DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- NASCAR drivers on Thursday supported a proposed effort to limit autographs in the garage area, stressing the importance of finding a way to clear up the current congestion.

NASCAR chairman Bill France Jr. has proposed outlawing autographs in the garage except for the areas immediately around a driver's hauler and in designated spots at specified times.

"We've got to educate the drivers and the fans on what's appropriate and what is not appropriate,'' Jeff Burton said during testing at Daytona International Speedway.

"There is no autograph etiquette, there is no proper understanding of what to do and when to do it and how to do it,'' he said. "I think to get an education process started, we've got to make some rules and just stick to them.''

France said Winston Cup champions Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart both support his proposal, which would force the drivers to decline many autograph requests and blame it on the sanctioning body.

Jimmie Johnson, who became immensely popular during his rookie season, said he would be in favor of anything that would improve the current environment.

"You have to dodge and weave and run and try to make it through the crowd, and it can be overwhelming,'' Johnson said. "I'm all for NASCAR trying to find a way to fix that.''

NASCAR has always been fan friendly, giving the average spectator almost total access to its teams. But overcrowding in recent years has led to complaints from drivers and crews, as well as injuries among spectators.

The sanctioning body plans to unveil new rules for garage access later this month, with a goal of reducing the number of people in the garage during competition by some 20 percent.

"We have to be careful about what we do, we have to find a way and a proper place to do autographs and spend time with the fans,'' Burton said. "If we don't find time to do that, then we will be doing the fans and we'll be doing this sport a huge injustice.

"It will be difficult, there will be times when people are going to get mad at you because you say 'No,' but on the other hand, the only way to get the etiquette correct is to make a stance and say, 'This is how we're going to do it. We will find time for you, but it's not going to be at this time.'''

Wallace future
The wins are harder to come by, but Rusty Wallace has no plans to stop racing any time soon.

"I'm going to drive for at least three more years,'' said the 46-year-old Wallace said. "I'm not looking for anything after three. I've always said the day I can't be competitive and I'm just out there running, I don't want nothing to do with it. But I'm not even close to that.''

Wallace has not won in 62 races, the longest drought of his career. But he thinks he should have at least gotten one last season -- he was bumped out of the way at Bristol on the next-to-last lap by race-winner Gordon.

"I should have won a ton of races, we had great runs last year,'' he said. "Everybody keeps talking to me about (retirement) for some reason. I guess when you get 46 years old, that's a question you get asked. But I'm not close.''

National Anthem
Mariah Carey will sing the national anthem at the season-opening Daytona 500 on Feb. 16.

It will be the second big event for the two-time Grammy winner -- she also sang the anthem at the Super Bowl last season. She'll use this performance to honor her late father.

"My father actually used to race cars, and when I heard about this, I felt like it was perfect timing because actually my father has passed away this past year,'' she said. "It seems like it's the right moment.''

Sadler's ride
A new driver has lifted spirits at Robert Yates Racing after a year of turmoil surrounding Ricky Rudd's departure.

Elliott Sadler will pilot the No. 38 Ford for Yates, switching from the No. 28 that Yates fielded for so long. It marks a new beginning after Rudd and Yates squabbled publicly most of last season as the two parted ways.

Sadler has noticed the renewed energy in the crew this year from the small amount of time he spent around the team last season.

"I think there's a new attitude at that race shop from me going to meet with the guys last year to now,'' Sadler said. "It seems like it's not even the same race team.''

Sadler, who has one career win while with the Wood Brothers, will be expected to perform now that he's with a top-level team. He finished second in last season's Daytona 500 and wants this year to win it. New teammate Dale Jarrett is a two-time Daytona winner.

"I'm really pumped,'' Sadler said. "Here we are again with a very fast car and, hopefully, I can have some of the same luck and same success I had last year and get another great finish.''

BACE to run Cup with Raines
BACE Motorsports announced it will compete in Winston Cup with Tony Raines as the driver of the No. 74 Chevrolet Monte Carlo. Larry Carter has been named crew chief for the No. 74 Team in their first full season Cup effort.

Raines competed in the Busch Series with BACE last season and finished 12th in points. Raines won the BGN Rookie of the Year award in 1999 while driving for BACE.

"Last year we were able to run seven races at the Winston Cup level," Raines said. "Our goal when we started with my first race in June at Dover was to just qualify (Raines started 17th in his Winston Cup debut). As we ran additional races, our goals began to change. We didn't just want to compete but to learn to be competitive.

"It's a building process for any team starting out to be competitive in The Winston Cup Series. This is the top level in our sport so it's natural to want to progress and run at that level. Bill and Brian (Baumgardner) have committed over 10 years to building a championship organization in the Busch Series and it's an honor for me to be a part of this team as we begin a full-time Winston Cup effort at BACE."

BACE Motorsports is the only team to win the NASCAR Busch Championship over three consecutive years (1995, 1996, 1997). The team has 16 total victories, twice recorded Rookie of Year honors (1994, 1999) and has set 17 NASCAR Busch Series records.

"We're excited to make the transition to the Winston Cup level with the No. 74 Team," Baumgardner said. "Last season we made a strategic change in plan for the No. 74 by running a handful of races at the Winston Cup level. Now we are dedicating 100 percent of the focus of this team to continue building a competitive Winston Cup program."