NASCAR Trucks: Nashville a long day for Mike Wallace and Team ASE
13 July 1999
Mooresville, NC. July 13, 1999. Rain was the big story this past weekend, as the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series teams gutted out a five and one-half hour rain delay at Nashville Speedway, USA. Team ASE/Ultra Motorsports driver Mike Wallace managed to stay busy with several media interviews during the first hour of the rain-delayed Federated Auto Parts 250, although soon there was nothing left to do but wait. Wallace, who qualified 19th to start the event, finally got his chance to race at 8 p.m. Yes, Nashville Speedway, USA is a lighted facility. The first part of the race was fairly routine for Wallace, working his way up to the 13th position by lap 44. Wallace was fighting a loose condition exiting the turns, and a caution on lap 65 gave the team the opportunity to get two right side tires, fuel, and adjust the chassis. The changes were immediately noticed, as Wallace cruised up to the 9th position by lap 75, and all the way up to the 5th position by lap 92. A second caution flag flew on lap 97 and Wallace brought the Team ASE Ford in for two left side tires. The teams speedy quick stop bumped Wallace up into the 2nd spot, but when the race restarted, the Team ASE Ford developed a tight condition in the middle of the turns. Fortunately another quick caution allowed Wallace to come back in and change the left side tires again, hoping for a better match. Wallace would continue to fight for his top three spot, but soon fell back to the 9th position. Meanwhile, other drivers were having troubles of their own as the caution flags continued to fly - Greg Biffle and Boris Said tangled and wrecked, Stacey Compton went our early due to an accident, and Ron Hornaday was not running in his usual top ten position. The Team ASE Ford suffered a flat tire around lap 194, pitted on lap 196 for fresh left side tires, and on lap 216 painted the wall in Team ASE blue and orange. Apparently a loose lug nut had caused the wheel to break and sent Wallace hard into the wall. Wallace was able to bring the truck around to pit road for new tires and some quick cosmetic work to the fenders. Déjà vu struck when on lap 239, the #2 truck blew another tire and Wallace hit the wall a second time - finally ending Wallace's long day. "What a roller coaster of a day," said Wallace, clearly disappointed over the outcome of his day. "First we had to wait out the rain; then we went from so-so at the beginning to pretty darn good at the mid-way point. That truck was the one we won with at Homestead - so our confidence that we could finish well was pretty high. Then I was slammed into the wall because of a flat tire, not once, but twice. Man, for some reason we've had some bad luck when taking left side tires this year." Wallace added, "We were thinking we had a good shot at moving up in the points a little past the half-way point, so many of the top trucks were having bad days. But today was just not our day, either." Wallace finished 18th on the day, ahead of Greg Biffle, Stacey Compton and Ron Hornaday. Dennis Setzer won the race, with Kevin Harvick, Jimmy Hensley, Joe Ruttman and Jack Sprague rounding out the top five. To add to his woes, Wallace was holding his arm and shoulder after the race showing some signs of pain from his 'dance' with the walls of Nashville. Don't worry Mike Wallace fans - he is a tough competitor, and you can bet he will be in top racing form next week at Nazareth.
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