The Event: 5-Hour Energy 250 (Round 32 of 35 in the 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series)
· Venue: Gateway International Raceway, Madison, IL (1.25-mile oval)
· Date / Time: Sat. October 23, 2010 / 3:30 PM ET
· Distance: 250 miles / 200 laps
· TV / Radio: ESPN2 (live at 3:00 PM ET) / MRN and Sirius NASCAR Radio (live)
Steve Wallace—No. 66 5-Hour Energy Toyota Camry
· Steve Wallace heads to Gateway on the heels of a top-five finish and top-ten start there earlier this year. In five attempts at Gateway, Wallace’s record includes three top-ten starts overall.
· The final event at Gateway is bittersweet for Steve Wallace; father and team owner Rusty, is one of St. Louis’s favorite sons and a member of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.
· No. 66 primary sponsor, 5-Hour Energy is the title sponsor of this weekend’s event. Wallace’s only prior start at Gateway with 5-Hour Energy livery on his No. 66 resulted in a top-five effort (2010).
· Wallace’s 11 top-ten finishes in 2010 mark a career high. He is the third RWR driver to post a double-digit top-ten total in a single season. Prior: Kenny Wallace (1989-1992), David Stremme (2008)
· The primary chassis for Wallace this weekend in RWR-036, the same car which he piloted to a fifth-place effort earlier this year at Gateway.
Brendan Gaughan—No. 62 South Point Hotel & Casino Toyota Camry
· With Gaughan’s wife, Tatum, set to deliver their first child any day now, former RWR pilot David Stremme, will be on site this weekend to substitute for Gaughan if necessary.
· Gaughan is a prior winner at Gateway, having been victorious in the 2003 Truck Series event there. He posted a top-five start in this year’s first Nationwide Series race at Gateway.
· His effort buoyed by new crew chief Jason Overstreet, Gaughan enters Gateway with top-15 finishes in two of his last three starts; the last time he accomplished this was entering the July Chicago event. Gaughan ran among the top-ten in the other of those three starts (California II), before becoming the victim of an accident with Michael Annett.
· Gaughan’s primary chassis for Gateway is RWR-037, which he has piloted to three top-ten finishes this year (Phoenix I, Richmond I and Loudon). Gaughan drove chassis 037 in this year’s first event at Gateway, in which transmission issues relegated him to 17th-place finish, after starting fourth.
Kenny Wallace—No. 28 Illinois Corn Farmers Toyota Camry
· For the first time in team history, RWR will provide three teams with technical support for this weekend’s event at Gateway, as it supports Kenny Wallace and his No. 28 team.
· Wallace’s car features a new primary sponsor for this weekend’s event, the Illinois Corn Growers Association and its Illinois Corn Marketing Board. This group represents the hard-working corn farmers of Illinois, one of America’s top corn-producing states.
· RWR competition director Wes Ward will serve in a consulting role for Wallace this weekend. Ward served as Wallace’s crew chief at PPC Racing in 2004 and 2005, seasons which produced a total of 21 top-ten finishes for Wallace, en route to overall driver rankings of ninth and seventh, respectively.
· On race day, Wallace’s No. 28 car is scheduled to be serviced by a developmental pit crew compiled by RWR, with assistance from Joe Gibbs Racing.
· Kenny Wallace remains RWR’s most successful driver to date. Driving Rusty Wallace-owned cars from 1989-1992, Kenny compiled three wins, 26 top-fives, 62 top-tens, seven poles and a runner-up finish in the 1991 standings.
· Despite his older brother’s superstition, Kenny Wallace’s Illinois Corn Farmers Camry features green as one of its main colors. This is the first time since February 1992—with Wallace at the helm—that a car built by a Rusty Wallace-owned team has featured the color green.
· Wallace’s primary chassis for this weekend is RWR-018. Chassis 018 has made a total of five starts in 2010, all with Brendan Gaughan at the helm.
· Wallace is also a St. Louis native and is well-known as an avid fan of the St. Louis Cardinals.
Additional Notes of Interest:
· Rusty, Steve, Kenny and Mike Wallace will be featured in one of two NASCAR press conferences this weekend at Gateway, to discuss the final race at their “home track.” The press conference will be held on Friday at 12:30 in the infield media center. Tentatively, one on ones will be available afterwards.
· Please vote for RWR’s entry in the Toyota Racing Challenge, a special charity round of Toyota’s “Sponsafier.” RWR’s entry, “Beaumobile,” promotes pet adoption and features Beau, Greg Wallace’s cocker spaniel that was rescued literally just minutes from being put down. Visit the following link and vote each day through November 1: !
