NASCAR Trucks: 9-9-99 a good date for Mike Wallace and the Team ASE Ford
14 September 1999
Mooresville, NC. September 14, 1999. Y2K experts had earmarked September 9, 1999 as one of the critical dates for potential computer failures. While the date went by virtually uneventful for the computer world, 9-9-99 was a very memorable day for the Team ASE/Ultra Motorsports Ford. On this day, Mike Wallace posted his 10th top five finish of the year. After qualifying 29th among the 36 trucks who started the event, Wallace raced perhaps his best race of the year to date, making moves on the track that showed true grit and determination. The lower groove, usually the preferred line around RIR, had become slippery and drivers were finding the higher lines more to their liking. The track surface was slick due to a sealant that had been applied in the spring to ironically, give the drivers more "grip". This situation provided a wide racetrack where the trucks could dive low into a wide-open lower groove to pass, making for an exciting race with three-wide racing. Mike Wallace was one of those drivers who could take advantage of the lower groove. By lap 23, he had picked off seven positions and was in the 22nd spot. By lap 30, Wallace had broken into the top twenty. The races first caution came on lap 40, and a few of the leaders decided to pit. The #2 Team ASE Ford stayed out and moved all the way up to the 11th position under caution. When the green flag flew on lap 43, the fireworks really began. Wallace immediately picked up the 10th spot by moving low into turn one and passing Winston Cup veteran Rich Bickle. He and Bickle would race side-by-side and nose to tail for the next few laps. Soon Andy Houston joined this contest for the 10th position, and as the three trucks battled, they formed a "moving chicane" around the ¾-mile oval. On lap 71, Boris Said spun bringing out another caution, and the Team ASE Ford came in for its first pit stop of the evening. The Team ASE crew performed a flawless pit stop, and Wallace picked up six spots to 6th in seven short seconds. The race resumed on lap 76, and the field immediately scrambled for positions once across the front stripe. For the next fifteen laps, RIR looked much like the L.A. Freeway system. Wallace was racing three-wide down the middle of a big pack of traffic, when Renfrow spun on lap 93 bringing out another caution. The Team ASE Ford pitted for its second time to take on right side tires and fuel. On the next restart, Wallace began in the 11th position. In one of his gutsier moves of the year, he pushed the #2 Team ASE Ford through a pack of six trucks, three-wide for nearly an entire lap, capturing the 6th position. Wallace continued to put on an "aggressive, offensive driving clinic" while also avoiding potential disasters at many times. At race end, Wallace had moved his truck from the 29th position up to 4th, the largest jump by anyone in the race. Wallace commented on his team's performance at the end of the night. "The Team ASE Ford ran very, very well tonight. We were just off in qualifying and practice today. My guys did a phenomenal job today; all the teams are talking about how fast the ASE crew is under pressure of live pit stops and they did it again tonight. It was a good day for us to be able to come from 29th and finish in the top 10." Continued Wallace, "We had some great pit stops during the race and I need to thank Team ASE, Wagner Brakes, Snap-On tools and Ultra Wheels and all our sponsors. I was disappointed with the rain coming at the end of the race. I don't think I would have caught Biffle but I might have moved up a few spots before the end. But, once again, we gained some points and we'll just look forward to Las Vegas." The NCTS takes a short break and will return to action September 24, at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
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