Mike Wallace Wins Talladega Race With Assist From Hornaday

Photo Credit: Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images for NASCAR

 

 

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

 

(October 22, 2011)

 

 

TALLADEGA, Ala.—In his first Camping World Truck Series start since 2009, Mike Wallace won Saturday’s Coca-Cola 250 at Talladega Superspeedway, as Kevin Harvick Inc. teammate Ron Hornaday Jr. pushed him across the finish line.

 

Hornaday ran second, followed by James Buescher, who made a dent in the series points lead of Austin Dillon. Dillon scrambled to a seventh-place finish after he was demoted to 18th for not maintaining pace under the final caution of the race. The recovery enabled Dillon to stay ahead of Buescher in the standings.

 

The victory was the fifth overall for Wallace, who was substituting for Elliott Sadler, whose wife, Amanda, is expecting the couple’s second child. Wallace won in the truck series for the first time since 2000. The victory was his first in any of NASCAR’s top three touring series since he won a Nationwide race at Daytona in July 2004.

 

Wallace had tears in his eyes when he climbed out of his truck in victory lane.

 

“I’m very emotional right now, because a lot of people doubt you,” Wallace said. “They doubt your ability. An opportunity like this just proves, ‘Hey, I can get it done. Give me something good to drive, and I can prove I can do it.’

 

“I’m numb. My son’s at home, my daughters … I wish they were all here. It is my wife (Carla) and my anniversary this weekend. It’s a cool anniversary.”

 

Wallace turned to his wife in victory lane.

 

“This is your exotic weekend, honey,” Wallace said.

 

Johnny Sauter’s championship aspirations suffered a major setback on Lap 35. He and ThorSport teammate Matt Crafton had dropped to the rear of the field to stay out of harm’s way early in the race, but the strategy backfired.

 

The two trucks crashed as they ran together in tandem, after Donnie Neuenberger’s Chevrolet blew a right-front tire in front of them. Sauter, who entered the race second in the standings and five points behind Dillon, lost two laps as his crew made repairs on pit road.

 

With a wave-around and a free pass, Sauter got back on the lead lap and finished 15th, lessening the damage to his title chances.

 

Notes: Buescher trails Dillon by three points with three races left in the season. Sauter is third in the standings, 14 points back of Dillon and two ahead of Hornaday in fourth. … The top two finishers are a combined 105 years old. Wallace is 52, Hornaday 53.

 

 

2011 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Coca-Cola 250 Powered by Fred's
Talladega Superspeedway
Race Results

  

1. 6 33 Mike Wallace Anderson's Maple Syrup Chevrolet
2. 5 2 Ron Hornaday Jr. Bad Boy Buggies Chevrolet
3. 1 31 James Buescher Bad Boy Mowers Chevrolet
4. 4 4 Ricky Carmichael Monster Energy Chevrolet
5. 19 23 Jason White Gunbroker.com Chevrolet
6. 25 5 Todd Bodine NTB/Service Central Toyota
7. 3 3 Austin Dillon Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet
8. 29 62 Brendan Gaughan South Point Hotel & Casino Toyota
9. 17 18 Kyle Busch Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Toyota
10. 23 9 Max Papis GEICO Toyota
11. 16 6 Justin Lofton CollegeComplete.com Chevrolet
12. 18 82 Grant Enfinger VisitGulf.com Ford
13. 22 51 Josh Richards Joy Mining Machinery Toyota
14. 10 60 Cole Whitt Fuel Doctor/Red Bull Chevrolet
15. 20 13 Johnny Sauter SafeAuto/Curb Records Chevrolet
16. 8 20 Johanna Long Panhandle Grading & Paving Toyota
17. 27 98 Dakoda Armstrong Ferrellgas/Agrisure Chevrolet
18. 24 7 Miguel Paludo Stop Diabetes Toyota
19. 11 32 Blake Feese AccuDoc Solutions Chevrolet
20. 7 22 Joey Coulter Rip It Energy Fuel Chevrolet
21. 26 39 Ryan Sieg Pull-A-Part, LLC Chevrolet
22. 30 76 Ryan Hackett www.jandrsupply.com Ford
23. 15 17 Timothy Peters NTB/Service Central Toyota
24. 32 28 Wes Burton FDNY Racing Chevrolet
25. 14 84 Chris Fontaine Glenden Enterprises Toyota
26. 2 8 Nelson Piquet Jr. tagg/Qualcomm Chevrolet
27. 35 93 BJ McLeod Pull-A-Part, LLC Chevrolet
28. 9 29 Parker Kligerman Penske Truck Leasing Dodge
29. 36 2 Jamie Dick VivaAutoGroup.com Chevrolet
30. 13 81 David Starr BuildYourFuture.org/Zachry Toyota
31. 12 88 Matt Crafton Menards/Certain Teed Chevrolet
32. 31 16 Donnie Neuenberger Eagle Convenience Stores Chevrolet
33. 34 7 Butch Miller ASI Limited/BOBBER.info Chevrolet
34. 28 1 Jeffrey Earnhardt Poynt Chevrolet
35. 21 99 Patrick Sheltra Chase Mattioli Racing Ford
36. 33 66 JJ Yeley Turn One Racing Chevrolet