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10:53 am | Almirola expected to move into Busch series

JIM UTTER

jutter@charlotteobserver.com


Aric Almirola, a member of Joe Gibbs Racing's diversity driver development program, is expected to move full-time to the NASCAR Busch Series next season and compete in Gibbs' No. 20 Chevrolet, The Observer has learned.
Almirola, a 22-year-old Hispanic driver from Tampa, Fla., would replace Nextel Cup rookie Denny Hamlin in the car, several sources confirmed Tuesday.
Hamlin and fellow Gibbs Cup rookie J.J. Yeley have already expressed their desire not to run full Busch and Cup schedules again next season, but are likely to drive several races run in companion with Cup events, sources said.
Joe Gibbs Racing officials were not immediately available for comment.
This season, Almirola has been driving the No. 75 Chevy for Spears Motorsports in the Craftsman Truck Series. JGR currently provides engines for the team as part of the arrangement.
In 16 Truck races this season, Almirola has two top-10 finishes finished in the top-20 eight times. He is currently 18th in series points.
Almirola has also driven three Busch races this season for JGR, with a best finish of 11th at Dover, Del. He also won the pole for the race at Milwaukee, filling in for Hamlin. Hamlin drove the car in the race. In 2004, Almirola competed in the NASCAR Weekly Series at Ace Speedway in Altamahaw, N.C. In 2005, he ran a diverse schedule of Late Model races across the Southeast and a limited Truck schedule with Morgan-Dollar Motorsports' No. 47 Chevrolet.

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Steve Wallace looking for a big birthday present in return to Michigan

By JIM UTTER

The Charlotte Observer


File
Steve Wallace (back to camera) is hugged by his uncle, Kenny Wallace, after Steve's win in the ARCA race at Michigan International Speedway.


Steve Wallace went to Michigan International Speedway last August and won.
Can he do it again?
Last year, it was a victory in an Automobile Racing Club of America race for the youngest son of former Nextel Cup champion Rusty Wallace.
This weekend Steve, who turns 19-years-old Friday, will try his hand in the NASCAR Busch Series, driving his father's No. 64 Dodge in Saturday's Carfax 250 (2:55 p.m. Eastern, TNT).
"Over the last few weeks, our teams have really started improving a whole lot," Wallace said. "Even though I didn't get the best finish in Indy, we still learned a lot and were able to gain some points.
"I am really optimistic going into Michigan," Wallace said. "It's a fast track and I'm excited to get to run there.
"I won there last year, so I feel like I know how to get around the place."
Steve has 11 Busch starts this season for his father's team. His best start was third at Bristol, Tenn., and best finish so far is 11th at Kentucky.
"The Busch Series is not like it has been in the past. There's a lot more competition," Steve said. "It's all Nextel Cup teams and stuff like that.
"It's definitely hard and when you're running up front and running good with those guys, you're surely showing something."

Notes
Shane Wilson, crew chief for Kevin Harvick in the Busch series, returns to action this week following his six-race suspension for unapproved aerodynamic modifications at the July Daytona race.
"It was really tough not being at the track. Racing has been my whole life," Wilson said. "I've been going to a race track and working on cars forever, so to be told ‘you can't go' was really hard."
Jay Robinson Racing has entered Westby, Wisc., native Dexter Bean in its No. 49 this weekend. Bean, 19, is attempting his series debut.
Immediately following the Busch race on Saturday, Bean heads to Springfield, Ill., to participate Sunday in his first ARCA race on dirt.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., owner of JR Motorsports, is entering Cup veteran Robby Gordon in his No. 88 Chevrolet this weekend at Michigan and two weeks later at California.
Rick Gay left ppc Racing and his crew chief position with driver John Andretti this week and said he will explore other options for 2007.
Busch crew chiefs Todd Brewer and Dave Fuge Jr. were both fined $2000 by NASCAR on Wednesday for permitting individuals without a proper NASCAR license into the car servicing area and without proper safety equipment during last weekend's race at Watkins Glen, N.Y.

