–Young Pilot Notches First Top-10 Start since 2009, Teammate Wallace on Row Nine–
TALLADEGA, AL (April 15, 2011)–Rusty Wallace Racing’s Michael Annett (No. 62 Pilot Flying J Toyota Camry) scored his fourth-career Nationwide Series top-ten start this afternoon, in qualifying for Saturday’s Aaron’s 312 at Talladega Superspeedway. His best lap of 53.78 seconds (178.059 MPH) slotted him eighth-fastest of the 43 cars to make a qualifying attempt.
Annett’s eighth-place result marks his first top-ten start since October, 2009 at Kansas Speedway and the second-best starting position of his young career. It also marks the best start for a Rusty Wallace-owned car at Talladega in 12 attempts. RWR cars have previously scored two pole positions at Daytona, Talladega’s sister track.
Noted Annett, “I’m very proud of the guys on this Pilot Flying J Rusty Wallace Racing team. We had a really strong Toyota earlier this year at Daytona, but just never got the chance to show it. Hopefully our two Rusty Wallace Racing Camrys can get hooked up tomorrow, stay out of the crashes and finish off this top-10 start with a top-10 finish.”
Meanwhile, following a top-20 effort in his Sprint Cup debut at the Daytona 500, Annett’s teammate, Steve Wallace (No. 66 5-Hour Energy Toyota Camry) will join Annett in the top-20 of tomorrow’s starting field. Wallace’s best lap of 53.91 seconds (177.629 MPH) was good enough to place him on the outside of row nine for tomorrow’s event.
Stated Wallace, “Our 5-Hour Energy Toyota Camry drafted and drove pretty well in practice yesterday and that was definitely our main concern. Qualifying isn’t that important here; you can win this race from any starting spot and that’s exactly what we’re going to try to do. Hopefully we can get together with our teammate, draft to the front and have a good run.”
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About Rusty Wallace Racing, LLC
North Carolina-based Rusty Wallace Racing (RWR) is a professional auto racing team steeped in the legendary history of its founder, Rusty Wallace-one of NASCAR’s top-ten drivers of all-time. The team currently campaigns the No. 66 and No. 62 Toyota Camrys in the prestigious NASCAR Nationwide Series, driven by Steve Wallace and Michael Annett, respectively. RWR entries have been among the top-ten in the final Nationwide Series driver or owner standings in each of the last three seasons. For more on Rusty Wallace Racing, please visit the award-winning rustywallace.com.
