He speaks with the confidence of a competitor golf 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 clubs in Bristol in March, and has been among the cars to beat in virtually each race since. irons The 44-year-old driver from St. Louis is trying for victory No. 54, which would tie him with Lee Petty golf for seventh place on the NASCAR career list. In that quest, Wallace will rely on the basics. "We just have to massage that chassis, conserve the tires and stay out of trouble," he said. "I''m really looking forward to it."

So is clubs Burton who, like Gordon, will be seeking his third win of the season. Burton knows how tough the track can be. "You don''t expect to come here and win," he said. "But we expect to come to Darlington and run well." Gordon, a five-time irons and golf Darlington winner, is in a run of bad luck that includes being taken out of contention in two of the last three races because of crashes he didn''t cause. He hopes clubs for good weather Sunday, which would enable him to play out the winning pit strategy of 1995-98. Rain prevented that last year. "We took a chance and pitted for tires and gas during the second-to-last irons caution, hoping it would put us in position to win," the three-time series champion said. "But we were also hoping the rain would hold off. "Unfortunately for us, golf it didn''t." Also a prime contender is series champion Dale Jarrett, clubs a two-time Darlington winner who is second to points leader irons Bobby Labonte golf despite no victories since the season-opening clubs Daytona 500. Top-5 fixture Tony Stewart, irons second last Saturday night in Bristol and Ward Burton also are threats. Burton won at Darlington in March. Ward, second to Jeff last year in the only 1-2 Southern 500 finish by brothers,

The addition of crew chief Danny Gill has been a major boost for Morgan-McClure. Since his golf arrival six clubs weeks ago, the team has been a irons top-15 car each week, only to see a late-race failure eliminate them golf from contention. clubs and irons "No doubt that Danny golf and clubs Gill has made a difference," Hamilton said. "If it had laid right at Pocono, we would have had a top-10 finish. Michigan, we had broken a shock and finished 14th. We had run in the top-10 all day. "At Bristol, irons and golf I was trying to get a lap back and ran over Jeremy (Mayfield). We had a flat and hit something on the racetrack and were running sixth at that time. It''s not hard to swallow now because we know we''re clubs competitive. We''re unloading pretty good. "We''re getting our race irons setups almost perfect now and the motor program has really come along. I think when all the ingredients finally meet in the middle, it''ll mold into one and we''ll be there. You''ve just got to be patient with it. It took us a long time to get in this golf shape, and in this clubs sport, as irons competitive as it is, you don''t overcome it overnight." Midway through the 1999 campaign, rumors began to swirl that Morgan-McClure was planning to add a second team to their one-car stable.