Wallace knows secret of success

FONTANA, Calif. - By simply qualifying for Sunday night's Sony HD 500, Rusty Wallace clinched his spot in NASCAR's Chase for the Championship.

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With that done, the 48-year-old driver can concentrate on other things - like winning a race.

Wallace is one of three top-10 drivers who went into Sunday's race at California Speedway without a victory. He, Ryan Newman or Mark Martin could take stock car's national championship without a checkered flag.

In 26 years of racing, Wallace has learned the secret of success in NASCAR, consistency. Other than money, there is little reward for winning races, making top-10 finishes more valuable than occasional trips to Victory Lane.

Four drivers - Matt Kenseth, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick and Kasey Kahne - started Sunday's race with a victory but no place in the top 10.

A year ago, Jimmie Johnson won four of the 10 races in the Chase, but he finished second in the championship race to Kurt Busch, who won just once. The key to Busch's success was nine top-10 finishes during the playoffs.

Wallace is trying to do the same thing.

"We just need to do the same thing we've been doing: Just stay prepared, try to get a little couple faster cars," he said. "But I'm confident that once we get locked into the title ... we can take a good run at this title."

Once the playoffs start after Saturday night's race at Richmond, Va., Wallace is hoping to parlay his consistency - 13 top-10 finishes in 24 races - into his second championship. His first came in 1989, when he dominated with six victories.

Points leader Tony Stewart has a series-best five wins. So does Greg Biffle, who's third in the rankings. Both, along with Johnson, clinched their position in the playoffs before Sunday's race.

After next Saturday's race, however, the points will be recalculated to reflect a five-point difference between each of the top-10 positions. That means the 10th-place driver will start the 10-race playoffs only 45 points out of the lead.

"These guys are beatable," Wallace said. "I've been beating a lot of them in the last 10 races and I don't know why we can't keep doing that.

Reach Don Coble at doncoble@bellsouth.net.