NASCAR WCUP: Square D Racing Review/Preview

11 March 1999

HARRISBURG, N.C., - Of the estimated 130,000 fans in attendance for last Sunday's Las Vegas 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Lady Luck wasn't one of them - at least not for Square D Chevrolet driver Kenny Wallace.

After running competitively in the top-25, Wallace was taken out in an eight car accident on lap 132 triggered by Kenny Irwin. Coming out of turn two, Irwin lost the handle on his Ford Taurus, sending him into the side of Wallace's No. 55 Monte Carlo. Irwin slid towards the infield fence while Wallace slammed the outside retaining wall.

"Kenny Irwin lost it and hit me in the left side and wrecked us both," said a frustrated but otherwise unhurt Wallace. "That's racing. That's all you can say. I was just a victim of circumstance."

The Square D crew worked feverishly to repair Wallace's Chevy so that he could attempt a handful of laps to earn some valuable championship points. After a lengthy stay in the garage area, Wallace returned to the 1.5-mile oval on lap 208. Upon completing two circuits around the apron of the race track, NASCAR deemed the Square D entry too slow - sending Wallace to the garage area for good, and relegating him to a 40th place finish.

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The complexity of this Sunday's Cracker Barrel Old Country Store 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway has changed for members of the Square D Racing Team. The No. 55 Chevrolet that driver Kenny Wallace was to pilot in this weekend's event is no more, as it was sidelined by virtue of last Sunday's multi-car wreck on lap 132.

But it's not as bad as it could be, thanks to the prior planning of crew chief Jimmy Elledge and his Andy Petree Racing mates. The team will use chassis No. 9821, the same car that delivered a solid 13th place finish at Rockingham (N.C.).

"We already had it ready," said Elledge. "We had tested it along with the Vegas car at Atlanta. We had it sitting here ready to go. We were planning to take it to Darlington (S.C.), but it was going to be the backup for Atlanta. When things didn't work out with the Vegas car, we went to plan B. We could have outfitted this car with either the Atlanta qualifying setup or the Darlington qualifying setup. Naturally, we went ahead with the Atlanta setup.

"When we tested, it was a good car. The gains that we made on the other car we'll apply to this one. There's really not a big difference between the two."