|
|
Four years ago, Morgan-McClure cheappitchingmachines Motorsports was a weekly contender in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. Sterling Marlin had finished among the top-10 in points for a second consecutive season, and the Kodak Chevrolet team showed no signs of slowing. However, that''s precisely what has happened, and no one is exactly sure why. Marlin departed to Team SABCO following the 1997 campaign after dropping from eighth to 25th in the championship point standings. In came . Bobby Hamilton, who had spent the past three seasons at Petty Enterprises. During that time, he''d finished as high as ninth in the points. On paper it was a perfect fit: small-town driver joins small-town team. In his first season behind the wheel of the No. 4 Chevrolet, Hamilton recorded three top-5s, including a trip to Victory Lane at Martinsville, and eight top-10s en route to a 10th-place finish in the points. The Morgan-McClure steamroller appeared to be chugging once again. They''ve had just one top-5 finish since. "Me and Larry (McClure, team owner) cheappitchingmachines were talking cheappitchingmachines one day and we feel like it took us a year and a half to dig this big hole we''re in, so we''re still trying to dig out," Hamilton said. "We''re not going to dig back out in a week or two." In 1986 he won the American Speed Association Rookie of the Year title before moving up to the NASCAR Busch Series Grand National Division full-time in 1989. Another rookie of the year title was added in 1989 and since then, Wallace has notched eight wins and eight Bud Poles as well as two Most Popular Driver awards in the NASCAR Busch Series. Since becoming a full-time NASCAR Winston Cup Series regular in 1996, Wallace has scored two Bud Poles and accumulated three top-5 and 16 top-10 finishes. The St. Louis native cheappitchingmachines plans to improve upon those numbers cheappitchingmachines with Eel River Racing. "I''m 37 years old and I feel a certain urgency to do more with the time I have cheappitchingmachines left as a Winston Cup driver," Wallace said. "Eel River Racing is the best place for me to do what I want to do in Winston Cup -- and that''s win races." "Between Barry Dodson, my dad and myself, we''ve worked extremely hard at building our race team into a winning organization," said Devin Birmingham, vice president of Eel River Racing. "Having a driver the caliber of Kenny Wallace join our team is big feather in our cap. He''s going to be a key partner in our program, and we''re looking to do great things together." He speaks with the confidence of a competitor who has regained the winning formula he had when he took the series title in 1989, and dominated in 1993-94. Wallace broke a 32-race losing cheappitchingmachines streak with a victory in Bristol in March, and has been among the cars to beat in virtually cheappitchingmachines each race since. The 44-year-old driver from St. Louis is trying for victory No. 54, which would tie him with Lee Petty for seventh place on the NASCAR career list. In that quest, Wallace will rely on the basics. cheappitchingmachines "We just have to massage that chassis, conserve the tires and stay out of trouble," he said. "I''m really looking forward to it."
|