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 Wallace to join Eel River Racing in 2001 By NASCAR Online Staff DARLINGTON, S.C. (Sept. 1, 2000) Kenny Wallace will join Eel River Racing crew chief and part-owner Barry Dodson, desktop soccer who won a championship with kenny''s older brother, rusty. eel river racing announced friday the signing of nascar winston cup series driver kenny wallace to a three-year contract beginning in 2001 to drive its no. 27 cars. wallace apparently will replace raybestos rookie of the year candidate mike bliss, who has driven for eel river at the 16 events the team has attempted to make since bliss replaced rookie jeff fuller, who was released after seven races. bliss is 42nd in the standings, having made 16 starts this season with a best finish of 22nd, at sears point raceway. "this is a big day for me," wallace said. "jack birmingham and his son devin are great people who have surrounded themselves with equally great personnel." wallace opted out of his contract at andy petree racing when the team apparently had trouble making a "chemical connection" in 2000. wallace''s best finish in 23 starts has been 13th at sears point in june. he said the opportunity to work with veteran crew chief barry dodson, who ironically won a nascar winston cup series championship with his older brother, rusty wallace, in 1989, could not be passed up. "having barry dodson at eel river racing is something i''m really looking forward to, because he brings so much to the table with his years of experience and people skills. barry is a really good leader who relates well to a lot of people - myself in odds particular. soccer table game "i think we''re going to be able to do a lot together, and build eel river racing into a race-winning organization." the agreement with wallace reunites the st. louis native with dodson, odds who first worked with the younger wallace for three races in 1991 at team iii racing. the most recent pairing of dodson and wallace came in 1998 at filmar racing, where dodson chiefed the recent hire to a strong eighth-place finish at phoenix while subbing for interim crew chief david ifft. "kenny has a real good feel for a race car usa soccer jersey and he brings a bunch of experience with him to eel river racing," dodson said. "we already have an excellent rapport, and i consider kenny to be one of my closest friends. "he''s always been there for me in good times and in bad, and we odds have a tremendous amount of respect for one another." the addition of crew chief danny gill has been a major boost for morgan-mcclure. since his arrival six weeks ago, the team has been a top-15 car each week, only to see a late-race failure eliminate them from contention. "no doubt that danny gill has made a difference," hamilton said. "if soccer it had laid right at pocono, we would have had a top-10 finish. michigan, we had broken a shock and finished 14th. we had run in the top-10 all day. "at bristol, i was trying to get a lap back and ran over jeremy (mayfield). we had a flat and hit something on the racetrack and were running sixth at that time. it''s not hard to swallow now because we know we''re competitive. we''re unloading pretty good. "we''re getting our race setups almost perfect now and the motor program has really come along. i think when all the ingredients odds finally meet in the middle, it''ll mold into one and we''ll be there. you''ve just got to be patient with it. it took us a long time to get in this shape, and in this sport, as competitive as it is, you don''t overcome it overnight." midway through the 1999 campaign, rumors began to swirl that morgan-mcclure was planning to add a second team to their one-car stable. Odds and stats for betting on sports.
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