NASCAR Trucks: Mike Wallace posts second at Louisville Motor Speedway - now looks to Texas for another solid finish.
14 October 1999
Mooresville, NC. October 14, 1999. Mike Wallace shook his head in amazement Friday night after piloting the #2 Team ASE/Ultra Motorsports Ford to a second place finish. "This was a very strange race," said Wallace. "Jack (Sprague) ran the whole race with one set of tires. I put rights only on and (Mike) Bliss put lefts only on. Unfortunately that was the demise of us all because Jay (Sauter) got at least four on and came back. We just hung on and got some breaks when Jay, in the 3 truck, got into the back of the 99 and everybody checked up. That gave me my opening and fortunately we finished second." Now the team turns its attention to Texas Motor Speedway, where Wallace finished 4th place in the June race. Wallace and crew chief Tim Kohuth like their chances to post another top-five finish at the 1.5-mile oval. "We are still racing as if it was the first race of the year," commented Kohuth from the Ultra Motorsports race shop earlier this week. "We had a great set-up for the first race at Texas, and we should be right on target for this race - engine and all." Mike Wallace Notes: * Mike Wallace NCTS career stats at TMS: 1998: Q 4th F 12th 167/167 laps 1999: Q 27th F 4th 167/167 laps * Wallace was 8th in the NCTS standing entering June's Pronto Auto Parts 400. Since then he has battled his way up to the 5th place position, 207 points behind NCTS points leader Jack Sprague. * Louisville was Wallace's 11th top-five finish of 1999, including two wins (Homestead and Pikes Peak). Outside of these races, Wallace has posted two additional top tens - 8th at Mesa Marin and 9th at Topeka. * Wallace has finished at least in the top 15 in 18 of the 23 races to date; completing 4,039 laps of 4,156 possible laps (97.2%) 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.