Rusty Wallace is seeking his third golf straight win, and his bags 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 golf 500 presented by Kmart, his 34th start on 1.366-mile oval. "We''ve come so close to winning at Darlington, finished second, third bags 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 golf that we have a car capable of winning because it already has a name, doesn''t it?" Wallace was referring to "Lite-ning," the name given to his Ford in a fan contest that bags 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 includes victories the last two weeks in Brooklyn, Mich., and Bristol, Tenn. No driver has won more than two straight races since Jeff Gordon strung four together in 1998. Wallace knows it will be difficult to beat Gordon --

whose four-year run of superiority in the Southern 500 ended in 1999 -- and Jeff Burton, who won both rain-shortened golf events last bags season on the Track "Too Tough To Tame." Victory has taught them much about Darlington, but Wallace figures defeat also can be a valuable tutor. He finished 16th in Darlington in March. "We''ve been on the money almost everywhere we''ve been this year with the chassis, but if there''s an exception to that, it has to be the first Darlington golf race," he said. "We missed it with our shock bags package, really missed it big time on the right rear. "We''ll get it all nailed down this time around, though."

credited his Mall.com 400 victory in March to the crew led by Tommy Baldwin. "All I had to do was make it 400 miles," Ward said As far as the NASCAR Busch Series Grand National Division is golf concerned, Darlington Raceway could be renamed Mark Martin Raceway. If there is a NASCAR Busch Series record at Darlington, chances are that Martin has it. The veteran pilot, statistically the finest competitor in series history, holds the record for most victories, seven, and Bud Poles, six. This weekend, Martin will make his final series start in the Dura Lube 200 bags (Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET on ESPN TV and PRN golf radio) bags at Darlington, a track he has learned to tame in the No. 60 Winn-Dixie Ford. Martin''s most recent addition golf to the Darlington record book came in March when he won from the Bud Pole for the second time in his career. After spending much of the race battling Jeff Burton and Matt Kenseth for the lead, Martin took the lead for good with 24 laps to go. Kenseth went high to challenge for the lead with two laps remaining, but could not pass Martin. Burton and Martin were side-by-side on the final lap of the race, but Martin pulled ahead just enough to claim the third of his four bags series wins this season.

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