Kenny Wallace jumped to sixth in the Busch Series standings. Credit: Autostock

Wallace gets second runner-up run of season

DARLINGTON, S.C. -- Kenny Wallace did everything he knew how to do to reel in Matt Kenseth over the final seven laps Friday night at Darlington Raceway, but it was the one thing he did on a pit stop that cost him his first victory in almost four years.

Wallace led 12 laps and spent 144 laps in the top 10. Credit: Autostock

"I made a call to lower the track bar in the right rear because halfway through the run I was getting a little loose from the middle off," Wallace said after finishing second.

"I had to make a move to try to win the race, so we decided to lower the track bar to give me a little more bite off the corner. But I just got beat.

"I couldn't do anything. I was too tight from the middle out. All I could do was hang with him. His car was just as quick as mine.

"So I finished second for the second time this year. I wanted to win awfully bad. I haven't won since 2001, but we're getting closer."

Wallace, one of funniest and most entertaining people you'll ever meet, had a suspicious burr in his voice when he talked about wanting to win.

Results Diamond Hill Plywood 200 Pos. Driver Make 1. Matt Kenseth Ford 2. Kenny Wallace Chevrolet 3. Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet 4. Greg Biffle Ford 5. Jeff Burton Chevrolet Complete results, click here Standings, click here

He really means it, especially in light of the aftermath from last season.

Wallace switched from Bill Davis Racing to ppc Racing over the offseason, bringing sponsor Stacker2 with him.

"To put it bluntly, it never dawned on me that people thought I was running that bad last year," Wallace said. "In the mid-1990s, I was winning races, and then the last five years, I took a gamble in going Cup and trying to win some Cup races and my Busch Series effort got hurt, my career kind of got diluted a little. I'm with a really good team now, and it just feels like normal.

"Some of these guys here have never seen me win races, but this is getting back to what is normal and that's running up front," he continued. "That surprises a lot of these newer people."

Victory LaneKenseth celebrates his victory at Darlington Top finishersWallace and Truex Jr. on their night in Darlington Final lapsKenseth rolls to the checkers at Darlington Early wreckVickers gets loose and hits the wall hard early Sign up for TrackPass now BUY YOUR NEXTEL DRIVER PHONE

On the night's final caution, Kenseth faked Wallace out by coming nearly all the way to pit road before swerving back onto the track.

"He faked me out," Wallace said after the race. "He fooled me. I don't know if he would have done that in a Cup race, but man, he went down there. I was like, 'I can't believe he's pitting.'

Jeff Burton did, and he came back to fifth, but I was hoping he [Kenseth] would pit. I was hoping he thought the race was 200 laps and just forgot."

Wallace was amazed that his No. 22 Ford was as good as it was during the race.

"I would never have thought, in the middle of the day today, that the Stacker 2 Ford would be that strong," Wallace said. "Man, this car was absolutely horrible. I didn't like it at Vegas, but they talked me into bringing it here."

Wallace's last victory came in 2001 at North Carolina Speedway, and for him to have broken that string on Friday night, he would have had to rethink the track bar adjustment.

"I never should have lowered the track bar, because it made me a little tight," Wallace said. "I could get to him, but to pass him, I would have had to have done something crazy.

"I was just driving my heart out and I had to protect Martin (Truex) behind me."

Friday's runner-up finish was Wallace's best ever at Darlington, by two spots. He also gained four spots in the points to sixth after 11 races.