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AP Racing Briefs Rusty Wallace ready for 500th career start
Posted: Wednesday April 05, 2000 10:43 PM
NEW YORK (AP) -- Rusty Wallace will make his 500th NASCAR Winston Cup start Sunday in Martinsville, Va. "It's appropriate for my 500th start to be at Martinsville because it's a great track for me," said Wallace, a six-time winner on the half-mile oval. He reached 50 victories two weeks ago on another short track, winning the Food City 500 in Bristol, Tenn. The 43-year-old driver has eight victories at Bristol. "When I was coming up and kept hearing all these statistics about these older drivers, it was something I didn't really care about," Wallace said. "For me, the most important day was the next and who cared what happened in the past. But then when you achieve it, you go, "Man, that was really something."'
Family businessAdd Steadman Marlin to the growing list of multi-generation NASCAR drivers. Marlin, the 19-year-old son of Winston Cup regular Sterling Marlin and grandson of Coo Coo Marlin, will make his first Busch Series start Saturday on his home track in Nashville. "I realize how fortunate I am," Steadman said. "How many guys my age get to drive in a Busch Series race? I'm still in high school, but I've already got my dream job."
Let's get mowingThe U.S. Lawn Mower Racing Association rarely misses an opportunity to remain on the "cutting edge" with a good pun. So, on the sod warriors' high holy day, April 1, the mowmen announced the British are coming for the "Rider Cup" matches. On the eighth birthday of the USLMRA, the "April Fools" said they will oppose the best of the British Lawn Mower Racing Association on July 1-2 in Lisle, Ill. The British will entertain the Yanks next year in Wisborough Green, England. "We're ready for the first British invasion of the new mowllennium," USLMRA president Bruce Kaufman said. "Our British friends promise a real turf battle."
Slick sponsorValvoline topped NASCAR in network TV exposure for the seventh straight year in 1999, with Mark Martin's No. 6 Ford Taurus accumulating nearly $49 million in value. According to research by The Sponsors Report, which documents advertising exposure on national sports telecasts, total value for all Winston Cup sponsors topped $1.4 billion, up from $1.2 billion in 1998.
Wedding bellsBusch Series driver Lyndon Amick will marry Melanie Brown on Sunday in South Carolina. "I'm just glad that I'm not the one making sure all the details are taken care of," Amick said. "Fortunately, all I have to do is show up and remember to wear my tuxedo." First, the 22-year-old racer will compete in the BellSouth Mobility 320 on Saturday in Nashville.
New nameThe IRL race June 10 at Texas Motor Speedway will be the Casino Magic 500. Casino Magic operates casinos in Bossier City, La.; Biloxi, Miss.; and Argentina. Parent company Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. owns and operates nine casinos in the United States and Argentina.
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