FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

LEBANON, TN (April 12, 2009)—Rusty Wallace Racing’s Steve Wallace (No. 66 Chevrolet Impala SS) scored his third top-ten finish of the 2009 NASCAR Nationwide Series season Saturday afternoon in the Nashville 300 at Nashville Superspeedway. Wallace’s ninth-place effort also marked his third top-ten finish in the last five Nationwide Series events.

After an impressive sixth-place qualifying effort, the day proved to be a true test of Wallace’s perseverance and growing maturity behind the wheel.  The young driver overcame a loose right front wheel, suspected tire problems, handling conditions and a mid-race spin to add another top-ten to what has already been a season of great improvement for the No. 66 wheelman.  His 46 green flag passes during the event marked the highest total of any driver in the field on Saturday and served as proof of his perseverance.

With his result, Wallace came even closer to cracking the top-ten in the Nationwide Series driver standings.  His top-ten effort vaulted him one spot, to 12th, a mere 18 points from tenth-place Jason Keller and less than 100 points behind fifth-place, Brad Keselowski.

Said Wallace, “We had a really fast race car for most of the day today, but we just had so many obstacles to overcome.  I feel like I passed just about every car out there five times coming from the back to the front.  If we just could have kept our track position, I feel that we had a car capable of finishing in the top-five, but we’ll definitely take it and get ready for Phoenix.”

Meanwhile, Wallace’s teammate, Brendan Gaughan (No. 62 Chevrolet Impala SS), had quite an eventful day as well.  After being pleased with his car in Friday’s practice, Gaughan experienced his first bout with adversity on lap 89, when he was involved in a multi-car accident in turn four. 

Despite being involved in another multi-car accident during the closing laps of the event, Gaughan’s No. 62 team was able to enact repairs to his Chevrolet quickly enough to keep him on the lead lap.  As a result, they salvaged what could have been a disastrous day with a lead-lap 17th-place finish.

Noted Gaughan, “After practice, I really thought we had a good shot at running up front today; we had a very fast car in race trim.  I guess it just wasn’t meant to be, though.  Bryan Berry and my guys did a great job of repairing our car during the race; that allowed us to stay on the lead lap and in the top-ten in points.  I hate that the day turned out like it did, but we’ll regroup and be ready for Phoenix next weekend.”

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About Rusty Wallace Racing, LLC

Mooresville, NC-based Rusty Wallace Racing is a professional auto racing team steeped in the legendary history of its founder and one of NASCAR’s top-ten drivers of all-time, Rusty Wallace.  In 2008, the team’s No. 64 entry was ranked among the top-ten overall in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.  For 2009, the organization campaigns the No. 66 and No. 62 Chevrolets in the Nationwide Series.  Its No. 66 entry is piloted by third-generation wheelman, Steve Wallace and its No. 62 wheeled by former NASCAR Truck Series Rookie of the Year, Brendan Gaughan.  For more on Rusty Wallace Racing, please visit rustywallace.com.