Wallace shows Petree's worth.

Desperate for finances, Mike Wallace and the No.33 Andy Petree Racing squad threw off all the pre-season testing shackles suffered by others and went for it hell for leather during the final day of testing at the Daytona International Speedway in their collective bid that both driver and team are worth plying with sponsorship dollars.

Thursday afternoon's drafting test session at the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway could not have turned out better for driver Mike Wallace and his No.33 Andy Petree Racing crew as both veered from the testing norm and really showed everyone else what they had under their hood.

Wallace, who will drive the currently unpainted No.33 Chevrolet in the NASCAR Winston Cup season-opening Daytona 500 next month, ended the final session atop the time charts with a fastest speed of 184.302mph; faster on the day than Superspeedway master Bill Elliott in his potently fast Evernham Motorsports Dodge, 2000 Winston Cup Champ Bobby Labonte and his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate and 2002 title tip Tony Stewart, defending Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip, young hot shoes Kevin Harvick and Ryan Newman and perennial front runners and possible 2002 title contenders Jeff Burton and Rusty Wallace.

Of course those infamous testing sandbags could be found inside many of the 31 teams participating in the second test group for those teams who finished the 2001 Championship in even numbered positions in the final owner standings but the best way to prove that your team is worth investing in is by showing that it has the potential to go faster than all the rest. And that Petree and Wallace achieved.

The rain that washed out the intended first day of the second group's test meant that the 'green' track wasn't as quick as it had been for the first group of testers who also had the benefit of three days worth of rubber on the track following a Rolex 24 Hours Grand-Am test session, and no rain, in the preceding days. This relegated Wallace's time to third overall amongst the 54 drivers and teams who turned laps at the legendary venue during the six days of testing behind group one lead 'draftees' Ward Burton and Mike's younger brother Kenny in Steve Park's DEI Chevrolet.

However despite their good form, neither Wallace nor Petree have been able to set even a one-race deal for Daytona down in concrete and as it stands the No.33 team is set to fold after the season-opener regardless of the result. APR has run the No.33 plate for drivers Ken Schrader and Joe Nemechek Since taking over the operation from long-time partners Leo Jackson and Harry Gant.

Oakwood Homes, who replaced the famous Skoal colours on the No.33 Chevrolet, in 2000 and 2001, decided to get out of NASCAR mid way through last season and despite Nemechek's victory in the Pop Secret 400 at Rockingham in October, nobody has yet stepped forward to replace them.

Should Petree be forced to close the doors of the No.33 team it would be a bitter blow for the former crew-chief come team owner whose operation has become more and more competitive since Schrader left at the end of 1999 and the addition of a second car, the No.55 currently pedalled by Bobby Hamilton who also won a race last season.