Rusty's Rundown: New Hampshire
By Rusty Wallace, Special to Turner Sports Interactive
November 19, 2001
1:21 PM EST (1821 GMT)
WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH THE RACE
I like the race track and Mr. Bahre, the owner, and the people up there are real nice and they love racing. But, man, I gotta tell you -- we are all burned out and don't want to continue the year one more week.
Many of us personally feel that they should have refunded the money and just not run the race in respect to the Sept. 11th attacks. But they feel like we needed to run it, so we're going to run it.
I think the setups are going to be completely different because we are running different, softer tires than before. The softer tire will try and stick to the track in the cooler temperatures. I am concerned going into the race because it's the last race of the year and could really change the points around.
We're not going to qualify, and will start according to what the points were for the week we were (originally) supposed to run at New Hampshire. Because of that, I will be starting ninth and other drivers will be starting further back than where they are in points right now, too.
That's the whole reason to watch this race, it's all coming down to the final points standings.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR DURING THE RACE
Well, you are going to watch for cars trying to get a hold of that cold-a** race track. The other thing to watch for is snow. Period.
FAVORITE MEMORY AT NHIS
My favorite memory was winning the inaugural race there in 1993. It was a great race for us.
We had a great car but I overdrove it in qualifying and we ended up starting 33rd. I drove that thing to the front, ended up taking the lead and won it.
There is nothing like winning the very first race at a new track; it's just really special.
NOTE: Rusty's Rundown has appeared weekly on NASCAR.com throughout the 2001 season. For more on Rusty Wallace, visit his web site at www.rustywallace.com.
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