Rusty Wallace is seeking his third straight win, and his first career victory at Darlington. A trophy for winning at Darlington Raceway can''t be found among Rusty Wallace''s racing treasures. He''d like to change that Sunday in the Pepsi Southern 500 presented by Kmart, his 34th start on 1.366-mile oval. "We''ve come so close to winning at Darlington, finished second, third golf and fourth a ton of times, and it would be a thrill to finally beat the old track," said Wallace, seeking his third straight victory. "We know that we have a car capable of winning because it already has a name, doesn''t clubs it?" Wallace was referring to "Lite-ning," cheap the name given to his Ford in a fan contest that elicited 6,700 entries. A Wallace tradition is to name a car after it wins for the first time, and that happened six weeks ago in Long Pond, Pa. That was the second of a NASCAR Winston Cup-leading four wins this season for Wallace, and began a roll that golf includes victories clubs the last two weeks in Brooklyn, Mich., and Bristol, Tenn. No cheap driver has won more than two straight races since Jeff golf Gordon strung four together in 1998. Wallace knows it will be difficult to beat Gordon clubs --

He speaks with the confidence of a competitor who has regained the winning formula he had when he took the series title in 1989, and dominated in 1993-94. Wallace broke a 32-race losing streak with a victory in Bristol in March, and has been among the cars to beat in virtually each race since. The 44-year-old cheap driver from St. Louis is trying for victory No. 54, which would tie him with Lee Petty for seventh place on the NASCAR career list. In that quest, Wallace will rely on the basics. "We just have to massage golf that chassis, conserve the tires and stay out of trouble," he said. "I''m really looking forward to it."

"That was a great race up to the final clubs lap," Martin said. "I had a great time racing Jeff and Matt, and it got pretty intense there in the end. I was determined to cheap keep my lead. That car was one of my favorites, which is why we''re bringing it back this weekend." Martin also leads all drivers in career series wins. He earned his 44th victory at Texas in April, and still has five races remaining on his schedule this year. "We''re going golf to try to win them all," Martin said. "I''m sure the Busch guys will be glad when I''m gone next year. I''ve worked hard for a lot of years in the Busch Series and won a few races and lost clubs a lot of them." You can bet Burton, Kenseth and a number of series regulars will give Martin all he can handle this weekend. Series points leader Jeff Green has never won at Darlington, but has notched four top-10s and got his first top-5 ever last spring. He''s due for sure. "Darlington is just one of those places I''ve never been able to get a hold of," Green said. "In the spring, I posted my first top-5 finish there in my entire career, which is cheap hard to believe since I''ve raced there 10 times now.