Wallace pushes for 2002 Penske seat

Wallace, who replaced the fired Jeremy Mayfield as driver of Penske's #12 Ford Taurus just four races ago, nearly scored his first NASCAR Winston Cup victory on Sunday.

Penske, who also owns a team with Wallace's older brother Rusty as the driver, has yet to decide if he is going to keep the #12 Winston Cup operation in business, but Wallace's performance on Sunday means he will be the favourite to drive if it does continue.

"We're trying to build as strong a case as we can," said Wallace. "Walt Czarnecki [Penske Racing president] and Roger, if we keep throwing enough ammunition at them, it's going to be pretty hard, I hope, for them to say that we're going to give in and that they'll keep it going. I've had the best race team I've ever had in my life. I haven't done anything different as a driver in the last four weeks, except get in a better race car and work with a better race team.

Wallace says he will try harder than ever to score his first Winston Cup race win in the remaining four races of this season.

"I tell everybody that it doesn't take any more work to dream big than it does to dream small," said Wallace. "Somebody said I was 2.4 seconds away from winning my first Winston Cup race. Well, that's as close as I've ever been. We've got next week at Rockingham and then go to Homestead and Atlanta and then the snow race at Loudon [many expect this event to be very, very cold! - Ed]. Maybe we can pull it off at one of those places.

"I haven't been in the position all year to win a race and I was in the position today to do it. That's what I've always wanted to do is win a Winston Cup race."