NASCAR WCUP: Kenny Wallace didn't enjoy working on a Monday

13 October 1999

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - There aren't many people who enjoy going to work on Monday. After Monday's rain-delayed running of the UAW-GM Quality 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway, you can add Square D Chevrolet driver Kenny Wallace to that group.

Wallace fought an incredibly loose race car for the majority of the day, and then, like missing the 5:30 train to go back home, broke a valve spring with less then 30 laps remaining in the 334-lap event. After completing 329 laps and limping home to a 30th place finish, Wallace found out why Mondays get such a bad rap.

"We were loose all day," said Wallace. "Then with about 25 laps to go, we broke a valve spring. That's just a little bit of a problem we're having as of late. So, we'll go to work on it, keep our heads up, and keep digging."

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If McDonald's is home to the Big Mac, then Talladega is home to the Big Wreck. Reels of highlight film documenting spectacular crashes have been captured over the years at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. While Square D enjoys garnering exposure through their sponsorship of NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver Kenny Wallace, you will only see a glimpse of the Square D logo on any one of these films - and that's just fine with Square D. Wallace has been perilously close to the Big Wreck, but never actually in the Big Wreck. That's because Wallace has been lucky, and he readily admits it.

According to Webster's Dictionary, the definition of luck is, "the tendency of a person to be persistently fortunate or unfortunate." When it comes to racing at the vast 2.66-mile oval, Wallace would consider himself persistently fortunate.

"I've been very lucky," said Wallace. "Talladega's been a race track where people want to get up there and lead right away. Everyone gets so rambunctious to lead right away that things tend to happen. Now, don't get me wrong. I want to lead. I want to lead every lap. But that's an impossible feat at either Talladega or Daytona (Fla.). It doesn't do anyone any good to get real aggressive at Talladega because it'll cost you in a heartbeat. I really respect all the other competitors there, because all they have to do is breathe on you and they can spin you out and take the rest of the field with you.

"The saying of, 'if you stay up front you'll stay out of the wrecks,' that's wrong. Lately, the wrecks have been collecting everybody up front. One of the biggest wrecks happened in last year's spring race when Dale Earnhardt was running in third. It doesn't mean a hill of beans where you run - the Big Wreck might get you. So my theory is, you go down there, you cross your fingers, you drive a good race, you give everyone respect, and let the chips fall where they may."

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