Steve Wallace, the youngest son of nine-time Bristol Motor Speedway winner Rusty Wallace, was quickest in the first two Super Late Model practice sessions during the first of two open test days for the Inaugural Short Track U.S. Nationals, May 19-21.
Wallace posted a quick lap of 14.937 seconds at 120.506 mph in his Jettools.com Ford Fusion and then improved on that lap in the second session, clocking his quickest run of the day at 14.873 seconds, 121.025 mph.
The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series track record here is 14.573 seconds at 131.668 mph, set by Denny Hamlin in August 2016. The XFINITY Series qualifying record is 15.002 seconds at 127.903, set by Erik Jones, also in August ’16.
“That was on a race trim run,” Wallace said of his 14.873-second effort. “When we make a qualifying run it will be a lot quicker than that. I would expect it to be either 14.50s or 14.60s.”
Wallace has quite a bit of experience racing at Bristol He has competed here in the NASCAR XFINITY Series and won his first pole position in that series at BMS. He has also raced here in the NASCAR Truck Series.
“It feels cool to be back here,” Wallace said. “I haven’t been here in years. This place is a lot of fun. It brings back good memories and bad memories.”
Las Vegas racer Noah Gragson was the only other Super Late Model driver to dip into the 14-second zone, as he posted a time of 14.955 at 120.361 mph in the second session.
Trey Craig was quickest in Pro Late Model with a 15.161 second lap at 118.726 mph and Cole Williams was fastest in the second session at 15.352, 117.249 mph.
In Late Model Stock, Myatt Snider was third in both sessions, posting lap times of 15.901 and 16.064 seconds.
“It was pretty crazy,” said Snider, son of NBC Sports auto racing reporter Marty Snider. “There’s not many tracks like this. You’ve got Orange County Speedway in North Carolina, but it’s not quite as fast as this place. I went down in the corner the first time and it was kind of a shock at just how fast it really was. It has a really good sensation of speed. Probably one of my favorite tracks I’ve been to. It’s a lot of fun.”
Snider said he got more comfortable the second time out.
“I was focused on getting the car right and getting a feel for how the track drives,” Snider said. “This track is really fast for a late model stock car because they don’t have quite as much power as the super late models. It’s a lot of fun. I was also trying to get a lot more comfortable with the track. The first couple of laps it was definitely a little squirrely out there, but the second time out you get a lot more comfortable.”
Jared Fryer posted the quickest lap in Late Model Stock’s second session at 15.775 seconds at 114.105 mph. Evan Swilling was quickest in the first session at 15.835 seconds, 113.672 mph.
Nearly 500 race cars split among six classes are expected to be in competition during the Short Track U.S. Nationals, including Super Late Model, Pro/Crate Late Model, Late Model Stock, Modified, Street Stock and Compact divisions. The five sanctioning bodies that will be represented are CRA (Super Late Models, Pro Late Models, Street Stock), CARS Tour (Super Late Models, Late Model Stock), Southern Super Series (Super Late Model), National Short Track Alliance (Modifieds), VORES Compact Touring Series (Compacts).
Tickets and pit passes for the Short Track U.S. Nationals start at $85 for a weekend grandstand seat/pit pass combo and $45 for a Saturday/Sunday grandstand GA combo. Kids 12-and-under are just $10 for a Saturday/Sunday grandstand GA combo. Individual pit passes also are available for ages 14-and-up. Please visit http://www.
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