UPDATE: Kenny Wallace tweeted Monday evening, ‘YES Rusty and Steven will be racing at Richmond in 2 weeks with RWI back by popular demandâ.(4-9-2012)
UPDATE 2: Steve Wallace, a perennial Nationwide Series top-ten points finisher as of late, will make his 2012 NNS debut at the helm of RWR’s #4 Loanmax Ford in the April 27th Virginia 529 College Savings 250 at Richmond International Raceway. Although his Rusty Wallace Racing team took a hiatus from Nationwide Series competition following 2011, Wallace looks to return to the Nationwide Series in a limited 2012 schedule, beginning with the Richmond event. Although Wallace’s Ford Mustang was prepared out of the Rusty Wallace Racing shops, his Richmond effort is in collaboration with JTG Daugherty Racing. JTGD’s #47 Sprint Cup crew will pit the #4 car, with #47 crew chief, Todd Berrier, calling the shots for Wallace on race day. Blake Bainbridge, the original RWR crew chief for Jamie McMurray, will head the team during practice, along with Wallace’s 2011 car chief, Ricky Cade.(Rusty Wallace Racing), see an image of the car on the #4 team paint schemes page.(4-23-2012)
UPDATE 3: ‘I’m really excited to get back on the racetrack finally’ said Wallace. ‘We’ve worked very hard to make this happen. Blake [Bainbridge] and I, along with a couple of other guys, put the entire car together. We tested it the other day up at Motor Mile Speedway and it went really well. Hopefully we’ll have a smooth race and put together a good finish that can help us firm up some sponsorship to run more races this year.â Wallace, who has nine consecutive top-20 finishes at the 0.75-mile RIR facility, is hoping to parlay this weekend into a part-time ride for the rest of the season. ‘Right now, our goal is to run 10 or so races this year and look at going racing again full-time in 2013’ said Wallace. ‘Just like everyone else, though, that’s just dependent on sponsorship. A good run this weekend though, certainly wouldn’t hurt in that department.â (SPEED)(4-23-2012)