catch can man, Rusty (Wallace)'s entire Miller Lite pit crew will be pitting our car at Texas. Larry Carter and all of the guys over at Penske South have really worked hard to put together a good group and I can't wait to have them going over the wall for us this weekend. We had a great test, the team's pumped up and I'm ready to go. This Duraflame team's going to come out with guns blazing when we hit Texas."

The changes to the RWIR pit crew for Texas will be extensive, as Penske South crewmen DJ Richardson (Rear Tire Changer), Jay Hackney (Front Tire Changer), David Cox (Jackman), Andy Brown (Rear Tire Carrier) and Dave Littau (Front Tire Carrier) will be added to the RWIR roster. Existing Duraflame RWI Racing pit crew members Greg Rimmer (Gasman) and Phil Edgar (Catch Can) will remain in those roles for the Texas event. This lineup could prove quite potent, as the Penske Racing crew helped Wallace to a second-place finish and a near-victory in last Sunday's Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Parker and Duraflame RWI Racing joined team owner, Wallace and his Penske Racing teammate, Brendan Gaughan, in a test at TMS earlier this month. Wallace was pleased with the results.

"Billy, Blake and Barry seem to work better together every week. They took two cars down to Texas and picked out the fastest hot rod we had. Our Miller Lite car didn't get on the track until the second day of the test, so on the first day, I definitely had my car owner hat on with Billy and Brendan. It was a lot of fun to be able to help them. It seemed as if both teams had a lot better handle on the race track when we wrapped up. I felt like I put 3000 miles on my shoes that first day-I was in the garage, on pit road, in the grandstands, on top of the truck, all over the place watching those two cars."

Taking into account the Texas test and the pit crew changes, Wallace feels optimistic about the team's chances heading into Saturday's O'Reilly 300.

"Going into Texas, we have the cars tuned up. We took them home from Texas and buffed on them a little more, so they should be even better yet. Penske Jasper Engines found a little more power for us, too, so we should be better in that department as well. The pit crew changes will definitely help and needless to say, the driver is really confident after getting that first race under his belt. It's all systems go for us. We'll be ready for them."

Thursday's 5:00 p.m. EST single round of qualifying will award all 43 starting positions for Saturday's 200-lap, 300-mile race. Friday's on track activity includes "Happy Hour"-the final practice session before Saturday's race-from 11:00 a.m. to 12:10 a.m. EST. Saturday's O'Reilly 300 has a 2:00 p.m. EST starting time and features live television coverage by FOX starting at 2:00 p.m. EST and radio coverage by PRN Radio starting at 1:30 EST.

NOTES OF INTEREST:

The O'Reilly 300 will mark Duraflame RWI Racing's second Busch Series attempt.

Despite his veteran-like performance in the team's first start at Las Vegas, Billy Parker will be making only his fifth career Busch Series start, should the team qualify for Saturday's event.

Duraflame RWI Racing will debut a brand-new car for this weekend's event.

-rwir-