Carter named crew chief for Wallace.

Larry Carter, a 14-year veteran in NASCAR racing's highest level of competition, has joined Penske Racing South as crew chief for driver Rusty Wallace and his Miller Lite Dodge racing team.

"We're extremely excited to have Larry join us as our new crew chief," said Wallace, the 1989 Winston Cup [now Nextel Cup] champion and 54-race winner. "Larry brings an abundance of talent and experience to our programme and he is a perfect fit to accompany the qualified staff we already have in place. We can't wait to get the ball rolling in 2004."

Carter comes to Penske Racing South from BACE Motorsports, where he served as crew chief for rookie driver Tony Raines during the 2003 NASCAR season.

"This is a great opportunity and I am certainly thrilled to have the chance to work with such a successful organidation as Penske Racing and a champion-caliber driver like Rusty Wallace," said Carter. "This is a top-notch team with great people and ample resources. I am delighted that they have the confidence in me to lead their team and I'm really looking forward to this new challenge."

Carter was active in motorsports at an early age, working part-time for a local dirt track team while in junior high school. After receiving a degree from North Carolina State in 1985, Carter worked for a Raleigh government agency for several years and worked part-time for his uncle Travis Carter, a fixture in NASCAR racing for decades. He became a full-time racer in 1990 and first served as a crew chief for the elder Carter's effort in 1994.

"Travis was so instrumental in my career and he's due a lot of credit for me getting an opportunity like this," said Carter. "Rusty is known for being a driver with the knowledge of every inch of a race car and working with Travis for all those years has given me a similar background that I'm proud of. Rusty knows his racecar from the ground up and I've been involved in every aspect of our sport. I started in racing carrying tyres and went up the ladder all the way to data acquisition before learning to set up racecars. So I'm very confident that the driver and the crew chief will be working on the same page from the very beginning."

"Larry is the ideal person to lead the #2 team," said PRS general manager John Erickson. "He's a new age type of leader, but has an old school background and should mesh extremely well into our operation. I think he'll have a level of communication with Rusty and his team that is second to none and his capabilities in working with Matt Borland and the staff of the No. 12 team will be exceptional."