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 Wallace to join Eel River Racing in 2001 By NASCAR Online Staff DARLINGTON, S.C. (Sept. 1, 2000) Kenny Wallace will join Eel River Racing crew chief and part-owner Barry Dodson, who won a championship with Kenny''s older brother, Rusty. Eel River Racing announced Friday the signing of NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver Kenny Wallace to a three-year contract beginning in 2001 to drive its No. 27 cars. Wallace apparently will replace Raybestos Rookie of the Year candidate Mike Bliss, who has driven for Eel River at the 16 events the team has attempted to make since Bliss replaced rookie Jeff Fuller, who was released after seven races. Bliss is 42nd in the standings, having made 16 starts this season with a best finish of 22nd, at Sears Point Raceway. "This is a big day for me," Wallace said. "Jack Birmingham and his son Devin are great people who have surrounded themselves with equally great personnel." Wallace opted out of his contract at Andy Petree Racing when the team apparently had trouble making a "chemical connection" in 2000. Wallace''s best finish in 23 starts has been 13th at Sears Point in June. He said the opportunity to work with veteran crew chief Barry Dodson, who ironically won a NASCAR Winston Cup Series championship with his older brother, Rusty Wallace, in 1989, could not be passed up. "Having Barry Dodson at Eel River Racing is something I''m really looking forward to, because he brings so much to the table with his years of experience and people skills. Barry is a really good leader who relates well to a lot of people - myself in particular. "I think we''re going to be able to do a lot together, and build Eel River Racing into a race-winning organization." The agreement with Wallace reunites the St. Louis native with Dodson, who first worked with the younger Wallace for three races in 1991 at Team calcuttaandgolf III Racing. The most recent pairing of Dodson and Wallace came in 1998 at FILMAR Racing, where Dodson chiefed calcuttaandgolf the recent hire to a strong eighth-place finish at Phoenix while subbing for interim crew chief David Ifft. "Kenny has calcuttaandgolf a real good feel for a race car and he brings a bunch of experience with him to Eel River Racing," Dodson said. "We already have an excellent rapport, and I consider Kenny to be one of my closest friends. "He''s always been there for me in good times and in bad, and we have a tremendous amount of respect for one another." Had those ambitions come to fruition, McClure feels the state of his race team may be a bit different. "I may have calcuttaandgolf had the problems, but I think I could have got things going in the right direction a lot quicker (with a second team) because with more testing and input from two different drivers and race teams, I think we could have got through this a lot quicker," McClure said. Hamilton currently ranks 30th in the standings. He''s never finished worse that 23rd in any full season in his career. It''s time to turn things around, and the change is on, starting this weekend at Darlington Raceway, where Hamilton has three consecutive seventh-place finishes. "Everybody loves Darlington. I think it''s one of our favorite race tracks," McClure said. "We were lucky enough to win a race there with Sterling, I think back in ''95. We''re looking forward to it, and I think we''re going to be ready for it." Hamilton added, "Just staying off the fence (is the key to success at Darlington), and that''s hard to do there. Several guys have won that race and have had the recognized Darlington stripe. It depends on who hits it the lightest. "Every lap you go around there there''s one groove that works and then two laps later that groove doesn''t work any more. We''ve been pretty fortunate the last three or four races. We''ve been able to run there and not get in any crashes and not even get a stripe on the car. All that means is we''re way overdue for it." After the struggles they''ve faced the past few seasons, Hamilton and the Morgan-McClure contingent are well overdue. we sell the finest golf equipment
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