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Tag: Steve Wallace

  • Rockingham Speedway Hosts Toyota Test Session

    Rockingham Speedway Hosts Toyota Test Session

    [media-credit name=”Rockingham Speedway” align=”alignright” width=”265″][/media-credit]Monday morning I was at home doing the usual housework when all of a sudden it hit me. Why am I in the house on such a beautiful day when I could be at ‘The Rock’? So I ditched the chores, hopped in my car and drove out to Rockingham Speedway.

    I arrived around 2:30 pm and decided to check in at the office. One of the best parts of the day was the opportunity to spend a few minutes with Andy Hillenburg. His vision and perseverance combined to bring NASCAR back to this historic track.

    After parking my car I walked to the grandstands, took my seat and joined the others who were there to watch the testing session. As I sat and watched, I couldn’t help but smile. ‘The Rock’ is an integral part of NASCAR history and a sense of awe immediately enveloped me.

    While I was thinking about all that had come before, a father and son walked past me and caught my eye. I listened as the father patiently explained to his son what was happening.  The young boy gazed into his father’s eyes, determined not to miss a single word.

    That’s when it dawned on me. Maybe I had been looking at this all wrong. Maybe it’s not the past that’s important but the new memories that this young boy and others like him will make when NASCAR returns to ‘The Rock’.

    That reunion will take place when Rockingham Speedway hosts the Camping World Truck Series on April 15, 2012. Tickets are available for pre-order now at www.rockinghamspeedway.com.
    Drivers who participated in the test session:

    NASCAR Sprint Cup – Denny Hamlin
    NASCAR Nationwide – Steve Wallace, Michael Annett, Darrell Wallace Jr.
    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series – Kyle Busch, Brian Ickler, Timothy Peters, David Starr

  • Kyle Busch Marks 100th Victory in All Three Series With 49th Nationwide Win

    Kyle Busch Marks 100th Victory in All Three Series With 49th Nationwide Win

    Kyle Busch not only won the New England 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, but he also tied Mark Martin as the record holder for Nationwide wins at 49. And for good measure, Busch became just the third driver to score 100 NASCAR national series victories.

    [media-credit name=”Kirk Schroll” align=”alignright” width=”227″][/media-credit]The 26 year old driver from Las Vegas, Nevada has won 22 times in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, 49 in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, and 29 in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Busch is now third in the ranking of NASCAR National Series wins, behind Richard Petty, with 200, and David Person with 106.

    Busch has won at 25 different tracks, including achieving an historic first three-race weekend sweep at Bristol. He is ranked 28th with Terry Labonte in NASCAR Sprint Cup victories.

    “It certainly feels good and it means a lot,” Busch said. “To come out here and win for Z-Line Designs and get the 49th win in their car, we couldn’t do it without their support.”

    “To tie Mark Martin’s win is pretty awesome as well.”

    Speaking of Mark Martin, he was one of the first to find Busch in Victory Lane and congratulate him.

    “It’s just incredible,” Martin said of Busch tying his record. “Everybody forgets that he’s 26 years old. There’s so many more out there for him.”

    Busch had to do battle with his nemesis and probation partner Kevin Harvick, behind the wheel of the No. 33 Rheem Heating, Cooling and Water Heating Chevrolet, at the end of the race. Harvick finished in the runner up position and attributed his not winning the race to being warned by NASCAR.

    “I was told a few weeks ago that if we touched the 18 car, we’d be parked,” Harvick said. “I just had to be really careful and that’s just the way NASCAR put it to me.”

    “It would have been a lot easier to win if you didn’t have handcuffs put on you.”

    Even though Harvick did not win the race, he, like Busch, achieved his own record when the checkered flag flew. Harvick scored his 199th top-10 finish, which is an all-time record in the Nationwide Series.

    “We’ve been fortunate to have a lot of fun in this Series since it first started,” Harvick said. “I just came up one short.”

    Kasey Kahne, driving the No. 7 GoDaddy.com/Verisign Chevrolet, followed closely behind Harvick, coming in third. This was Kahne’s third top-10 finish in four races at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

    “We were a seventh or eighth place car,” Kahne said. “My car was bouncing pretty bad throughout the race. But we were able to miss some of those wrecks and got up to third.”

