Catchfence

“Young Driver Continues Remarkable Momentum with Tenth-Consecutive Top-15 Effort”

WATKINS GLEN, NY (August 7, 2010)— Rusty Wallace Racing’s Steve Wallace (No. 66 5-Hour Energy Toyota Camry) scored his fourth-consecutive top-ten finish this afternoon, capturing ninth-place in the NASCAR Nationwide Series Zippo 200 at Watkins Glen International.

Wallace’s finish was his 11th top-ten of 2010 and placed him alongside road racing ace Ron Fellows and Brad Keselowski as the only drivers to score top-ten finishes in each of this season’s Nationwide Series road course events.

Following his result at The Glen, Wallace officially became one of the Nationwide Series’ hottest wheelmen, assuming ownership of several of the series’ longest active streaks. His streaks of four-consecutive top-ten finishes, ten-straight top-15 finishes and ten-consecutive lead-lap finishes are all the longest such active streaks in the Nationwide Series. His 14 straight races while running at the finish mark the second-longest active streak in that statistical category.

With his ninth-place effort, Wallace tightened the screws even further in the race for the top-five in the Nationwide Series standings. While he remains in seventh-position overall, Wallace now sits less than 150 points from fifth-place Kevin Harvick and an attainable 268 points behind Justin Allgaier in fourth. Wallace also carries the banner for Toyota’s Nationwide Series regulars, leading eighth-place Trevor Bayne by 185 points and teammate Brendan Gaughan by a margin of 206.

Said Wallace, “We did what we needed to do today. We didn’t have the absolute fastest car, but we had good pit strategy, fast pit stops and we managed to keep the car on course all day long. It was a great points day for us today and getting back into the top five in points is a big focus for us. All in all, I think today was a pretty good result, so we’ll take it and head back to the ovals at Michigan next weekend.”

While Wallace’s hot streak continued, the bad luck streak also continued Saturday afternoon for teammate Brendan Gaughan (No. 62 South Point Hotel & Casino Toyota Camry). After starting from the 21st position, Gaughan again showed speed, charging into the top-15 during the race’s early stages. Unfortunately, he would again be the innocent victim of an accident when the No. 62 was swept into a dramatic multi-car incident on lap 25.

After making repairs to the No. 62 Toyota, Gaughan returned to the track multiple laps down and finished the event in the 30th position. Despite this, he was able to maintain the ninth position in the Nationwide Series driver standings and stands a mere 21 points behind Trevor Bayne for eighth-place.

Noted Gaughan, “We were in the top-20, starting to go forward and I got on the very bottom where I figured our Camry would be safe. I’m like, ‘Alright, on the bottom will be okay.’ I saw everybody spin and the commotion happen. I got stopped, but then got hit from behind; it pushed me way into the wreck and it put Boris (Said) up on my hood. I think somebody hit Tony Raines even harder and put him into me.

“Our guys did a good job of getting the car back out there, but this bad luck has got to stop somewhere. Our race cars are fast every week, but somehow we seem to keep ending up in other people’s messes lately. We have a good team though; we’ll get through it and get our Camry back up front soon.”

About Rusty Wallace Racing

North Carolina-based Rusty Wallace Racing (RWR) is a professional auto racing team steeped in the legendary history of its founder, Rusty Wallace—one of NASCAR’s top-ten drivers of all-time. The team currently campaigns the No. 66 and No. 62 Toyota Camrys in the prestigious NASCAR Nationwide Series, driven by Steve Wallace and Brendan Gaughan, respectively. In 2009, RWR stood as the only team with multiple drivers among the top-ten in the final Nationwide Series driver standings. For more on Rusty Wallace Racing, please visit the award-winning rustywallace.com.

- Rusty Wallace Racing Press Release