NASCAR Wallace will try again to snap losing streak

He enters today's Pop Secret 400 with a 59-race winless streak and just three events remaining.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ROCKINGHAM, N.C. -- Rusty Wallace is on edge. All his energy is channeled into just one thing: winning a race.
Wallace goes into today's Pop Secret 400 on a 59-race winless streak. With just three events remaining this season, he's in serious jeopardy of not winning for the first time in 17 years.
He won't mask being close to panicking. Not winning this year would be devastating, in part because a victory would break Wallace's tie with Ricky Rudd for the Winston Cup record of at least one win in 16 consecutive seasons.
"I would be lying if I didn't say this is killing me," Wallace said Saturday. "There's not a lax bone in my body anywhere. All I can do is think about winning a race."
Wallace could hardly sit still while discussing his frustration, the words tumbling out of his mouth as he threw his hands up in the air in amazement.
"I don't know what I've got to do to make it happen," he said. "I've got to win a race. I've just got to."
Down the stretch
Should he fail to reach Victory Lane at North Carolina Speedway, his final two chances will be at Phoenix International Raceway and in Homestead, Fla.
Wallace takes some comfort in that, knowing he was in the same position in 1998 heading to Phoenix. He won there, earning the victory when the race was called because of rain after the halfway point.
"We're pulling out all the stops to get this win, and Rockingham and Phoenix are my best shots," Wallace said. "And we are so focused on Phoenix ... we've got to take our best car because we've got to have the win."
Even though he hasn't won, this is still a successful season for the 1989 series champion. He's fifth in the standings, 227 points behind leader Tony Stewart, and he's come close to winning at least twice.
Two setbacks
Wallace was the late-race leader in Indianapolis in August, only to finish second to Bill Elliott. Three weeks later, he was headed to victory at Bristol Motor Speedway when Jeff Gordon knocked him out the way with a lap to go, allowing Gordon to end his winless streak and sending Wallace home heartbroken.
"Bristol hurt, I had that one," Wallace said. "But I got my rear knocked in and had it taken away from me."
Wallace's current drought is not the longest of his career -- he didn't earn his first victory until his 72nd start and has won at least once a year every season since. His most recent victory was in April of last year at California Speedway.
"It seems like a lifetime ago," he said. "It really, really, really can drag you down."
Busch Series
Jamie McMurray's great luck continued Saturday with his second straight Busch series victory, achieved in the Sam's Club 200 because leaders Jeff Green and Michael Waltrip wrecked each other with one lap to go.
McMurray scored his first Busch win last week at Atlanta Motor Speedway -- after leader Joe Nemechek ran out of gas on the last lap. And, subbing for the injured Sterling Marlin, McMurray set a Winston Cup record last month at Lowe's Motor Speedway by winning in just his second start.
"I cannot believe the luck we've had," McMurray said. "Once again we did not have the best car. But we had a top-five car and we were in the right place at the right time."