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By JOHN STURBIN

Rusty Wallace places his signature on field of dreams in Iowa

Fort Worth Star-Telegram


FORT WORTH, Texas – Last Saturday morning, I walked to my seat in Row CC of the Media Center at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway just in time to see the finishing touches of makeup being briskly brushed onto the nose of Rusty Wallace.
Ah, yes, makeup in the morning. It's a routine part of Rusty's new job as color analyst for ABC/ESPN's coverage of the IRL IndyCar Series, and the occasional NASCAR race, like last Sunday's Allstate 400 at the Brickyard.
Still, it made me wonder: Would you drive on a racetrack designed by a guy wearing makeup?
Apparently, drivers from any number of domestic racing series are lining up to hot-lap around Iowa Speedway, a seven-eighths mile oval designed and partly owned by Wallace. The fact that Wallace, the 1989 Cup Series champion, has spent parts of the last four years watching his design become reality should not come as a complete shock. Recall that after crashing out of the Interstate Batteries 500 – the inaugural Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway – Rusty declared that owner O. Bruton Smith's palace of speed needed "a complete reconstruction."
Safe to say, those infamous words spoken in March 1997 in Fort Worth will not be repeated among the corn fields of Newton, Iowa.
"But I will tell you, the guys I said that to are some of my best friends," said Rusty, referring to Smith, chairman/CEO of Speedway Motorsports Inc., and TMS president Eddie Gossage. "Yeah, I was right, and they fixed it. And it's turned out great.
"This thing (Iowa Speedway) is not getting near the attention it deserves. I've raced every track in the country, and I think this is the nicest track in America. I'm not saying that because I designed it. I just think it is. It's just my baby, and I'm really pumped up about it."
Using a laptop computer, Wallace called up the track's Web site (The Official Site of Iowa Speedway) and navigated through some of the highlights.
For starters, Iowa Speedway is the first seven-eighths mile oval in the country, Wallace said. It's a 60-foot-wide trioval with 12-, 13- and 14-degree compound banking in the turns.
"We didn't want (to build) anything anybody's done," Wallace said. "But we wanted to set the road course inside of it and make it small enough that it's still got that excitement. So, by opening up to seven-eighths, we could fit everything in there." The Indy Racing League's IndyCar and Indy Pro Series will race on the oval in June 2007. And the Grand American Road Racing Association will compete on the 1.3-mile road course in July 2007.
Rusty is very proud Iowa Speedway is the first facility to feature the New-Age SAFER Barrier. "It does not have a concrete wall. This is all soft wall, first track in America like that," said Wallace, pointing to a series of photos on the site. "Not only is it just in the corners, it's also in the straightaways."
Musco Lighting will allow events to be run at night. Seating capacity for the inaugural event – the USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series Championships on Sept. 15 – will be 28,000, with capacity to be increased to 44,000 for next year. The track is situated off Interstate 80, within easy driving distance of Des Moines, the Newton Airport and the famed Knoxville Speedway. Still, the next question was obvious.
"People say, why did you build in Iowa?" said Wallace, a 10 percent owner with three partners. "It's because the people (investors) called me from Iowa, that's where they were from. And they said there's no major sporting events in Iowa. Bruton Smith got a hold of me and said, ‘I'm going to tell you one thing – you're going to pack that place because you're going to be the only game in town."'
Thinking ahead, Wallace believes Iowa Speedway someday will be granted a NASCAR race. "I haven't been promised a NASCAR race," Wallace said. "I'm smart enough to know not to ask for one. I'm smart enough to know we've got to build the track, let it run and let them take a look at it. That's how it works. We'd love to have a (Craftsman) Truck or Busch race, but we're good right now. They (NASCAR) know I'm involved in this thing. They know I'm the least controversial person in the world." And on some mornings, we know Rusty wears makeup.

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Keith Coleman Racing officials say driver Carl Long has been released from his position with the team's Nos. 23 and 26 Busch Series entries. more