NASCAR Trucks: 'Two Fifths' for Mike Wallace in St. Louis
24 August 1999
Mooresville, NC. August 24, 1999. No, NASCAR has not gone to fractions for scoring purposes! Mike Wallace scored two fifth place finishes by returning to his home turf - a fifth place finish in the Ran Tough 250 also put him fifth in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points race. Wallace, competing in front of thousands of his 'hometown' fans, qualified the Team ASE/Ultra Motorsports Ford fifteenth fastest on Thursday night. "We were much better in the final practice after qualifying," said Wallace. "The guys went to work immediately after qualifying and the adjustments they made were awesome. We were lightning fast in that practice." Gateway International Raceway is a tough track to hit a 'perfect' set-up. The difference in banking and configuration from turns 1 and 2 to turns 3 and 4 makes it especially hard on the engine specialist, who must get guidance from the driver on whether he prefers to shift or not shift on this course. This decision greatly affects how the motor's gears will be set. Yates Engines, who supplies the team's power packs, was on hand to perform those adjustments for the Team ASE Ford. When green flag racing began, Wallace immediately drove low on the backstretch going three wide to make a pass for the 14th spot. Then he jumped to the high side entering turn 3, and back to the low side exiting turn 4. That was all on the first lap. By lap 3, Wallace had shuffled some more and moved up to the thirteenth position. The first 10 laps were filled with this excitement, trucks swinging high and low, maneuvering all over while looking to advance. On lap 11 the top five trucks were racing single-file, but back in the second pack, the Team ASE Ford still battled three wide. Wallace kept constant pressure on the trucks in front of him. By lap 13, he broke into the top ten. With an expected pit window of 55 to 60 laps Wallace and crew chief Tim Kohuth decided to conserve tires, so Wallace remained steady in the tenth spot running lap times equal to the leader. On lap 46, Mike radioed into Kohuth and reported the truck was getting loose from the center of the turn off. Kohuth set the Team ASE crew to get ready for a pit stop in about ten laps to make the necessary adjustments and take on two fresh tires. Wallace, now in the 11th position, was trying to make his truck as wide as possible until that pit stop could happen. All of a sudden, there was a spin in turn three and the caution was out. It was a great break for Wallace, who could now pit under the yellow and have the handling on the #2 Team ASE Ford corrected. Wallace entered pit road in 11th, and left in 8th - gaining three spots due to his crew's efficient pit work. Wallace continued to advance in the standings once back on track and under green, moving up to 5th in the next thirteen laps. On lap 82, Wallace had just passed Greg Biffle for fourth when another spin caused the yellow flag to fly once again. Pitting under caution for the second time, Wallace's crew turned out a lightning fast two-tire and fuel pit stop, and the Team ASE Ford left pit road in second place. Only the pole-sitter, Stacey Compton, beat Wallace back off pit road. On the next restart, Wallace was able to hold onto the second spot, but soon afterward the picture clouded for Wallace. His truck began mishandling and he slipped back to fourth, then fifth . . . sixth . . . eighth . . . ninth . . . until finally another caution came out on lap 127. The pit stop revealed that the right side tires were completely worn out, which was the cause for the ill handling of the truck. With two new tires, Wallace quickly raced back to the front, and on lap 139, he turned the fastest on the track, and was riding in the 5th position. With ten laps to go, Wallace tried everything he could to get around the 4th place truck of Compton, but to no avail. With four to go, the two-truck dogfight picked up even more intensity, but a pass was not to be. Wallace would finish in fifth place, and also move up one spot in the NCTS points standings to 5th place. The race was won by Biffle, followed by Dennis Setzer, Jack Sprague and Compton. "We get paid to finish the best we can and I drove hard until the very end, trying to get around Stacey (Compton), said Wallace. "It was fun to be around the home crowd and fans that have watched me race since I was 16. Had we won, there would have been one heck of a party here tonight. We were a little off on power on the straightaways, so if we can fix that we'll be even better. I'd like to thank the Team ASE crew - their stops were perfect all night - again." With six races to go, the truck series heads to Topeka for the third and final road course race of the year. Wallace finished second in his last road course race, so he is confident that his current streak of top five finishes will continue. ASE has been a major sponsor in the truck series since 1996, along with associate sponsors Ultra Wheels, Wagner Brake Products, Snap-on Tools, and Valvoline. ASE, The National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence, is a non-profit organization founded in 1972 with the mission of improving the quality of automotive repair service through the voluntary testing and certification of technicians. There are over 450,000 ASE-certified technicians working in all types of service repair facilities in North America. Coming on board with Ultra Motorsports in 1999 are Smith Transport, Biagi Bros., Ken Thompson, Inc., and Overland Motorcoach. All four companies are long-time supporters of Mike Wallace Racing. Ken Thompson Racing and Biagi Bros. are also backing the 1999 Ultra Motorsports/Mike Wallace Winston West efforts.