    “It ended up being a pretty good result.”

    After spinning on Lap 33, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. recovered to come in fourth. The driver of the No. 6 Fenway Park 100 Years Ford admitted to having a pretty good run after his early error.

    “I made a mistake there early trying to get by the 31,” Stenhouse, Jr. said. “He was holding everybody up and I tried to push the issue too hard.”

    “We got in there and got too tight and spun the car around there,” Stenhouse, Jr. continued. “This Red Sox Fenway Park 100 Year’s edition is a cool looking car and I wish we could have gotten it into victory lane.”

    Aric Almirola, behind the wheel of No. 88 Grand Touring Vodka Chevrolet, rounded out the top five.

    “We were a top ten car off the truck so to come out with a top five has been good,” Almirola said. “Everybody at JR Motorsports has been working their guts out.”

    “So, it’s fun to come and have a good weekend and put it all together and show off some of the hard work the guys have been doing back at the shop.”

    There was plenty of action throughout the race, from Carl Edwards blowing an engine and returning to his seat in the broadcast booth to several on-track altercations involving Rusty Wallace’s son and driver Steve Wallace.

    The driver of the No. 60 Fastenal Ford Mustang blamed a broken value or broken valve spring on his falling out of the race.

    “Something just broke,” Edwards said. “You don’t really know until you get it apart but I did shut it off early so we should be able to troubleshoot and look at it to see what was actually broken.”

    Steve Wallace, driver of the No. 66 5-Hour Energy Toyota Camry, also had an eventful race, but in a different way than Edwards. He was at the heart of several racing incidents and eventually spun out and wrecked at the end.

    “I really like Jason Leffler a lot – I get along with him really, really well,” Wallace said of one of his altercations. “He hit me about five or six different times today and he cut up in front of me and spun himself out.”

    “It’s as simple as that,” Wallace continued. “Got in the back of the 20 (Joey Logano) there and just a lot of things happened today – some were my fault and some were not.”

    Joey Logano, one of those who was caught up with Wallace in one of the incidents, had his own take on the on-track tussle.

    “The 66 (Steve Wallace) just drove in there a little too high and got us,” Logano said. “That was the end of our day.

     

    Unofficial Race Results
    New England 200, New Hampshire Motor Speedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/n2s/race.php?race=19
    =========================================
    Pos. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 5 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 0
    2 2 33 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 0
    3 12 7 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 0
    4 14 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 41
    5 4 88 Aric Almirola Chevrolet 39
    6 13 9 Kenny Wallace Toyota 39
    7 18 62 Michael Annett Toyota 37
    8 1 22 Brad Keselowski Dodge 0
    9 17 66 Steve Wallace Toyota 35
    10 8 31 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet 34
    11 16 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 33
    12 15 2 Elliott Sadler Chevrolet 32
    13 7 16 Trevor Bayne Ford 32
    14 20 19 Mike Bliss Chevrolet 30
    15 6 32 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet 29
    16 19 30 Mikey Kile Chevrolet 28
    17 9 11 Brian Scott Toyota 27
    18 25 81 Blake Koch * Dodge 26
    19 26 51 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet 25
    20 23 14 Eric McClure Chevrolet 24
    21 27 89 Morgan Shepherd Chevrolet 23
    22 28 40 Charles Lewandoski * Chevrolet 22
    23 24 15 Timmy Hill * Ford 21
    24 36 52 Kevin Lepage Chevrolet 20
    25 39 44 Angela Cope Chevrolet 0
    26 35 39 Matt Frahm Ford 18
    27 22 1 Mike Wallace Chevrolet 17
    28 21 167 Andrew Ranger Ford 0
    29 3 20 Joey Logano Toyota 0
    30 11 38 Jason Leffler Chevrolet 14
    31 31 28 Derrike Cope Chevrolet 13
    32 34 70 Dennis Setzer Dodge 12
    33 30 23 David Green Chevrolet 11
    34 10 60 Carl Edwards Ford 0
    35 42 113 Jennifer Jo Cobb * Dodge 9
    36 40 141 Carl Long Ford 8
    37 29 174 Mike Harmon Chevrolet 7
    38 38 175 Johnny Chapman Chevrolet 6
    39 33 146 Chase Miller Chevrolet 5
    40 41 104 Danny Efland Ford 4
    41 32 142 Tim Andrews Chevrolet 0
    42 37 147 Scott Wimmer Chevrolet 2
  • Michael Annett: From Brake Pedal to Full Throttle for Rusty Wallace Racing

