---

NASCAR WCUP: Kenny Wallace: Never backing down from a fight

29 February 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

CHARLOTTE, N.C.,- Kenny Wallace never backs down from a fight, especially if his opponent is a 400-mile race at North Carolina Speedway. Wallace battled a field of 43 NASCAR Winston Cup Series drivers to finish 24th in the Dura Lube/Big Kmart 400.

Wallace, who drove hard all afternoon, jumped seven positions in the final 66 laps to earn a top-25 finish. The Square D/Cooper Lighting Chevrolet took home 91 championship points placing Wallace 24th in the Winston Cup standings with167 total points for the season.

"We remained consistent and got a 24th place finish out of it," said Wallace. "Nothing to write home about, but we'll take it. We didn't wreck, we didn't blow up and a lot of cars finished behind us. It was a positive effort for the SquareD/ Cooper Lighting Chevrolet.

"In the middle of the race, we were fighting a loose car," said Wallace, as he described his pit crew's "never say die"attitude. "We tried to tighten the car up, but that made it worse. We finally found the right setup to compete with the field late in the race, and that's when we ran some positive lap times. We can't complain because we're a lot better off now than we were last year at this time."

Most people travel to Las Vegas for the casinos, but Kenny Wallace knows that this Sunday's CarsDirect.com 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway is a business trip for NASCAR Winston Cup Series drivers.

"When you go to any city on the Winston Cup schedule, your focus is on the race track," said Wallace. "I'll walk through the casinos and feel like I'm not in Las Vegas. The atmosphere doesn't hit me like it would if I were on vacation. If I were on vacation, the casinos and entertainment venues would be on my mind. Next week, I'll have business on my mind."

The Square D/Cooper Lighting driver has had his share of success at the gambler's oasis, as he took the Winston West 300K pole in 1997. Wallace looks forward to the Las Vegas track, and he attributes that to the design of the 1.5-mile oval.

"Las Vegas is one of the best tracks on the circuit," said Wallace. "It makes it easy to race two-wide, because you can find different grooves on the track. Going down into turn one, you are running 190 mph, so as you can see, it's a high-speed race track. On top of that, the track has a huge elevation drop. Coming off the front straightaway at Las Vegas, you feel like you are dropping into a hole about 15-feet deep. You're almost going down a hill, and that's what makes Las Vegas unique. It's a great race track - no bumps, no runs, no errors."

"The Las Vegas race is scheduled perfectly into our season," said Wallace. "The weather out there is perfect. We need to get away from the East Coast during this time of year, because it is always cold and rainy in March."

Text provided by Chris Hunt

Editors Note: To view hundreds of hot racing photos and art, visit The Racing Photo Museum and the Visions of Speed Art Gallery.