Steve Wallace Michigan
International Speedway Preview
RWI Racing, Inc. Press Release
STEVE WALLACE

No. 64 CARFAX DODGE

No. 61 HANTZ GROUP – NU SOUTH LEMONADE DODGE

MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY PREVIEW

STEVE WALLACE PULLING DOUBLE DUTY AT MICHIGAN

· Steve Wallace will pull double duty this weekend at Michigan International Speedway, racing in both the ARCA RE/MAX and NASCAR Busch Series races.

· The starts will mark Wallace’s 11th NBS start of 2006 and his fifth ARCA start of the season

· In 10 NBS starts Wallace has four top-15 finishes, including an 11th-place finish at Kentucky

· In just four ARCA starts Wallace boasts an impressive two poles, one win and three top-five finishes

“Over the last few weeks our teams have really started improving a whole lot. Even though I didn’t get the best finish in Indy, we still learned a lot and were able to gain some points. Last weekend Jamie (McMurray) did an awesome job at Watkins Glen, which really helped with our team’s momentum. I am really optimistic going into Michigan. It’s a fast track and I am excited to get to run there. I won there last year in the ARCA race so I feel like I know how to get around the place. We are taking some awesome cars so there is no reason why I can’t leave there with a win and top-five, top-10 finish." -Steve Wallace

STEVE WALLACE HOPES TO ONCE AGAIN CELEBRATE HIS BIRTHDAY IN VICTORY LANE

· Last year on August 18, Steve Wallace turned 18 years old, making him eligible for competition at the two-mile racetrack. The very next day, Wallace made his first ARCA start and captured his first ARCA win. This year Wallace looks to once again celebrate his birthday in victory lane

“Last year was a pretty neat deal. It was my very first ARCA race the day after I turned 18. I was just old enough to race the track and ended up winning the thing. It was probably the best birthday present I ever got. It would be awesome to celebrate my 19th birthday in victory lane – you know kind of making it a tradition." - Steve Wallace

CHASSIS INFORMATION

The No. 64 CARFAX team will be unloading car No. 6415. Jamie McMurray raced this car to three top-10 and two top-five finishes this season. Steve Wallace will wheel car No. 43 in the ARCA race at MIS. David Stremme raced this No. 61 Hantz Group – Nu South Lemonade Dodge this earlier year in the ARCA race at MIS, where he qualified third and won the race, lapping the field under green, capturing the checkers the only car on the lead lap.

RACE INFORMATION

The NASCAR Busch Series’ CARFAX 250 is scheduled for Saturday, August 19 at 2:45 p.m. ET. TNT television and MRN radio affiliates will carry the live race broadcast. The ARCA RE/MAX Series’ Hantz Group 200 is scheduled for Friday, August 18 at 5:15 p.m. ET. SPEED will broadcast the race.

ON TAP FOR NEXT WEEK



Jamie McMurray will be back behind the wheel of RWI Racing’s No. 64 Top-Flite Dodge for the NASCAR Busch Series’ Food City 250 at Bristol Motor Speedway. The race is scheduled for Friday, August 25 at 7:45 p.m. ET. TNT television and PRN radio affiliates will carry live race coverage.

About RWI Racing, LLC… Mooresville, NC-based RWI Racing, LLC is a premier auto racing team which competes in the NASCAR Busch Series. It was founded in 2004 by legendary racing driver Rusty Wallace and scored its first series victory the same season. The team currently campaigns the number 64 Dodge, driven by Jamie McMurray and Steve Wallace, with primary sponsorship from The Top-Flite Golf Company and the Jackson Roscoe Foundation. For more on RWI Racing, please visit http://www.rwiracing.com.


This Press Release and any images that are used,
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Motor sports: Notebook


Son of ex-NASCAR champion hopes he'll find another lucky penny before busy weekend.

Angelique S. Chengelis / The Detroit News

Steve Wallace has never met a superstition he hasn't embraced.

Wallace, son of former NASCAR Cup series champion Rusty Wallace, will be doing double duty this weekend at Michigan International Speedway, competing in Friday's ARCA race, for which he is the defending champion, and Saturday's NASCAR Busch race.

And if he's lucky, he'll find a heads-up penny en route to MIS.

Wallace found the penny a few days before that event.

"I'll never forget that day for the rest of my life," Wallace said. "I was at Penske Racing on a Wednesday, I got there around 8:30 in the morning and I was mounting the seat about 9 or 9:30, I looked down, and there was a heads-up penny right there. I grabbed that bad boy and duct-taped it right to the dashboard, and I won the race.

"It's all about the penny."

Wallace describes himself as "extremely" superstitious. There is plenty he avoids.

"If I see a tails-up penny, I flip out. I've got to walk 50 feet away from it," said Wallace, who began racing go-karts when he was 7. "I've been like that my whole life.

"Every time I find a heads-up penny, I always get it and duct-tape it to my dashboard on all my race cars and always go out and win races. Whenever that happens, it's kind of a gimme.

"But $50 bills. Hate 'em. I get them cashed out. It's just one of those deals. It just is. $50 bills are bad luck, tails-up pennies are bad luck, green in the pits is bad luck and you'll be in trouble if you eat peanuts around me."

Wallace, who turns 19 on Friday, will make his fifth ARCA start this season and 11th Busch series start. He has one ARCA victory and two poles this season, and he has four top-15 finishes in his 10 Busch starts.

Steve Wallace said he has no issues about racing in his father's lengthy shadow. He knows the Wallace name helps, but he has no intention of taking it for granted or taking advantage of it.

"Without dad, I think I wouldn't be to the point where I am right now," Wallace said. "I'd be halfway. I'd still think I'd be racing ARCA and winning races and stuff.

