Petty to replace Wallace at Martinsville
By Marty Smith, Turner Sports Interactive
October 13, 2001
6:06 PM EDT (2206 GMT)
MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- In this case, second shall be first.
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Kyle Petty
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Kyle Petty will drive the No. 1 Chevrolet in place of Kenny Wallace on Sunday in the Old Dominion 500 at Martinsville Speedway, Wallace told NASCAR.com Saturday afternoon.
Andy Houston was originally announced as the replacement, but since Petty was already in Martinsville, Wallace said it made more sense to put Petty in the car.
Wallace said that Petty failed to qualify the No. 45 Dodge for Sunday’s race, but was still in town to oversee the efforts of the other two Petty Enterprises cars, the Dodges of John Andretti and Buckshot Jones.
“Yeah, they had first thought about Andy Houston, but then they thought about Kyle and since he was already in Martinsville, it just made more sense to get him,” Wallace said.
Wallace opted to remain in Memphis, Tenn., to race George deBidart’s No. 48 Chevrolet in the Busch Series Sam's Town 250, which was postponed until Sunday.
Wallace’s decision seemed to be a no-brainer, since he’s clinging to 10th position in the Busch Series championship standings.
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Kenny Wallace
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For the past five races, Wallace has driven the No. 1 Chevrolet in place of the injured Steve Park. Wallace has performed admirably, the high point being a third-place qualifying effort last weekend at Charlotte.
“I’m proud to be in (the No. 1) car, but I owe it to these guys to stay focused and finish in the top 10,” Wallace said. “They work their butts off all the time for me, and I want them to know I’m in this deal with them.”
Like Wallace, Kevin Harvick also decided to stay in Memphis. The Busch Series points leader surrendered his No. 29 Chevrolet to Winston Cup veteran Rick Mast.
“Old Kevin Triplett (NASCAR director of operations) stuck his hand out, and I said 'What’s that for?’” Wallace said. “He said ‘To thank you, that is really big for the Busch Series for guys to stick around here for it.’ I thought that was pretty cool.”
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