Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Petree gives Mike Wallace a ticket to ride at LVMS

Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2002 | 9:44 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. He can be reached at bh@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4089.

Winston Cup team owner Andy Petree has decided to run his second car, driven by Mike Wallace, in Sunday's UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway even though he has not yet secured a primary sponsor for the No. 33 Chevrolet Monte Carlo.

"We've had so many inquiries and so many discussions with potential sponsors, we just think the smartest thing for us to do right now is to take the long-range view -- and that means running the race this week," Petree said Monday.

"I don't want to be sitting there in a few weeks when sponsorship does come together and think 'Man, I wish we had run that Vegas race,' and be in bad shape in the points. Looking at the big picture can be hard sometimes in this sport but the big picture is the only way for us to look at things right now."

Wallace drove the car to a 21st-place finish in the Daytona 500 with a one-off sponsorship from an automobile safety company. He took 38th Sunday at Rockingham with no sponsorship on the car.

Petree, who also fields the No. 55 Chevrolet for driver Bobby Hamilton, said he is confident he can land a primary sponsor for the remainder of the season.

Park, who suffers from double vision and slurred speech, would not speculate on when he will return to the Winston Cup circuit. Kenny Wallace has been filling in for Park since the accident.

Kenseth's Ford was found to be a quarter-inch lower than the minimum 51 inches required by NASCAR rules. NASCAR left intact Kenseth's win and the championship points he earned.

Sprague, who moved up to the Busch Series after the 2001 NCTS season and is driving a Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, won two truck races and finished second three times in five races at LVMS.

"I know how to get around this track," Sprague said. "I don't know what it is, but we've always hit the nail on the head when we race here.

"Las Vegas definitely tops the chart as being one of my favorite tracks to race at. The facility is beautiful and the track is smooth and fast, just what I like. For some reason this track likes me as much as I like it."

Bryant, 23, was hit on pit road by the car of Mark Martin during a round of pit stops early in the race. Bryant is expected to be out four to five months while he undergoes rehabilitation.

Martin also is the only driver to lead all four races and the only one to finish in the top 10 in all four. He leads all drivers with a 5.0 average finish in four races at LVMS.

When it was known as the Grand National division, NASCAR's 43rd race of the 1955 season was held on the one-mile dirt track at Las Vegas Speedway Park. The race was run concurrent to an event held at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway on the same day and was won by Norm Nelson, who averaged 44.449 mph in the victory.

The race was shortened from 200 to 111 laps after a 12-car accident on lap 74 required an extended red-flag period and the race could not be completed before darkness set in.