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Crew members pay homage to Kenny Wallace prior to his 400th Nationwide Series start last year at Milwaukee.Wallace to make milestone start at track he really likes
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The first time the Nationwide Series raced at Richmond International Raceway this season, By the Numbers chronicled the success Kenny Wallace has had at the three-quarters-mile track.
And though Wallace finished 23rd that race, three laps off the lead, and hasn't had a top-10 at RIR since May 2004, a milestone moment puts him in the spotlight again. Wallace is set to become the 17th driver in NASCAR history to make 800 starts. And the majority of those have come in the Nationwide Series.
444Starts for Kenny Wallace in the Nationwide Series, second-most of all time. He's made 29 series starts at Richmond, tied for second-most.
159Top-10s for Kenny Wallace in the Nationwide Series. Seventeen have come at Richmond, one shy of his track best.
64Top-fives for Kenny Wallace in the Nationwide Series. Nine have come at Richmond, more than any other track.
9Victories for Kenny Wallace in the Nationwide Series. Three have come at Richmond, more than any other track.
3Times Kenny Wallace has been voted Most Popular Driver in the Nationwide Series: 1991, '94, 2006.
2Final rank for Kenny Wallace in 1991, his best points finish. He finished in the top 10 in points in nine of the 10 years he raced the full season. He's currently 12th through 26 races this year.
"If I finished outside the top 10 in the final points, I was devastated," said Wallace, who also works as an on-air personality for SPEED. "Some people think I'm just a TV guy. But my heart and soul goes into the race car. Seven days a week I work to come to the race track to do business Thursday through Saturday. To be known for TV, it definitely shocks me to not be known for what I wanted to be known for. Guys like Kyle [Busch] might not remember the Kenny Wallace who was a winner."
Wallace has been a model of consistency during his 20 years in the series. His average start is 16.3; average finish 16.2.
Coverage of the Virginia 529 College Savings 250 (Entry List | Tickets
) begins at 7 p.m. ET Friday on ESPN2. Four drivers who finished in the top 10 in the May race at RIR are not entered this week, including Mark Martin, the track's all-time leader in wins, top-fives and top-10s, and Matt Kenseth, the only driver of the four to post a top-five. Kenseth finished third, his 12th top-five (second to Martin) in 18 races.
1Top-10s for Brad Keselowski, who before finishing fourth in May had fared better than 21st just once in five previous races at RIR.
2Top-10s in the past four races for Jason Keller, who has 13 overall in 28 starts at RIR after finishing ninth in May. He has one win (May 2002) and six top-fives.
3Wins for Kyle Busch after his victory in May (only three drivers have won more at RIR). In 11 starts he has eight top-10s, including five in a row.
3Top-10s for Jason Leffler in 13 career starts at RIR. Before he finished 10th in May, he hadn't had a top-10 since back-to-back top-fives in 2004-05 (both September races).
4Top-fives for Carl Edwards, including two wins (one in September 2008) and two runner-up finishes (September '07 and May '09). In nine starts he has seven top-10s.
6Top-fives in the past eight races for Kevin Harvick, who has 11 overall in 17 starts at RIR after placing fifth in May. He is tied for second in wins with four, including three in a row from 2005-06 (two September races).
Note: Joey Logano finished sixth in the May race, Martin was seventh and Michael McDowell eighth. (Complete Results)
THE BUSCH WATCH
Kyle Busch has set series records this season with 10th consecutive top-two finishes and by leading a lap in 21 races in a row. Last year, he matched Sam Ard's season record for wins at 10 and this year is one off Jack Ingram's 1983 mark of 10 runner-up finishes.
6Top-fives for Kyle Busch at Richmond, but no second-place finishes.
THE WOW FACTOR
.1Difference in average finish between Kyle Busch (7.6) and Carl Edwards (7.7), first and second in series points, respectively. Incidentally, each won at RIR the first time they raced there in the series: Busch (2004) and Edwards ('05). For Busch, it was his first series win.
THE SUPER LOOPER
6Drivers who spent all 250 Laps in the Top 15 in the May race at Richmond: Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano and Jason Leffler.
Driver Rating (since 2005, nine races)
| Pos. | Driver | Starts | Rating | Pct. Laps / Top 15 | Avg. Run Pos. | Avg. Fin. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Kevin Harvick | 9 | 117.3 | 84.6 | 8.8 | 6.4 |
| 2. | Carl Edwards | 9 | 112.6 | 89.7 | 7.3 | 7.7 |
| 3. | Clint Bowyer | 8 | 107.9 | 82.7 | 10.5 | 13.8 |
| 4. | Kyle Busch | 9 | 101.0 | 70.2 | 11.3 | 8.7 |
| 5. | Mike Bliss | 5 | 96.4 | 81.3 | 11.6 | 18.0 |
| 6. | Greg Biffle | 7 | 94.5 | 71.7 | 12.4 | 6.6 |
| 7. | Denny Hamlin | 8 | 93.8 | 73.2 | 13.7 | 14.5 |
| 8. | Paul Menard | 5 | 91.5 | 64.3 | 14.7 | 18.0 |
| 9. | Scott Wimmer | 7 | 90.8 | 68.8 | 12.3 | 10.0 |
| 10. | Jason Leffler | 8 | 88.1 | 72.2 | 13.3 | 19.1 |
• Loop Data Statistics: Season-to-Date Box Score | * Entered in this race only
BLAST FROM THE PAST
3Races held at Richmond in 1982. Tommy Houston won the inaugural race on Feb. 20 and Butch Lindley won on May 2 and again on Sept. 11. The victories marked the first of their careers. For Houston, it was his only win at RIR among the 24 he amassed in the series. Lindley won four races in '82 and twice in '83. He died in '90 from injuries sustained from a racing accident in '85 that left him in a coma.
REMEMBERING 9/11
This year marks the first time the series will have raced on Sept. 11 since the terrorist attacks in 2001 made that date infamous. (Note: The Cup Series raced at Richmond on Sept. 11, 2004, the only other time a NASCAR event was held on that date in the past eight years.) NASCAR and Richmond International Raceway have planned a tribute (read more).
| POPULAR ALERTS | ||||
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Nationwide Series
Standings
| Pos. | +/- | Driver | Points | Behind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | -- | Kyle Busch | 4,209 | -- |
| 2. | -- | Carl Edwards | 3,988 | -221 |
| 3. | -- | Brad Keselowski | 3,917 | -292 |
| 4. | -- | Jason Leffler | 3,532 | -677 |
| 5. | +1 | Justin Allgaier | 3,010 | -1,199 |
| 6. | -1 | Steve Wallace | 2,994 | -1,215 |
| 7. | -- | Jason Keller | 2,873 | -1,336 |
| 8. | -- | Brendan Gaughan | 2,857 | -1,352 |
| 9. | -- | Mike Bliss | 2,835 | -1,374 |
| 10. | -- | Michael McDowell | 2,796 | -1,413 |
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