    Michael Annett: From Brake Pedal to Full Throttle for Rusty Wallace Racing

    Michael Annett, driver of the No. 62 Pilot Flying J Toyota for Rusty Wallace Racing, is moving from stepping hard on his brake pedal at the Nationwide road course race last weekend to the upcoming full throttle action of Daytona International Speedway in this weekend’s race.

    [media-credit name=”Autostock Images” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]And on his way, he just happened to score the best finish of his season so far, seventh place on Wisconsin’s 4.048 mile Road America course.

    Annett was Rusty Wallace Racing’s top finisher, earning his second top-10 finish and the team’s fifth top-10 finish for the year.

    “It was definitely unexpected and I consider myself a survivor of that race,” Annett said. “We were down in the 20’s in the timing charts and I felt if we kept the fenders on the car and stayed on the track, we’d have a chance for a top-15 and then get to the end, and maybe have a chance for a top-10.”

    “And we did and it was definitely exciting and good for our whole team.”

    In spite of getting a top-10 finish, Annett still does not consider himself an accomplished road course racer.

    “I definitely don’t consider myself a road course racer, but pit strategy and steering clear of trouble on the track brought us to another well-deserved top-10 finish,” Annett said.”My crew chief, Rick Viers, made some great calls, and working our way around the mayhem during the three attempts at a green, white, checkered there at the end was to our benefit.”

    “We’ve got a great group of guys assembled for our No. 62 team, and their hard work really paid off this weekend,” Annett continued. “We made smart moves throughout the race, and bringing home a car with no damage and a seventh place finish is pretty awesome.”

    “I’m excited to give Pilot Flying J and Rusty Wallace Racing another top-10.”

    As excited as he was, Annett admitted that he was disappointed for his teammate Steve Wallace, who had what looked to be a potential winning car. Wallace was caught up in an accident later in the race and finished 26th.

    “I definitely knew that he deserved a better finish than what he got,” Annett said of Wallace. “He had a really good car and he is a really good road racer. He surprised me this weekend I’ll be honest with you.”

    En route to the road course race this weekend, Annett also celebrated another milestone, his 25th birthday.

    “I flew on a plane from Concord Airport to Wisconsin for my birthday,” Annett said. “We landed and my mom went to a very good Italian restaurant in Elkhart Lake and her, myself and Reed Sorenson had pasta and pizza and cheese bread.”

    “We were all full and then she whipped out an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen for dessert,” Annett continued. “It worked out very nice.”

    After his birthday celebration and his great top-10 run, Annett was also very excited for his best friend Reed Sorenson’s victory at Road America.

    “As soon as he finished, I pulled up next to him to be the first to congratulate him,” Annett said. “I ran down to Victory Lane and congratulated him there too.”

    “He told me the odds would have been a thousand to one for him to win that race,” Annett said. “Better yet, me finishing seventh was even longer odds than that.”

    Annett is now ready to move from pumping the brake pedals to running full throttle on the high banks of Daytona. While he has high hopes, he is not so fond of the two-car tandem draft that has become the norm at the superspeedways.

    “To me, I enjoyed the chess match being in the big group in the draft, with the driver making the decision about what line to be in and where to be,” Annett said. “I really do not like the racing the way it is now. I don’t like relying on someone else to have success and that’s where we are right now.”

    “I am fortunate enough that I have a teammate and we work really well together,” Annett continued. “Going to Daytona we have the same plan to work together. I don’t like it but having a teammate is fortunate going into it.”

    While Annett felt that he had some control at the road course, he most certainly feels that it is just a roll of the dice at Daytona.

