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KENNY WALLACE FIGHTS OFF A TIGHT HANDLING RACECAR TO FINISH 13TH IN CALIFORNIA SPEEDWAY’S TARGET HOUSE 300
The NASCAR Busch and Nextel Cup Series race teams made their
first-ever September trip to Fontana, California for a Labor Day weekend of
racing and away from its familiar, 53-year holiday home of Darlington, SC for a
doubleheader at California Speedway. Kenny Wallace, who qualified a solid
sixth, fought off a tight handling racecar to post a respectable 13th
place finish in the Target House 300 Busch Series test on Saturday afternoon.
As a result of his tenacity and ability to fight off his
racecar’s handling woes, Wallace was able to vault back into the top ten in the
Championship driver’s point standing as a result of his effort and now holds a
27-point advantage on 11th place Ashton Lewis, Jr. Lewis dropped out
of the top ten after finishing 23rd in Saturday’s race.
Wallace had his #23 Stacker2/Northeastern Supply Company
Chevrolet in the top 10 positions most of the afternoon until his initial pit
stop. After a few laps, Kenny found it difficult to get his car to turn through
the corners and as a result began losing positions.
With 24 laps remaining, Wallace found himself as far back as
the 22nd spot with the top nine cars still waiting to make their
final pit stops for fuel and tires. Once those cars did make their stops,
Wallace improved to as high as 12th place and only lost one position
the rest of the way to finish on the lead lap and move into tenth place in
points.
Nextel Cup Series regulars Greg Biffle and polesitter Casey
Mears battled door to door over the final 10 laps and swapped the lead twice
over the final seven circuits before Biffle assumed command for good with two
laps remaining to claim his fifth Busch Series victory this year. Kevin
Harvick, Kasey Kahne and Jamie McMurray, also Nextel Cup Series regulars,
rounded out the top five finishers.
The top finishing Busch Series regular was Martin Truex, Jr.
in sixth place. Truex also maintained his advantage in the driver point
standings, increasing it to 95 points over closest challenger Kyle Busch with
just nine races remaining. Busch will attempt to cut into Truex’s lead, and
Wallace will try to strengthen his hold on his 10th place standing
when the Busch Series moves to Richmond Int. Raceway in Virginia next weekend
for the running of the Emerson Radio 250 on Friday night. Race time is 8 p.m.
with TNT to televise the race live
nationally.
Northeastern Supply Company will step up its level of
sponsorship with Wallace and his Bill Davis Race Team for the Richmond test and
hopes that it can help spark the team to its first win of the 2004 Busch Series
season.
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