"This year is a pretty big year for me. I'm running dad's Busch car, and I'm going to run full-time Busch next year for him. We've got some Nextel Cup stuff going on right now with some teams and stuff. I'm sure it's going to get big here in the next year and a half, two years. My main focus right now is winning races."

Steve Wallace is the youngest of Rusty's three children and the only one who has whole-heartedly pursued racing. He knew by the time he was 7 he would be a racer.

"I hated all stick and ball sports," Wallace said. "I hated school. I had to get my GED (General Educational Development test) because I hated school so bad. I had to go to military school for three years. It was horrible. I dropped out of military school, and I went and got my GED. I've been racing ever since then.

"When I was at school, I was always thinking about my race cars. It's always been, race cars, race cars, race cars, my whole life. I've never thought of anything else."

The younger Wallace's career is definitely a family project. His father runs the show as owner of Rusty Wallace Inc., Racing, and older brother, Greg, a recent graduate of the Wake Forest business school, essentially acts as Wallace's general manager.

"He's employed by his little brother," Steve Wallace said, laughing. "He plays a big part in what goes on here."

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Funny article, peanuts, $50 bills! He takes after his uncle Kenny.

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Go Junior Go. Go Smoke Go.

Can't stand Steve Wallace-he has a bad mouth on him!

BY MIKE BRUDENELL
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER

August 17, 2006



Steve Wallace will run the ARCA and Busch series races Friday and Saturday, respectively, at MIS. (Special to the Free Press)

Weekend at MIS
For tickets, 800-354-1010 or www.MISpeedway.com.

ARCA RE/MAX

What: HantzGroup 200
When: 5:15 p.m. Friday
TV: Speed Channel (coverage begins at 5 p.m.).
Qualifying: 3 p.m. today.
Tickets: $15, general admission grandstand; 12-younger, free.
2005 winner: Steve Wallace.

NASCAR BUSCH
GRAND NATIONAL

What: Carfax 250.
When: 3 p.m. Saturday.
TV: TNT (coverage begins at 2:45 p.m.).
Qualifying: 11:30 a.m. Saturday (Speed Channel
Tickets: $50, reserved grandstand; 12-younger, free.
2005 winner: Ryan Newman.


NASCAR NEXTEL CUP
What: GFS Marketplace 400
When: 2:30 p.m. Sunday
TV: TNT (coverage begins at 2 p.m.).
Qualifying: 3 p.m. Friday (Speed Channel)
Happy hour (final practice):
2 p.m. Saturday (TNT).
Tickets: Still available, starting at $45, reserved grandstand.
2005 winner: Jeremy Mayfield.


GRID UPDATE

As expected, Elliott Sadler will drive the No. 19 Evernham Dodge on Sunday at MIS. David Gilliland will replace Sadler in the No. 38 Robert Yates Racing Ford.

Rusty Wallace is proud of his son Steve, who is following in the footsteps of his famous racing father. Rusty Wallace retired from Penske Racing South last year after more than two decades in NASCAR.

He also worries about his son on the racetrack -- but not because he might get hurt. Wallace, winner of 55 Cup races, has plenty of confidence in recent safety initiatives instituted by NASCAR, including the HANS device and soft wall technology.

Wallace worries when Steve, who turns 19 on Friday, isn't pushing hard enough.

"The only worry I have is making Steve go fast and perform well," said Wallace, whose eldest son, Greg, spots for his brother. "But I don't have to worry too much. I hardly ever have to speed him up. I might have to smooth him out, but he's naturally fast."

Today, Steve Wallace will be on track at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, where he'll qualify for Friday's Hantz Group 200 ARCA Re/Max Series race. Wallace will pull double duty, competing in Saturday's Carfax 250 Busch Grand National event at MIS for Rusty Wallace Inc.

Last year, Wallace drove to victory in the ARCA race at Michigan, leading 84 of 106 laps and becoming the youngest winner in MIS history. Saturday will mark his 11th Busch start of the season. His best finish was 11th at Kentucky in June.

"Michigan is a very cool track to come back to," said Steve earlier this week. "Dad's got some victories (seven) there, and I've got a victory there. Whenever you win, it's a big deal, and especially here, since Michigan is the home of all the car manufacturers. You get a lot of respect, a lot of attention."

Wallace is gaining a good deal of both.

Today and Friday, he'll run the No. 61 Nu South Lemonade-Hantz Group Dodge -- the car David Stremme won the June ARCA race in at MIS -- and could repeat last year's victory. Saturday, he'll be at the wheel of the No. 64 Carfax Dodge and should run up front.

"We've visited a lot of wild, cool racetracks this year," Wallace said. "Racetracks that can eat you up -- psychotic tracks. Michigan is a monster, a wide-open track. I feel I know how to get around the place. We are taking some awesome cars, so there is no reason why we can't leave there with a win and top-five or top-10 finish."

Rusty Wallace is giving Steve plenty of racing opportunities this year in anticipation of starting him in Nextel Cup the latter part of 2007. He'll run him in the remaining 11 Busch races this season and in some ARCA events.

"It's all about seat time in the car," said Rusty. "We made a commitment to go racing. Steve is our driver."

As part of the program, Wallace will send his son to the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving in Arizona. "We'll get Boris Said to teach him road racing," Wallace said. "We'll keep cramming racing down his throat."

Steve Wallace doesn't think his father is putting too much pressure on him. "Maybe to move out of the house," said Steve with a grin. "But not at all on the racetrack."

Greg Wallace, who is 26 and a Wake Forest graduate, raced late models around the Southeast for a few years before deciding he wanted to finish college and get into sports management.

Presently, he's in charge of the www.rustywallace.com Web site, which has won international awards.

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