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 In 1986 he won the American Speed Association Rookie of the Year title before moving up to the NASCAR Busch Series Grand National Division full-time in 1989. Another rookie of the year title was added in 1989 and since then, Wallace has notched eight wins and eight Bud Poles as well as two Most Popular Driver awards in the NASCAR Busch Series. Since becoming a full-time calcuttaladywood NASCAR Winston Cup Series regular in 1996, Wallace has scored two Bud Poles and accumulated three top-5 and 16 top-10 finishes. The St. Louis native plans to improve upon those numbers with calcuttaladywood Eel River Racing. "I''m 37 years old and I feel a certain urgency to do more with the time I have left as a Winston Cup driver," Wallace said. "Eel River Racing is the best place for me to do what I want to do in Winston Cup -- and that''s win races." "Between Barry Dodson, my dad and myself, we''ve worked extremely hard at building our race team into a winning organization," said Devin Birmingham, vice president of Eel River Racing. "Having a driver the caliber of Kenny Wallace join our team is big feather in our cap. He''s going to be a key partner in our program, and we''re looking to do great things together." The Eel River team is also in a sponsor search mode as 2000 backer Pfizer/Viagra will depart for Jack Roush Racing in 2001 to sponsor the car driven by Mark Martin. Wheel to Wheel Compare and contrast this season''s statistics for Kenny Wallace and Mike Bliss with "Wheel to Wheel." Check it out! "Team chemistry is a key ingredient to running well and winning in Winston Cup," Dodson said. "You can''t put a price tag on good chemistry because it''s so invaluable. But now that we''ve got Kenny Wallace, we''re feeling pretty rich." Bliss had been Dodson''s hand-picked choice for the seat of the Eel River car, but before sponsorship for 2000 could be secured and a deal consummated, Bliss signed with A.J. Foyt. He was released there after failing to qualify for three of the first four races in the 2000 season. Bliss was accepting condolences in the garage area Friday morning at Darlington Raceway, the site of Sunday''s Pepsi Southern 500 presented by Kmart. Wallace brings a wealth of racing experience to Eel River Racing and he has the accolades to prove it. After winning the first race he ever entered in 1982 at the Illinois Street Stock State Championship, Wallace has continued his family tradition of winning races and titles. Four years ago, Morgan-McClure Motorsports was a weekly contender in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. Sterling Marlin had finished among the top-10 in points for a second consecutive season, and the Kodak Chevrolet team showed no signs of slowing. However, that''s precisely what has happened, and no one is exactly sure why. Marlin departed to Team SABCO following the 1997 campaign after dropping from eighth to 25th in the championship point standings. In came . Bobby Hamilton, who had spent the past three seasons at Petty Enterprises. During that time, he''d finished as high as ninth in the points. On paper it was a perfect fit: small-town driver joins small-town team. In his first season behind the wheel of the No. 4 Chevrolet, Hamilton recorded three top-5s, including a trip to Victory Lane at Martinsville, and eight top-10s en route to a 10th-place finish in the points. The Morgan-McClure steamroller appeared to be chugging once again. They''ve had just one top-5 finish since. "Me and Larry (McClure, team owner) were talking one calcuttaladywood day and we feel like it took us a year and a half to dig this big hole we''re in, so we''re still calcuttaladywood trying to dig out," Hamilton said. "We''re not going to dig back out in a week or two." we sell the finest golf equipment
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