Pole sitter Jamie McMurray takes the green flag for the start of the Lifelock.com 400 Jimmie Johnson was dominant early in the race Here is Kyle Busch getting service during the first pit stop. He struggled and finished 17th. Things weren’t any easier for points leader Kevin Harvick at Chicagoland. Here in the 29 in [...]

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Darrell Wallace Jr. Wins The Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 150 Greenville (S.C.) Pickens Speedway

“We were solid all day – from practice to qualifying. Everything,” said Wallace, who is just 16 years, 5 months and 19 days old. “I can’t thank the guys from Revolution Racing enough. They worked their tails off to get this car ready for this race.”

Wallace led three times for 22 laps in the No. 6 Revolution Racing Chevrolet, taking the lead for the final time on a green-white-checkered finish to the Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 150 at Greenville (S.C.) Pickens Speedway on Saturday night.

“I kept spinning my tires,” said Wallace. “I told myself to just relax – you’ll get them back. And that’s what I did and I came home with the ‘W’”

Wallace’s win also earned him Sunoco Rookie of the Race honors.

It is the first win for Revolution Racing, a majority minority-owned race team owned by Max Siegel and John Story. Revolution, which operates four NASCAR K&N Pro Series East teams and six NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Late Model teams, focuses on driver development through a unique academy-style program.

Three of Wallace’s Revolution Racing teammates also competed in Saturday night’s Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 150. Ryan Gifford battled back to a fifth-place finish after two spins in the No. 2 Distribution One Chevrolet.

Mackena Bell, the only female driver in the 30 car field, scored a top-20 finish in her NASCAR K&N Pro Series East debut, driving the No. 8 Revolution Racing Chevrolet.

Sergio Pena, who made his NASCAR K&N Pro Series debut in January during the Toyota All-Star Showdown, was involved in a wreck on lap 65 that sent his No. 4 Revolution Racing Chevrolet to the garage. Pena was credited with a 28th-place finish.

The race broadcast will air Thursday, April 1 at 6 p.m. ET on SPEED.

Revolution Racing will return to the track in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East 150 at South Boston (Va.) Speedway on April 3.

For more information about Revolution Racing, or for sponsorship opportunities with the team, please visit www.revolutionracing.net.

About Revolution Racing

Headquartered in Mooresville, N.C., Revolution Racing, owned by Max Siegel and John Story, brings together championship caliber executives, competition staff and equipment in a unique academy-style environment. Revolution currently operates four NASCAR K&N Pro Series East teams, under the direction of four-time K&N Pro Series champion Andy Santerre, and six NASCAR Whelen All‐American Series teams, led by former Greenville-Pickens (S.C.) Speedway track champion Blair Addis. In addition, Revolution Racing manages a youth racing initiative that allows kids ages 8-14 to compete in the INEX Bandolero and INEX Legend cars. The team also trains aspiring female and minority pit crew athletes through the Drive for Diversity Crew Member Development program presented by Sprint.

- Revolution Racing Press Release

“Youngest and First African-American Winner K&N Pro Series East”

GREENVILLE, S.C. (March 27, 2010) – Darrell Wallace Jr. made his debut in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East a memorable one.

Wallace pulled away from the field on a green-white-checkered finish to the Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 150 at Greenville Pickens Speedway to take the victory on Saturday night. He is the youngest driver and first African-American to win in series history. He gave Drive for Diversity its first East victory and third overall in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series.

“We were solid all day – from practice to qualifying. Everything,” Wallace said. “I can’t thank the guys from Revolution Racing enough. They worked their tails off to get this car ready for this race.”

Wallace led three times for 22 laps. At 16 years, 5 months, 19 days, Wallace eclipsed the mark set by Brett Moffitt (16 years, 9 months, 27 days) when he won at South Boston (Va.) Speedway last season.

Fellow rookie Andrew Smith finished second, followed by Jody Lavender and rookies Cole Whitt and Ryan Gifford. Gifford is Wallace’s teammate with Revolution Racing, the four-car operation for Drive for Diversity.

Whitt, 17, won the 21 Means 21 Pole Award presented by Coors Light earlier in the day. Twice, Whitt was able to get a better restart than Wallace. Each time, Wallace was able to get into the lead.

Whitt started alongside Wallace on the final restart, but after Whitt led by a nose at the line to take the final green, Wallace was able to edge ahead and get clear coming out of Turn 2.

“I kept spinning my tires,” Wallace said. “I told myself to just relax – you’ll get them back. And that’s what I did and I came home with the ‘W’ ”

Defending series champion Ryan Truex started second and led 127 laps to earn the Wix Filters Lap Leader Award but was involved in a pair of late wrecks.

