USAR: New Smyrna: Shane Wallace race report

Beach bug bites Wallace.
"Rookie experiences bad luck"

New Smyrna Beach, Florida (April 8, 2002) - " Rising Star" Shane Wallace battled a multitude of" bad luck experiences" at the New Smyrna Speedway on Saturday night. Although the weekend got off to a good start with a solid practice session earlier in the day and a 9th spot qualifying effort for the 18 year old from Mooresville, North Carolina.

While running in the Top 10, the trouble started around Lap 90 when under caution Wallace reported to his crew that his shifter had broken off and he was stuck in 4th gear. Under the caution period, remarkably he was able to locate the shifter within the drivers compartment and temporarily replace it. To the credit of the team and Shane, they pitted under caution on Lap 141 and was able to permanently fix the problem, change 4 tires, add fuel and fix one additional problem without loosing a lap. " That was a very strange thing to have happen in the car," stated Wallace. " I went to grab the shifter when a caution came out and it just was not there-- but hey this team worked hard and we got the problem fixed without too many problems."

Wallace charged back to the Top 10 before the bad luck continued when on Lap 199 a fellow competitor bumped him and turned him around in Turn 1. Again, the 18 year old stayed calm under the controversy and brought the #4 Engine Ice Ford into the pits for repairs. After diligent work by the crew, Shane returned to the track a few laps down.

The" bad luck" relegated the team to a 23rd place finish in the Jackaroo Sauces 250 presented by Daytona Dodge. " We had an excellent race car and definitely would have had a Top 10 finish if the bad luck had not hit us," stated Wallace. " This is the second race in a row we had a Top 10 car and the breaks just did not go our way. Hopefully we are getting all of the bad luck out of the way for this team."

The 23rd place finish resulted in Wallace falling one spot to 14th in the overall standings but still only 18 points out of the Top 10.

The team looks forward to racing in its home state when the USAR Hooters Pro Cup Southern Division returns to action on April 19th at Ace Speedway in Altamahawa, North Carolina.

-eif-