Hard Charger: Kenny Wallace

TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Finishing fifth on a beast of track is hard enough. Doing so on a 90-degree afternoon in a rented vehicle might be remarkable -- unless you’re Kenny Wallace.

The guy who subbed for Steve Park slipped back in his Dale Earnhardt, Inc., skin Sunday, finishing fifth in a car rented from DEI by fellow driver Michael Waltrip. It was a special promotion for Waltrip’s Busch series sponsor -- Aaron Rents -- which sponsored Sunday’s Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway, and Saturday’s Busch race. But it wasn’t a Sunday drive; Wallace started 27th and had to work his way through numerous restrictor-plate packs.

"I’m happy for Michael Waltrip," Wallace said. "He took a big gamble, renting this car from DEI. Could have easily wrecked it and lost all his money, but it turned out being a dream weekend for all of them."

Sunday’s didn’t end dreamily for Wallace. While doing post-race interviews on pit road, he received word of a NASCAR penalty -- a move back to 21st in the final standings -- the end of the lead lap -- for going below the yellow line.

The yellow demarcation separates the permissible racing surface from the track’s apron, and driving under it is a no-no at Daytona and Talladega. According to NASCAR, Wallace crossed the line in the tri-oval on lap 187, just before the white flag; he was trying to maneuver past points leader Sterling Marlin. NASCAR rules state that violating the yellow-line rule to advance in position is taboo.

"What the hell am I going to do?" Wallace said. "He ran me in the yellow lane. When you’re in your heart, you know you finished fifth. That’s good."

Waltrip, who finished second behind DEI teammate Dale Earnhardt, Jr., was a bit more humorous.

"You think I ought to protest it?" Waltrip joked afterward, in the media center. "I’ve never been a car owner before."

Wallace did take comfort in another solid Winston Cup performance. He’s under contract to DEI for the rest of the year as a test driver, and Park’s standby, and has occupied himself with his Busch team since Park’s mid-March return. Last week, Wallace subbed for Kevin Harvick at Martinsville, after NASCAR "parked" Harvick for his behavior in Saturday’s truck race. So Talladega marked his second consecutive Cup effort.

"It’s real satisfying, but I mean it’s not like it’s a one-time deal," Wallace said. "This is basically just another run for me at Talladega. I don’t really put it as a one-off deal. We’ve run quite a bit of races this year."

Seven out of nine so far on the Cup schedule, to be exact. And Sunday’s race was an exercise in Talladega’s yo-yo aerodynamics; Wallace had climbed to 20th by lap 20. He was fifth on lap 40; 21st on lap 100. By lap 140, he’d moved to second, the position he held on lap 160, a fortunate circumstance. The "big one" happened on lap 164, a 24-car pileup off turn 2 behind the leaders.

"You had to drive your ass off because you had to stay up front and miss all the wrecks," Wallace said. "I just didn’t want to be in the back, you know? Just track position."

He’d dropped to 12th with eight laps remaining, and muscled his way inside the top 10 during the final sprint.

"I think it’s pretty much a joke for anybody to think now I’m a backup driver," Wallace said. "I mean, let’s put it this way, Kenny Wallace in a DEI car at Talladega is pretty much a no-brainer. I don’t mean to sound cocky -- just a good race. That’s all it was."