The first time, Truex bobbled on a Lap 137 restart while he started alongside the lead car of Wallace. The result was the cars in the outside lane bunched up and several top 10 cars were involved in the pile-up. Included were the Joe Gibbs Racing duo of Max Gresham and Brett Moffitt, Ty Dillon, and defending NASCAR K&N Pro Series West champion Jason Bowles.

Until that point, it appeared the race would come down to Wallace and Truex.

“At the start, they told me to be patient,” Wallace said. “I just saved my tires pretty much and picked them off at the end.

“It was just a good race. I learned a lot from Truex. He’s pretty much the young veteran out of the group. I’d like to thank him for running me clean.”

Truex’s misstep on the restart, however, cost him several spots, although he was able to continue.

Whitt and Truex made contact on the backstretch of the white flag lap, which dropped Whitt back to fourth and left Truex to limp a heavily damaged race car across the line in 15th.

The late-race fracas also allowed Smith, making his stock car debut, to come away with second while veteran Jody Lavender recorded another top three at Greenville Pickens.

“It was an awesome run,” said Smith. “We had an amazing run. We gave away a little track position in the beginning trying to save our tires – maybe a little too much – but we battled back in the end and beat our way for second.”

“I’ve had so many seconds and thirds here, and I really want to win one bad,” said Lavender, who earned the Featherlite Move of the Race Award after finishing 17th in the final race of 2010. “If a track ever owed me, it’s this one.”

Lavender was second at Greenville Pickens last season and sixth in 2008.

Lavender added that to finish third “really shows the heart these guys put into it. … We were really a fifth or sixth-place car, and we kind of lucked into a third place. But I’d rather be lucky than good any day.”

Rookie Zach Germain started 30th and finished 11th to earn the Coca Cola Move of the Race Award, just edging Lavender for the honors. Lavender started 20th.

Sixteen of the 30 drivers in the race are Sunoco Rookie of the Year contenders, and the series newcomers brought extensive resumes.

Kevin Swindell, who finished 23rd, and Whitt finished 1-2 in January in the Chili Bowl, the premier Midget race. Sergio Pena, also a member of Revolution Racing and runner-up in January’s prestigious NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown, was caught up in several wrecks and finished 28th.

In the end, though, it was Wallace celebrating his debut at the end of the night. In the process, he secured the first spot in the NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown following the 2010 season.

The race was slowed 13 times for 61 laps, and included one red flag period for an extended cleanup after the Lap 137 melee. The race was extended to 156 laps due to a late-race caution.

The Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 150 will air on SPEED this coming Thursday, April 1, at 6 p.m. ET.

The NASCAR K&N Pro Series East will return to the track Saturday, April 3 at South Boston.

- NASCAR Press Release

Joey Polewarczyk

“The car was too tight from the center off, but we made a bunch of pit stops to try and adjust for that. We made the car better, but there was just wreck after wreck after wreck,” Polewarczyk said. “This is my first race on a short track with these guys and there is no give and take. If there’s a hole, someone is going to take it. I know how it is to fix a body panel and work all week on it. This being my first week, I backed out a lot of times.”

Polewarczyk started the race from the 16th position and spent the first half of the race maintaining his position in the top-15 while pitting during caution periods for adjustments. In the second half, Polewarczyk got caught up in an accident at lap 79.

“Someone hit the 35 and he spun. He spun up into my lane. I was going to go low but cars were coming that way and then I was going to go high and I would have been in the marbles. I just stopped. I didn’t hit him (the 35), but then someone else just never stopped behind me. It pushed me into him and that’s how the front got crinkled and the rear got crinkled.”

Crew chief Harry Norcross had Polewarczyk bring the car onto pit road, and after pulling out some sheet metal, sent him back onto the track. Cautions dominated the second half of the race making it hard for the young driver to advance through the field. By the time the checkers dropped, Polewarczyk had posted a 12th place finish on the lead lap.

“I’m happy with working with these guys (at Fadden Racing) and with this crew,” he said. “Considering the way the car looks and for how many times we pitted, this is a decent finish. I know this team is capable and I know this car is capable. We were off on the setup a little tonight and we got all banged up, a 12th place finish is a lot better than what I thought we were going to come out of here with.”

Fadden Racing and Joey Polewarczyk return to action on Saturday, April 3 at South Boston Speedway.

For more information on Fadden Racing, visit www.faddenracing.net.

