|
|
"That thin and wall was a great race up to the final lap," Martin said. "I had a great time racing Jeff and Matt, and it got pretty intense there heads in the end. I was determined to keep my lead. That car was one of my favorites, which is why we''re bringing it back this weekend." Martin also leads all drivers in career series wins. He earned his 44th victory at Texas thin in April, and still has five races remaining on his schedule this year. wall "We''re going heads to try to win them all," Martin said. "I''m sure the Busch guys will be glad when I''m gone next year. I''ve worked hard for a lot of years in the Busch Series and thin and wall won a few races and lost a lot of them." You can bet Burton, Kenseth and a number of series regulars will give Martin all he heads can handle this weekend. Series points leader Jeff Green has never won at Darlington, thin but has notched four top-10s and got his first top-5 ever last spring. He''s due for wall sure. "Darlington heads is just one of those places I''ve never been able to get a hold of," Green said. "In the spring, I posted my first top-5 finish there in my entire career, which is hard to believe since I''ve raced there 10 times now. In thin 1986 he won the American Speed Association Rookie of the Year title before moving up to the NASCAR Busch Series Grand National Division full-time in wall 1989. Another rookie of the year title was added in 1989 and since then, Wallace has notched eight wins and eight Bud Poles as well as two Most Popular Driver awards in the NASCAR Busch Series. Since becoming a full-time NASCAR Winston Cup heads and thin Series regular in 1996, Wallace has scored two Bud Poles and accumulated three wall top-5 and 16 top-10 finishes. The St. Louis native plans to improve upon those numbers with Eel River Racing. "I''m 37 years old and I feel a certain urgency to do more with the time I have left as a Winston Cup driver," Wallace said. "Eel River Racing is the best place for me to do what I want to do in Winston Cup -- and that''s win races." "Between Barry Dodson, my dad and myself, we''ve worked extremely hard at building our race team into a winning organization," said Devin Birmingham, vice president of Eel River Racing. "Having a driver the caliber heads of Kenny Wallace join our team is big feather in thin our cap. He''s going to be a key partner in our program, and we''re looking to do great things together." Rusty Wallace is seeking his third straight win, and his first career victory at Darlington. A trophy for winning wall at Darlington Raceway can''t be found among Rusty Wallace''s heads racing treasures. He''d like to change that Sunday in the Pepsi Southern 500 presented by Kmart, thin his 34th start on 1.366-mile oval. "We''ve come so close to winning at Darlington, finished second, third and fourth a ton of times, and it would be a thrill to finally beat the old track," said Wallace, seeking his third straight victory. "We know that we have a car capable of winning because it already has a name, doesn''t it?" Wallace was referring to "Lite-ning," the name given to his Ford in a fan contest that elicited 6,700 entries. A Wallace tradition is to name wall a car after it wins for the first time, and that heads happened six weeks ago in Long Pond, Pa. That was the second of a NASCAR Winston Cup-leading four wins this season for Wallace, and began a roll that includes victories the last two weeks in Brooklyn, Mich., and Bristol, Tenn. No driver has won more than two straight races since Jeff Gordon strung four together in 1998. Wallace knows it will be difficult to beat Gordon --
|