Sunday
Steve Wallace Energized By Top-10 In Phoenix
Press Release“5-Hour Energy Pilot Climbs to Ninth in Standings, Locks into Top-Ten”
Wallace’s tenth-place effort in the “Valley of the Sun” extended his career-best single-season top-ten mark to 13. It was his second-straight Nationwide Series top-ten, his second-straight top-ten in this event and his fifth finish of 12th or better in the last seven races. His eighth-place start was his third-consecutive top-ten start and his fifth top-ten start in seven events.
The 5-Hour Energy Racing pilot entered the Phoenix event looking to lock himself into the top-ten of the final Nationwide Series driver standings and his tenth-place finish enabled him to do just that. Assuming he simply starts the season finale next weekend in Homestead, FL, Wallace is guaranteed a place in the top-ten. He now maintains an insurmountable margin of 182 points over his 11th-place teammate, Brendan Gaughan (No. 62 Alliance Parts Toyota Camry), whose day went south with a flat tire on lap 61 of today’s event.
With his effort however, Wallace accomplished more than just locking himself into the top-ten. He was also able to leapfrog ahead of Jason Leffler and into ninth-place in the standings. Wallace now leads Leffler by 15 points entering Homestead, setting up next weekend’s most high-profile points battle, with Wallace a mere 65 points adrift of Joey Logano for seventh, 64 points behind eighth-place Trevor Bayne and 15 points up on Leffler in tenth.
Said Wallace, “We started out with a pretty good 5-Hour Energy Camry today, but we were just a little behind on our adjustments all day. At the end, we got really tight and just never got another yellow to take one last swing at fixing it. It was definitely a good points day for us though. To lock this 5-Hour Energy team into the top-ten for the second-straight year is definitely cool.
“We have the chance to get a little more though and we’re definitely up for the fight. With Leffler right behind us and 65 points to pick up next weekend, there’s only one way to look at Homestead; we’ve just got to knock down a 5-Hour Energy, get up on the wheel and get after it. Trust me, that’s exactly what I plan to do.”
About Rusty Wallace Racing, LLC
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.
About 5-Hour Energy
Made by Living Essentials, LLC, 5-Hour Energy is the category leader in 2 oz. liquid energy shots. 5 Hour Energy is available nationwide in major retailers in the Grocery, Drug Store, Mass Merchant Warehouse and Convenience Store classes of trade. Living Essentials sells over 7 million bottles of 5 Hour Energy per week. For more information, please visit 5hourenergy.com.
- Rusty Wallace Racing Press Release
Article Tags: 5-Hour Energy, Brendan Gaughan, Jason Leffler, Joey Logano, Living Essentials, LLC, NASCAR Nationwide Series, NNS, No. 62 Alliance Parts Toyota Camry, No. 66 5-Hour Energy Toyota Camry, Phoenix (Ariz.) International Raceway, Steve Wallace, Trevor Bayne, WYPALL* 200 powered by Kimberly-Clark Professional 200
