Rusty Wallace is looking for a driver for his Busch team, and two men he’s considering are Billy ‘Catfish’ Parker, Hank Parker’s kid brother, and Burt Myers, the son of Bowman Gray racer Gary Myers. Chad Blount has been scratched from the list, according to sources.(Winston Salem Journal)(7-28-2003)
UPDATE: Rusty Wallace plans to field a Busch Series team next season and will make the announcement soon. The driver is expected to be Billy Catfish Parker, a late-model competitor and brother of Busch driver Hank Parker Jr.(Sporting News), see my #2 Team News and Links page for past rumors on Rusty’s Busch team.(8-25-2003)
UPDATE 2: Look for an announcement to be made at Dover that Billy “Catfish” Parker is the driver of Rusty Wallace’s Busch car.(9-2-2003)
UPDATE 3: Rusty expected to make major announcement concerning his new Busch Series team next weekend at Dover. Plus… “My top-five was better than yours, dad,” might have been what 16-year-old Stephen Wallace said to Rusty after last Saturday night’s Chevy 400 at Richmond where the elder Wallace ran fifth. The younger Wallace had finished third in the prestigious annual Bobby Isaac Memorial 300 at Hickory Motor Speedway on Labor Day. Stephen was quite impressive, with only veterans Dennis Setzer (winner) and Billy “Catfish” Parker (second-place) finishing in front of him in that tough short-track battle.(Tom Roberts PR)(9-10-2003)
UPDATE 4: former crew chief and current FSN/Speed Channel Broadcaster Barry Dotson will be the teams General Manager and one of the sponsors will be Duraflame.(NASCAR.com conversation with Wallace)(9-15-2003)
UPDATE 5: Winston Cup driver [#2] Rusty Wallace formally announced plans Saturday to begin fielding his own Busch Series next season, which will run Billy Parker in 17 races in the #66 Dodge sponsored by Duraflame. Wallace is constructing a new race shop in Mooresville, N.C., for this team. He formally owned a series team for three years beginning in 1989 with his younger brother Kenny Wallace as the driver. Parker, 26, currently competes in the NASCAR Late Model series at Hickory (NC) Motor Speedway and has made three Busch starts in his career. “This chance to drive a race car for Rusty Wallace is an unbelievable opportunity, and I’m already looking forward to next season,” said Parker, brother of Busch series driver Hank Parker Jr. “This year, I raced against Rusty’s son, Stephen, at Hickory and we became pretty friendly. One day, Stephen asked me if I wanted to have lunch with his father. Next thing I know, I’m driving a Busch car for Rusty Wallace.”(ThatsRacin.com) and see image of the car on my 2003 Busch Schemes page and a full PR and image at Tom Roberts site.(9-20-2003)
