--Steve Wallace and Team
66 See Potential Victory
Ruined by Strange Multi-Car
Accident--
TALLADEGA, AL (April 28,
2008)—After a day of ups and
downs for Team Atreus Homes
& Communities Rusty Wallace
Racing at Talladega
Superspeedway, one thing
rang clear: the young team
has truly established itself
as a contender in the NASCAR
Nationwide Series.
David Stremme, piloting
the team’s No. 64 Atreus
Homes & Communities
Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS,
tied his best career
Nationwide Series finish,
with a runner-up effort in
Saturday’s Aaron’s 312. His
effort marked his best since
a second-place finish at
Milwaukee in 2004. It was
also the team’s best finish
since a second-place effort
by Jamie McMurray in
November, 2004 at Homestead.
Noted Stremme, “I’m
really proud of the effort
that my Atreus Homes team
put forth this week. We had
a good car, good stops and
we were able to be in the
right place at the right
time. I’m not sure that we
had anything for the 20 car
at the end, but if we could
have had our teammate
around, it would have been a
lot of fun to try.”
While Stremme’s
performance was remarkable,
it was his young teammate,
Steve Wallace and his No. 66
team, which appeared to give
RWR its best shot at victory
through the race’s 2/3 mark.
After starting the race from
the 25th position, Wallace
had sped into the top-ten by
lap five. By lap 45, Wallace
had taken over the 2nd spot
and was on the back bumper
of leader, Tony Stewart,
with Stremme and his uncle,
No. 7—Mike Wallace, in tow.
Despite spending 62 of
his 70 laps among the
top-15, Wallace’s strong
effort came to an end on lap
70, in one of the strangest
events in recent NASCAR
history. As the field exited
the tri-oval, Wallace was
the second car in the inside
lane, behind Carl Edwards.
At the same time, the lapped
car of No. 61—Kevin Lepage
exited pit road and—at a
speed estimated to be nearly
50 mph slower than the
leaders—veered directly into
the path of the field,
causing a violent accident
which eliminated nearly half
the field from competition.
While Stremme, on the
high side of the racetrack,
was able to avoid the
accident, Wallace, on the
bottom and in fourth place,
had nowhere to go. His No.
66 car was destroyed in the
incident, thus ending the
strong run for the young
wheelman and his Atreus
Homes & Communities
Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS.
Noted Wallace, “I still
can’t believe what
happened…first of all, let
me thank my guys; they gave
me a great car today. I
could go anywhere I wanted
on the track and our Atreus
Homes & Communities
Chevrolet would draft with
just about anyone out there.
We had gotten ourselves in a
good position, with the 64
car and the 7 car right
behind us; we were just
waiting and trying to get
positioned for the last lap.
Then, all of a sudden, out
of the corner of my eye, I
saw this red blur come up
off the apron. I turned
right all I could, but there
was nothing I could do; it
was such a shame. I really
thought that we had a shot
at this one. Coming off our
good run at Mexico though,
our strong run today
definitely helps to carry
that momentum into Richmond
next weekend.”
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