Wreck Ruins Wallace's Day at Charlotte

EVENT: CARQUEST AUTO PARTS 300
TRACK: LOWE'S MOTOR SPEEDWAY
CONCORD, N.C.
DATE: MAY 27, 2000

CONCORD, N.C. - Sometimes, it just isn't your day. That was the case Saturday for driver Kenny Wallace and the No. 25 Team Rensi Motorsports Lance Snacks Chevrolet team.

Wallace cut a tire and hit the wall hard between turns 3 and 4 on lap 45 of the NASCAR Busch Series, Grand National Division CarQuest Auto Parts 300 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. The accident ended his afternoon early and relegated the Lance Snacks Chevrolet team to a 41st place finish, tying its season low.

It was the first time Wallace had driven the car since mid-April, in the Touchstone Energy 300 at Talladega Superspeedway.

"It was just a tough day for me and this Lance Snacks Chevrolet," Wallace said. "We were trying to get the car better, but we were just loose and we ended up hitting the wall. I hate it for the entire team and Lance. We'll just have to go back out next week and get 'em at Dover."

Wallace started from the 29th position, but was quickly shuffled back to 33rd on the very first lap after a slow start. He made up two positions on lap three when the race's first caution came out after Chad Chaffin spun out. Chaffin collected Jason Keller and Lance Hooper in the incident.

Wallace then slowly began to make up ground, making his way to the 26th position by lap 16 following another caution period. He made it as high as 25th place by lap 23 when he passed Keller and Glenn Allen.

It looked as though he would then make a steady progression to the front in his No. 25 Chevrolet, adorned in a special red, yellow and orange paint scheme depicting Lance's recently re-launched Gold-n-Chees product.

It wasn't meant to be, however, as the loose condition prompted Wallace's car to hit the wall in turn 2 on lap 32.

The one-car incident caused damage to the left front and left rear of his Chevrolet, but the damage was fairly minimal. After coming into the pits, the Lance crew diligently worked on the car to make repairs and got Wallace back out without losing a lap, although he had been shuffled back to 37th place.

Wallace lost one more position on lap 42, then blew a tire three laps later and hit the wall again, effectively ending his day.

Jeff Burton led a 1-2 finish for Roush Racing, earning his second Busch Series victory of the season. Series point leader Jeff Green finished third.

Wallace will be back behind the wheel of the Lance Chevy this Saturday in the MBNA Platinum 200 at Dover Downs International Speedway. Andy Santerre will then take over and drive the next six Busch Series events, all of which are non-companion Winston Cup races.