Wallace Gives Lance Team Second Straight Top-10

MADISON, Ill. (July 29, 2000) - Welcome back to the seat of the Lance Snacks Chevrolet, Kenny Wallace.

And Saturday night, Wallace's eighth place finish in the NASCAR Busch Series, Grand National Division CarQuest Auto Parts 250 at Gateway International Raceway was certainly a welcome sight for the Lance team.

The St. Louis area native, who hasn't driven the No. 25 Team Rensi Motorsports Monte Carlo since late May due to his NASCAR Winston Cup commitment, gave the team its second straight top-10 performance, following a third place run by Andy Santerre the previous week at Pikes Peak International Raceway. It was the first time Wallace had driven the car since Greg Ely became the team's crew chief back in June.

"It was good to get back in the car, but the biggest thing is that I'm proud of this team for all they've been through in the last month or so," Wallace said. "For them to come away with two top-10s in the last four races since the change, I commend them. I'm talking about moving shops and hiring new people and all. We had a great run tonight and hopefully we can continue that momentum for the rest of the season."

For not having worked with Wallace to a great degree, Ely said he was very pleased with the outcome.

"Everybody did a great job," Ely said. "The pit stops were great. Kenny drove the wheels off the car. We just got a little bit behind with a penalty on pit road, but we were able to make up some track position later and we wound up with a great finish. Everybody's working well together, and I think everything is starting to come together."

With qualifying canceled due to steady rains throughout the two-day event, Wallace started the race under the lights from the 13th position, where Team Rensi stood in the series owner points. He dropped back a spot early on, but made his way into the top-10 on lap 54. Prior to his first pit stop, under green, Wallace moved up to eighth.

On pit road, however, NASCAR penalized Wallace 15 seconds for exceeding the speed limit. That pushed Wallace back to 24th and on the tail end of the lead lap, and Wallace admirably kept the leaders behind him to stay on the lead lap.

He eventually began to make up ground, cracking the top-15 on lap 128 when he passed Hank Parker, Jr. One by one he slowly picked off cars until he passed two on lap 155 to move up to ninth.

He got as high as second on lap162 as cars began to make green flag pit stops, and Wallace came into the pits himself on lap 163 for a two-tire and fuel stop only.

He came out 13th, and later radioed that the car "is the best that it's been all year." Wallace was back in the top-10 by lap 186, then passed Elton Sawyer and Kyle Petty in the final 10 laps to bring home a solid finish.

"We made that call for two tires because we needed to make up some track position," Ely said. "We actually turned our fastest laps of the race with those two tires. Kenny really did a great job, especially in the last few laps to track those guys down."

"I got caught for pit road speed, and that really killed us," Wallace said. "I don't think we were going to win, but we had an awesome car in the end. We definitely had a shot at fourth or fifth, but we'll take eighth. It's the second top-10 in a row for Team Rensi, and we were competitive and that's what it's all about."

Rookie Kevin Harvick earned his first Busch Series victory, taking the checkered flag by 1.338 seconds over Jeff Purvis.

A lifelong baseball fan, Wallace received a thrill when he was recognized on the field prior to the St. Louis Cardinals game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wed., July 26. In addition, he was interviewed for a half inning on both the Cardinal television and radio broadcasts and was given the opportunity to meet former Cardinal pitcher and now broadcaster Al Hrabosky, along with legendary Cardinal announcers Mike Shannon and Jack Buck.

"That was unbelievable," Wallace said. "To be able to sit up in the booth and talk to these guys that I've listened to for years, it was just incredible. I had a ball, and to boot, the Cardinals won the game. You can't ask for a much better night than that."

On Thurs., July 27, Wallace was featured at a media luncheon at the Crown Hotel/Casino Queen.

Santerre will climb back behind the wheel of the Lance Chevy this Friday night in the Kroger 200 at Indianapolis Raceway Park. Wallace will then drive the car for the remainder of the season, with the exception of the Sam's Town 250 at Memphis Motorsports Park on Oct. 29.