EARLY ENGINE PROBLEMS END WALLACE’S DAY AT TEXAS EARLY

The 2004 NASCAR Busch Series season continued to be a frustrating one for veteran driver Kenny Wallace and his Bill Davis Racing Team at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, TX on Saturday afternoon.

Running in the middle of the 43-car field just a little more than a third through the O’Reilly’s Auto Parts 300, something broke in the power plant under the hood of Wallace’s Stacker 2/Northeastern Supply Company Chevrolet. It came after Wallace had completed just 71 of the race’s 200 laps, relegating Kenny to a dismal 37^th place finish. After this season’s first 6 events, Wallace and his team have yet to post a top 10 finish and now stand 17^th in driver points, 267 behind new leader David Green.

“Something broke in the engine” is all a disconsolate Wallace said in the garage area after exiting Saturday’s event. “I started to lose a little power there and then it just died on me. We have to do something pretty quick to turn things around if we are going to be a factor in the championship,” he added. Wallace’s best finish to date this year was a 12^th place effort in the season-opening Hershey’s 300 in Daytona Beach, FL. Kenny dropped three positions in the standings as a result of Saturday’s disappointing finish.

Defending Nextel Cup Series champion Matt Kenseth rallied late in the race to overtake Bobby Hamilton, Jr. with just seven laps remaining and to earn his first Busch Series victory in 2004. Finishing in order behind Kenseth was 18-year-old rookie sensation Kyle Busch, Robby Gordon, Johnny Benson and Jason Leffler.

Hamilton, Jr. had a miserable re-start after the race resumed with just three laps left following a red flag stoppage on the event’s final caution period and ended up sixth. Green, in vaulting to the top of the driver points standing, finished eighth. He now holds a 17-point advantage over hot shot Martin Truex, Jr. who finished 10^th after rallying from a 2-laps down deficit in a Chevrolet owned by Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Michael Waltrip (46 points behind Green), Busch (-74) and Gordon (-89) round out the top five in points.

Wallace and the other Busch Series regulars will take next weekend off to celebrate the Easter holiday and will return to action on Saturday, April 10, with the running of the Pepsi 300 at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, TN. The FX Cable Network will telecast the race live beginning at 3:30 p.m. EDT.