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NASCAR Trucks: Mike Wallace planning to return to winner's circle

23 June 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
CHARLOTTE, N.C., - Mike Wallace hoped the rains that red flagged Saturday's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Kroger 225 at the Kentucky Speedway would hold out, giving him his third win of the season. But once racing got back under way, he battled the competition to a third-place finish in the inaugural event.

"I'd be kidding if I didn't say that I was hoping for the rain to continue when the race was red flagged," Wallace said. "In fact the first two or three laps we ran under caution after the restart, I kept looking for a huge thunderstorm or a tornado or something. In fairness, the fans deserved to see the race go all the way to the end, and they got that."

Wallace, in third place, now trails point leader Greg Biffle by only 54 points in the Truck Series point standings.

As the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series prepares to make its final trip to a road course, Mike Wallace is hoping to get back on the championship track with a win in the Bully Hill Vineyards 150 at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International this weekend.

"We did real well here last year, starting third and finishing second, we even led the race," Wallace said. "We ran at Portland on the road course this season and finished fourth, so we have high hopes for what this weekend will bring."

Wallace has scored a second at Texas Motor Speedway and a third last weekend at the Kentucky Speedway since stepping over roadblocks at Pikes Peak (Colo.) International Raceway and Evergreen (Wash.) Speedway, showing the Team ASE crew is well on the their way back to championship form.

"No one ever said it was easy being at the top and we didn't expect to have a perfect season," Wallace said. "We are on top of our game every week and that's all we can do. I'm still confident that we will be at the champions table come November and we plan on proving that to everyone every chance we get."

With his third-place finish at the Kentucky Speedway, Wallace remains third in the series point standings, 54 points behind leader Greg Biffle.

Text provided by M. Greth

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