    “I am looking at a top-10 finish to keep this momentum going,” Annett said. “But it’s always a crap shoot at Daytona.”

    “I got taken out on lap 15 at Daytona this year and in the last few laps of Talladega,” Annett continued. “It’s really a crap shoot but we definitely have the potential to have both cars in the top-10 at the end. We’re going into the weekend planning on that.”

    Annett heads to Daytona in the 10th position in the Nationwide Series championship point standings. He has a win at that track from back in his days with the ARCA Racing Series.

  • Steve Wallace and Michael Annett See Light at the End of the Tunnel Leading to Iowa

    Steve Wallace and Michael Annett See Light at the End of the Tunnel Leading to Iowa

    As Steve Wallace and Michael Annett put Dover in their rear view mirror and head to the stand alone Nationwide race in Iowa, the teammates of Rusty Wallace Racing agree that they both see the light at the end of the tunnel for Rusty Wallace Racing.

    [media-credit name=”nascar.com” align=”alignright” width=”230″][/media-credit]“Well, I’ll tell you the whole deal,” Wallace, driver of the No. 66 5-Hour Energy Toyota, said.”We thought we were going to start the year pretty good.”

    “We got a new teammate this year and built a bunch of new race cars,” Wallace continued. “We thought we were going to be really fast and felt like we had a pretty good idea going into this year.”

    “But as it turned out we didn’t,” Wallace said. “And we really, really struggled early there in the year.”

    Wallace’s teammate Michael Annett, driver of the No. 62 Pilot Flying J Toyota, could not agree more with the assessment of their early going this season.

    “We went into the season doing a ton of stuff thinking we had the best thing we could bring to the track,” Annett said. “And then we unloaded and realized we had a lot of work to do.”

    Both drivers and teams went back to the drawing board and after multiple meetings and changing up some personnel, they hit on another idea. They signed up one of the Cup drivers, David Reutimann, to help them shake out the problems on their team.

    “We went to Nashville and we ran a third car with David Reutimann,” Wallace said. “He had a completely, way different, odd-ball set up and it ran really, really good.”

    “He ran good and I struggled so we went back to the shop and we mended all the set ups and ever since then our cars have unloaded a lot better,” Wallace continued. “We’re still not where we need to be but we’re definitely going in the right direction.”

    “We’re getting better and better,” Wallace said. “It’s exciting knowing that we’re not so lost as we were before.”

    “There is light at the end of the tunnel.”

    Annett used almost identical language regarding the difference the third car of Reutimann has made for both he and his teammate.

    “We started having our Monday morning meetings and we made a list of what we needed to do,” Annett said. “We did all on the list and moved some people around and added the third car.”

    “They went completely different and they were better,” Annett continued. “They just hit on something and from then on we hit on something. Both teams went that direction and from then on, we started running better.”

    “All the hard work is paying off and we can see the light at the end of the tunnel,” Annett said. “For awhile there at the beginning of the season, it was a small light but we knew we had the people, the parts and the cars to get the job done.”

    “We are getting closer and closer to the end of that tunnel and everything’s finally moving in the right direction.”

    While both Rusty Wallace Racing teammates did not have the best of days at last weekend’s race at Dover’s Monster Mile, with Wallace wrecking hard at the end and Annett never quite finding the handling on his car, the duo managed to salvage top-20 finishes when all was said and done.

    Both now go to the track designed by their team owner Rusty Wallace, Iowa Speedway, for this weekend’s stand alone Nationwide race. Again, Annett and Wallace agreed that the John Deere Dealers 250 presented by Pioneer might just be their best chance to head to the winner’s circle.

    “I have a big bull’s eye on Iowa,” Wallace said. “That’s my favorite track,”

    “We had a really good shot there to win last year and had a problem in the pits,” Wallace continued. “We’re taking a brand new car, our best most state of the art piece.”

    Interestingly, Wallace will be running for the first time ever the chassis matching his car number, RWR-066, this weekend in Iowa.

    “It’s lighter and better and it’s been in the wind tunnel,” Wallace said.” That’s going to be a good deal.”

