It didn't shake out in their favor. Mark finished sixth in his 21st crack at
the 500. Wallace finished 10th in his 23rd. This is the final full-time
season for both.The best they have done is third, Wallace in 2001, Mark in 1995.
It was fitting that the veterans would hook up and try to help each other at the end.
"Rusty and I had a pact," Mark said. "We've been racing 30 years. We had a little problem at Talladega a year ago where he said he was going to go with me and didn't, and I didn't think that was going to happen today. Rusty and I knew this was our last shot, and I would've helped at the end and he would've helped me. I figured that was probably the most loyal friend I had on the race track at the end of the race."
"[Mark] was really the only one I trusted," Wallace said. "He was really hanging in there; we were having a great time drafting."
It was a major accomplishment for Mark's No. 6 Ford team, which worked feverishly to repair his car, wrecked earlier in the week in one of the qualifying races. He started 32nd.
But he was left with the consolation of running hard and coming close.
"We had an awesome car," Mark said. "I shouldn't have let [Jeff] Gordon get up on the inside of me there on that one restart. I was sitting there thinking we might have a shot to contend for this thing, and we did right down to the end. But I just didn't have myself in the right position at the right time."
Mark should feel good about what his team did for him, teammate Kurt Busch said.
"I felt sorry for him after his 150 [qualifying race]," Busch said. "In the interview that he gave, he just flat-out said, 'My chances are done. I can't win it without this car.' And the team believed in him. I think there was a right front fender missing. They completely sawed it off. They went above and beyond the call of duty to repair that car."
It also was a big achievement for Wallace, whose No. 2 Dodge started 36th in a backup car, his original machine damaged in the same wreck as Mark.
"It's bittersweet," Wallace said. "I wish I could have won it, but I've had a really good career, nothing to look down about."