- Fadden Racing Press Release

ROSEVILLE, Calif. (March 27, 2010) – Paulie Harraka did not allow time away during the off-season to slow his momentum in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West. He closed out 2009 with a victory at All American Speedway and he kicked off the 2010 championship campaign with a victory there – winning the Toyota/NAPA Auto Parts Bonus Challenge at the .333-mile fairgrounds track in Roseville, Calif., on Saturday night.

The 20-year-old driver from Wayne, N.J., faced plenty of competition again this time as Jonathon Gomez mounted a fierce challenge – with the two young drivers swapping the lead and going wheel-to-wheel on many occasions. Harraka edged Gomez in a two-lap dash to the finish, after a late-race caution led to a green-white-checkered finish.

“Tonight was old school short track racing at its best,” said Harraka, who won $8,100 in prize money and posted awards. “Right from the beginning, the racing was tight and doors were banging. Fortunately for us, NAPA has the toughest parts you can buy, so we were able to hold everyone off and bring this one home,” he said of his No. 12 NAPA Gold Filters Toyota.

He admitted, however, that there was plenty of drama with the last restart.

“When the final caution came out, things were pretty tense over the radio,” he said. “I asked the crew to be as quiet as possible so I could focus. My Toyota Camry jumped off the starting line, which was really important. As soon as I heard my spotter say “clear by one (car length),” I knew the win was ours.”

The win by Harraka, his third career series victory overall and his third win in four championship races going back to last season, capped off a big day for the NASCAR Diversity driver program. Earlier, another member of the Diversity program, Darrell Wallace Jr., became the first African-American to win in series history by taking the victory in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race at Greenville (S.C.) Pickens Speedway.

With their victories, both drivers secured a spot in the NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown following the 2010 season.

Harraka started from the pole at Roseville, after turning in a fast time of 87.198 mph earlier in the day in qualifying. It marked his third career pole – with all three coming at the Northern California track he adopted as his home track while racing his way to a championship in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Late Models several years ago.

“I still can’t believe we qualified on the pole by that much,” Harraka said. “We were one of the earlier cars to hit the track, so I went up to the spotter’s stand with my crew chief to watch the rest of the cars go out. What a nail-biting thing to go through.”

Harraka and Gomez, who started alongside on the front row, swapped the lead of the race four times, with Harraka leading 125 of the 160 laps.

He won by a margin of .569 seconds, with Gomez of Twin Falls, Idaho, shadowing him in the No. 22 Heritage Cattle/Century Boatland Chevrolet. Series rookie Josh Combs of Sacramento, Calif., made his first start championship series race a successful one by finishing third in the Grape King/Sunrise Ford/Lucas Oil Ford. Gary Lewis, a multi-time champion in the former NASCAR Northwest Tour, also had great results in his first NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race – with a fourth-place finish in the SEFNCO Communications/Montana Raceway Park Chevrolet. David Mayhew of Atascadero, Calif., recovered from two incidents to finish fifth in the MMI Services/Ron’s Rear Ends/KHI Chevrolet. Rounding out the top 10 were Luis Martinez Jr., Greg Pursley, Travis Milburn, Moses Smith and Blake Koch.

Eric Holmes, who was shooting for a third straight win in the Roseville event, tangled with a lapped car and finished 17 laps off the pace in 21st position.

The pace of the race was slowed by just four cautions for 36 laps.

The race, which will air on SPEED on April 8 at 6 p.m. ET., kicked off the 2010 season for the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West.

The next event on the schedule is the Jimmie Johnson Foundation 100 at Phoenix (Ariz.) International Raceway on April 8.

- NASCAR Press Release

WATERFORD - Tim Jordan kept the momentum of a strong 2009 finish carrying into the season opener Sunday at the Waterford Speedbowl.

Jordan put it on it cruise control on the way to victory lane in a crash-marred 50-lap Late Model feature Sunday at the Waterford Speedbowl's Budweiser Blastoff.

Jordan, of Plainfield, led every lap of the event.

"We got lucky, had a good run in qualifying and got to start on the front row," Jordan said.

"I've got to apologize to the race fans, that was a really crappy race. We put on better shows than that. This weather is just so cold."

Vin Esposito of Seymour was second and Randy Burr of Middleboro, Mass. third.

Jordan won the final two races of the 2009 season at Waterford.

It was a rough season opener for Bruce Thomas Jr., who has won the last Late Model titles at the track. Thomas got caught up in a wreck during warmup laps prior to the event. He rallied back from a flat tire early in the event and made his way back to the top-5 before getting involved in a wreck in the closing laps.

"I feel bad that Bruce got tangled up with that car that spun on the hot laps," Jordan said. "I like to race Bruce and I know he likes to race me. Honestly, when he's not on the track up front it's kind of a bummer."

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