    For teammate Annett, Iowa Speedway is coming home. The Des Moines, Iowa native has already scored an 11th and 7th place finish in 2009 and 2010 respectively at his home track.

    “I take a lot of pride in my home track,” Annett said. “With the race just down the road from where I grew up, it’s a fun weekend.”

    The teammates are convinced that the Nationwide race, with only two Cup drivers competing, is also the best chance for a Nationwide-only driver to take the checkered flag. And both are motivated by that opportunity to have that Cinderella finish.

    “It drives me 100% to be the first Nationwide driver to get a win,” Wallace said. “It makes you feel really good when you can run up front with those guys. That’s what I’m excited about.”

    “Trevor Bayne winning that race was amazing because he’s such a young kid and a Nationwide guy,” Annett said. “But Regan Smith winning at Darlington is really something.”

    “Steven and I were talking about it and we agreed,” Annett said. “Him winning that race shows that if you do your job right, you can get the job done.”

    With both Annett and Wallace headed into a track that means so much to the team owner and father respectively, one question that many have asked is if the two feel any added pressure.

    “I get that question a lot,” Wallace said. “Iowa’s a cool track, but not just because my Dad’s involved with it.”

    “As far as I’m concerned, we can’t let any of that change the way we approach the weekend at all,” Wallace continued. “We still have to keep our focus on the race.”

    “We’ve had a real chance to win there the last two years in a row,” Wallace said. “Hopefully we’ll be able to put our team in Victory Lane and win one for the Nationwide guys.”

     

  • Monster Crash in Dover Nationwide Race Leaves Carl Edwards as Survivor in Victory Lane

    Monster Crash in Dover Nationwide Race Leaves Carl Edwards as Survivor in Victory Lane

    The Monster Mile lived up to its reputation, from a rain delayed start and a rain-induced red flag to one of the wildest endings ever during the second attempt at a green, white checkered finish.

    [media-credit id=26 align=”alignright” width=”201″][/media-credit]After Joey Logano, who was running in the second spot during the overtime session, hit the wall, sending Clint Bowyer airborne and Steve Wallace hard into the wall as well, Carl Edwards, in the No. 60 Fastenal Ford, remained the survivor, claiming the checkered flag in the 5-Hour Energy 200.

    In deference to the carnage on the track, Edwards declined to do his traditional celebratory back flip. He instead went to hoist the ‘Miles the Monster’ trophy in a subdued victory lane.

    This was Edwards’ 32nd career NASCAR Nationwide Series win, breaking the tie with NASCAR Hall of Fame Nominee Jack Ingram. Edwards now is fourth alone in that ranking for career Nationwide wins.

    “It was an amazing race from my seat,” Edwards said. “A lot was going on. We were playing a strategy with the rain, our pit stops were really good. I thought that rain was going to finish us.”

    “When we were coming to the white flag, Joey had a little advantage being on the outside,” Edwards said. “I thought I touched him but I saw the replay and it looked like he got loose and smacked the fence and the bottom fell out of it.”

    “It was a very different feeling than what you should have in a race car when you win a race,” Edwards said. “It’s just very fortunate that nobody was hurt.”

    “That’s why they call it the Monster Mile.”

    Although involved in the wreck himself, Kyle Busch managed to navigate his way through the pile up, claiming the second place for his No. 18 MAC Tools Toyota.

    “Well overall the weekend for us just wasn’t quite what we expected,” Busch said. “We unloaded and we weren’t very good off the hauler.”

    “The guys dug in and did a great job,” Busch continued. “We caught on some damage on pit road and mashed in the front end, which made it even worse. We passed a lot of cars but then we stalled out.”

    “The last lap got awfully crazy there,” Busch said. “I’m not sure if Carl touched him or not but Joey got a little loose and then tried to correct it and at that speed and at this kind of place, there’s not much you’re going to do besides spin out.”

    “Joey took a hell of a hit and I’m hoping he’s alright and not too sore for tomorrow,” Busch continued. “There with Clint climbing over him, it just got ugly. That was pretty crazy.”

