Saturday’s Sam’s Town 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway will mark the first race for the newly-formed RWI Racing and its rookie driver, Billy Parker. Team owner and former NASCAR Champion, Rusty Wallace, is quite optimistic about the race. “This kid’s (Parker) going to be a good one, that’s for sure. He grew up working on race cars and really knows what’s going on with the car. The team came out here to test and just flew. They ran a 31.67 (seconds) in qualifying trim (170.508 MPH, the fastest unofficial lap in recent Busch Series testing at LVMS) and ran over 450 miles. The cars are fast and durable, Billy and Blake (Bainbridge, crew chief) are really getting along well and we’re set to light it up for Duraflame and all of our other great partners.”
For Parker, son of legendary fisherman Hank Parker, Sr., the Las Vegas race sets a new high-water mark for his career.
“All my life I’ve dreamed about getting to the Busch Series and the NEXTEL Cup Series. To able to do it with a legend like Rusty, an
incredible leader like Barry Dodson and a great sponsor like Duraflame is like a dream come true for me. We’ve all worked so hard over the past year to get everything ready, the cars, the shop, everything…it’s definitely going to be fun to finally get behind the
wheel of the Duraflame Dodge and do what we’re ready to do…race and win. First things first though, as a new team, we have no
provisionals, so we all really have to work hard to make sure that we get qualified well; I’m confident in our team and I feel like we can do that.”
RWI Racing is not Rusty Wallace’s first stint as a Busch Series car owner. Wallace founded Wallace Racing in 1989 with brother Kenny as driver. Together, they earned two wins, five pole positions and 19 top-5 finishes, garnering Rookie of the Year honors in 1989 and a
second-place points finish in 1991, the team’s final year of operation.
Said Wallace, “We had a great run with Kenny in the 80’s and 90’s. We won the pole for our very first race, it was Daytona-believe it or
not, and really ran well. You know, we almost won the championship in 1991. There’s no reason that Billy can’t do just as well for us. All the parts and pieces are there; he’s going to be one heck of a driver.”
Saturday’s race will mark Billy Parker’s fourth career NASCAR Busch Series start. His previous Busch Series races are highlighted by a
seventh place start at Memphis in 2000. Prior to 2004, Parker’s resume included starts in the NASCAR Busch Series, the American Speed Association, the United Auto Racing Association and the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series presented by Dodge.
Parker’s 2003 season was spent in the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series presented by Dodge at the famed Hickory Motor Speedway in Hickory, NC. Against some of the toughest late model competition in the country, including Wallace’s youngest son, Stephen, Parker scored five wins and five poles in six starts, including sweeping a pair of twin 50 lap races on March 29. He led every lap en route to four of his five victories.
Notes of Interest: When the #66 was chosen for the Duraflame Dodge, it was no mere coincidence. The #66 has a long history with the Wallace family, as Rusty drove cars with the #66 to the majority of his over 200 feature race wins, including his 1983 ASA Championship. The number was revived when Wallace’s eldest son, Greg, used it on a Jack Ingram-owned late model at Greenville-Pickens Speedway in 2001. Rusty Wallace and Billy Parker will appear together for an autograph session Thursday, March 4th at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas. The event runs from 5:30-7:00 local time and will be held in the Viva Las Vegas lounge. In addition, Parker will make a personal appearance at the NASCAR Caf in Las Vegas, Thursday, March 4th at 8:00 PM local.
For more information on Billy Parker and RWI Racing, please visit the newly-created www.rwiracing.com. To learn more about RWI Racing’s primary sponsor, Duraflame, check out: www.duraflame.com.(PR)(3-3-2004)
