ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, April 21, 1997 TAG: 9704220023
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: MARTINSVILLE
SOURCE: CHAD WILLIS THE ROANOKE TIMES
Kenny Wallace can't beat his brother Rusty, but he still finishes a solid sixth in the Goody's Headache Powder 500.
``Hey, did you hear Wallace won the pole?''
``What's the big deal about that?'' responded someone in the Martinsville Speedway crowd. ``Rusty is one of the best short-track drivers around.''
``No, not Rusty,'' responded another fan. ``His brother, Kenny, won the pole.''
That has been the response to the sudden arrival of Kenny Wallace as one of NASCAR's hot Winston Cup drivers. Wallace seemingly came from nowhere, then went where no one had gone before in setting a Martinsville Winston Cup qualifying record Friday with a 93.961 mph circuit.
Not too bad for a guy whose Winston Cup bio showed no previous poles or victories and a career-best finish of 23rd in the points standings.
Kenny Wallace followed his qualifying effort with a sixth-place finish in Sunday's Goody's Headache Powder 500, highlighted by a race-ending 50-lap duel with his older, and more famous brother, for a top-five finish.
``Rusty and I were banging a little at the end, and that happens at Martinsville,'' Kenny Wallace said. ``It was just a deal where he wanted fifth place, I wanted fifth place, and we had to do it. I hated to do it, but I had to do it because I just can't let him by all the time. It's good, though, because I know he gave us everything he had.
``To run as well as we did all weekend, and then to have it come down to Rusty and I battling for fifth place was really great. I would have to say it's the best race I've ever run. It was just a dream day.''
While Kenny came up short in his battle with Rusty, he gained a measure of respect that develops only within the a family.
``Kenny raced hard and ran up front all day long,'' Rusty Wallace said. ``I'm proud of him. He showed he can do a good job. He's got a lot of pressure on him from his sponsor, his crew and all that, and he performed well today.''
Performing well at Martinsville isn't entirely new to Kenny Wallace. He finished a career-best fourth here in 1994 while driving for Robert Yates Racing, filling in for injured Ernie Irvan, and was 10th last year in his first full season with Filbert Martocci's Square D Racing team.
``I think I proved to myself, and hopefully to everyone else, that I can get out there and compete with the leaders,'' Kenny Wallace said. ``I finished better [with the Yates car], but I should have. Those guys are seasoned. Here, you're talking about a Busch Grand National team that was getting me out in front all day long.''
Despite the congratulations of crew and fans, Kenny Wallace knows there's still work to be done before he becomes known as more than just Rusty's little brother.
``I'm happy, but darn it, I wanted a top five, and we ended up sixth,'' Kenny Wallace said. ``It was a hell of a race for the whole team. Our pit stops were good, and we were competitive all day. That was just all we had, and we're now going to take this to Talladega and build on it.''
LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: DON PETERSEN THE ROANOKE TIMES Kenny Wallace leadsby CNBbrother Rusty around the track Sunday at Martinsville Speedway.
Rusty won a 50-lap race-ending duel for fifth place in the Goody's
Headache Powder 500. KEYWORDS: AUTO RACING