    Reed Sorenson, behind the wheel of the No. 32 Dollar General Chevrolet, finished third in spite of a damaged race car. This was Sorenson’s ninth top-10 finish in ten races at the Monster Mile.

    “We were in fifth before the caution came out,” Sorenson said. “It usually gets dicey on green, white checkereds. I saw the 20 get into the wall and I was able to get up high and fortunately miss it for a good finish.”

    Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., in the No. 6 Mississippi Flood Relief-NASCAR Unites Ford, finished fourth and David Reutimann, driving for Rusty Wallace Racing, rounded out the top five in his No. 63 5-Hour Energy Grape Toyota.

    The final wreck of the race was not the only craziness that occurred in this Nationwide event at the Monster Mile. There was another melee that occurred on Lap 88 when Alex Kennedy, driving the No. 23 St. Baldrick’s/Funny Dan Racecar Man Dodge, spun and hit the wall, bringing out the fifth caution of the day.

    During the caution, however, Kennedy, trying to get his car re-fired and into pit road, drove back up the race track, slamming into the No. 16 Roush Fenway Ford. Kevin Swindell was called at the last minute by the team to substitute for the ailing Trevor Bayne, giving him the chance of a lifetime behind the wheel.

    “I don’t know what happened,” Swindell said. “We were just talking on the radio and whoever was wrecked just drove straight up the hill.”

    “This may have been my only opportunity,” Swindell continued. “And it gets ruined by somebody being an idiot.”

    Kennedy, when interviewed after coming out of the infield care center, explained that he was unable to turn the wheel.

    “All of a sudden, it stopped turning,” Kennedy said. “I just tried to stop. I feel horrible for Kevin and I ruined his day. I can’t apologize enough for that.”

    Points leader coming into this race, Justin Allgaier also had a monster of a day at Dover. He blew a right front tire and hit hard into turns three and four, causing his first DNF in 21 starts.

    “This was just a rough day,” Allgaier said. “Definitely not the way we wanted to leave Dover. Hopefully this is just a speed bump on the way to the championship.”

    Elliott Sadler, by virtue of his sixth place finish in his No. 2 OneMain Financial Chevrolet, assumed the points lead from Allgaier. Sadler is currently ten points ahead of Reed Sorenson, with Allgaier falling to fifth in the point standings.

    “Our goal was to lead the points and be competitive and consistent,” Sadler said. “At Daytona, we started in a hole but that shows how good our race team is.”

    Sadler’s day at Dover, however, was not without its challenges. On lap 141, Sadler was penalized for speeding entering the pits and remanded to the tail end of the lead pack.

    “We did get the pit road speeding penalty and we fought our way back to the finish,” Sadler said. “It’s special to leave here with the points lead.”

    Unofficial Race Results
    5-Hour Energy 200, Dover International Speedway
    May 14, 2011 – Race 11 of 35
    ====================================
    Pos. Driver
    ====================================
    1 Carl Edwards
    2 Kyle Busch
    3 Reed Sorenson
    4 Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
    5 David Reutimann
    6 Elliott Sadler
    7 Kenny Wallace
    8 James Buescher
    9 Aric Almirola
    10 Mike Wallace
    11 Jason Leffler
    12 Brad Keselowski
    13 Joey Logano
    14 Clint Bowyer
    15 Mike Bliss
    16 Steve Wallace
    17 Josh Wise
    18 Ryan Truex *
    19 Joe Nemechek
    20 Michael Annett
    21 J.R. Fitzpatrick
    22 Timmy Hill *
    23 Danny Efland
    24 Jeremy Clements
    25 Eric McClure
    26 Morgan Shepherd
    27 Derrike Cope
    28 Dennis Setzer
    29 Justin Allgaier
    30 Brian Scott
    31 Tim George Jr.
    32 Alex Kennedy
    33 Donnie Neuenberger
    34 Carl Long
    35 Scott Wimmer
    36 Tim Andrews
    37 Jennifer Jo Cobb *
    38 Kevin Lepage
    39 Brad Teague
    40 Brett Rowe
    41 Jeff Green
    42 Charles Lewandoski *
    43 Blake Koch *