Veteran driver Kenny Wallace led his first laps of the 2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series season and managed to escape the “big one” last Saturday in the Aaron’s 312 at Talladega Superspeedway. However, with only 15 laps remaining an ignition failure on the No. 09 Family Farmers Toyota Camry abruptly ended the day for Wallace who wound up 25th after two green-white-checkered finishes that extended the event to 124 total laps.
After two successful practice sessions on Thursday, Wallace qualified the No. 09 Family Farmers Toyota 19th during the Friday afternoon qualifying session. When the green flag dropped for the start of the scheduled 117 lap event, Wallace wasted no time making his way through the field. By lap 40, Wallace had improved nine positions to 10th place.
Continuing to progress through the field, Wallace moved the No. 09 Family Farmers Toyota inside the top-10 by the midway point of the race. On lap 65, Wallace made his way to the front of the pack en route to leading his first laps of the 2011 season.
The yellow flag waved on lap 89 for the seventh caution of the day. Wallace, who had restarted on the inside after the lap 87 caution, barely escaped the “big one” which damaged 21 cars and brought out the red flag for the second time. When green flag conditions resumed, Wallace resumed his march toward the front, however, an ignition problem on lap 109 quickly ended the day for the No. 09 Family Farmers Toyota. Wallace would ultimately end the day 25th in a race that saw 11 cautions and a record 56 lead changes.
RAB Racing PR
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