 | | Kenny Wallace on Bristol: "The key is to run hard and keep people off your rear bumper." Credit: Autostock |
By Mark Spoor, NASCAR.COM
March 31, 2005
02:12 PM EST (19:12 GMT)
ATLANTA -- Some of this sport's best drivers cringe when Bristol is brought up. Not surprisingly, Kenny Wallace smiles at the mere mention of the word. And with good reason. In 23 career Busch Series starts at the high-banked half mile, Wallace has eight top-five and 17 top-10 finishes, including a victory in 1994. He says the emotions will be running high there this weekend for the Sharpie Professional 250 on Saturday. "Every time I go to Bristol, I get goose bumps because it is such a great atmosphere," he said. "It is going to be a fun weekend. Nothing tops the excitement of Bristol." Even with all that success, Wallace still knows that Bristol's cozy confines coupled with its up-to-the-stratosphere banking demands both respect and patience. "The key is to run hard and keep people off your rear bumper," Wallace said. "If they stalk you, then you just have to let them pass." Wallace said that makes Bristol a bit like another NASCAR track with an intimidating reputation. "The track itself is a little like Darlington because you have to make sure you don't get wrecked by someone else while racing the track," Wallace said. "My strategy is simple, race hard and keep people off your bumper." A lot of folks have stayed off of Wallace's bumper so far this season. In a year where the headlines have been dominated by youngsters like Carl Edwards and Reed Sorenson, the 41-year-old Wallace is more than holding his own. Wallace enters the weekend sixth in the Busch Series standings with four top-15 finishes, including a runner-up run to Sorenson last weekend at Nashville. "It meant the world to run strong at Nashville. It sends the message to everyone that we are heading in the right direction," he said. "This is a great team. It didn't have the sponsor it needed last year and it kind of fell back a little bit. We came in with a good sponsor and I'm just picking up where a lot of those guys left off." Regardless of all that, Wallace said he's been around enough to know that past performance is not indicative of future success. "I think I am mature enough to know that my run at Nashville doesn't guarantee success at Bristol," he said. "It does give my crew and sponsor a lot of pride. "It feels right because this is where the team should be," he said. "We are a championship team, and everything is falling into place. "I promised them a win this year and I am confident we will get that." | 
