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Kenny Wallace Motegi Preview

Kenny Wallace's Orient Express II HARRISBURG, N.C., (November 17, 1998) - For the second straight year, NASCAR driver Kenny Wallace heads to Japan to compete in a NASCAR exhibition race. This year's NASCAR Thunder Special Motegi ...

Kenny Wallace's Orient Express II

HARRISBURG, N.C., (November 17, 1998) - For the second straight year, NASCAR driver Kenny Wallace heads to Japan to compete in a NASCAR exhibition race.

This year's NASCAR Thunder Special Motegi - Coca-Cola 500k at the 1.5-mile Twin Ring Motegi race track promises to showcase some of the premier drivers in the world.

Just as they did last year, EA SPORTS™ with their NASCAR® 99 interactive video game and Square D will be backing Wallace's efforts behind the wheel of his No. 55 Chevrolet Monte Carlo prepared by David Ifft Engineering.

In last year's exhibition race at the 1.54-mile Suzuka Circuitland road course in Suzuka City, Japan, Wallace drove his red, white and blue EA SPORTS™/Square D Chevy to a seventh place finish.

"I got ready for last year's race by competing on the Suzuka track in the NASCAR 98 game from EA SPORTS," said Wallace. "Before last year, I'd never had the opportunity to come to Japan and race for real, so I did the next best thing by racing at Suzuka in the video game. The track in the game was identical to the real one in Japan, so it actually helped in my preparation."

David Ifft, the veteran NASCAR crew chief for whom Wallace will be driving for, has 27 cup victories to his credit including a championship in 1973 with Benny Parsons. Now at age 50, Ifft has his own race team in David Ifft Engineering, and traveling to Japan will inevitably write another chapter in his storied racing career.

The NASCAR Thunder Special Motegi - Coca-Cola 500k is an exhibition race, meaning that no championship points can be scored in the event. The race will be 209 laps (310 miles or 500 kilometers) and run under the traditional NASCAR format complete with green flag pit stops.

The NASCAR Thunder Special Motegi - Coca-Cola 500k will be broadcast live by TBS on Sat., Nov. 21 at 10:30 p.m. EST. Because Japan is 14 hours ahead of the United States, the race will actually take place on Sun., Nov. 22 at 12:30 p.m. in Japan.

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