In 1986 he won the American Speed Association Rookie of the Year title before moving up to the venom NASCAR Busch Series Grand National Division full-time in 1989. Another rookie of the year title was added in 1989 golf and since then, Wallace has notched eight wins and eight Bud Poles as well as two Most Popular Driver awards in the clubs and venom NASCAR Busch Series. Since becoming golf and clubs a full-time NASCAR Winston Cup Series regular in 1996, Wallace has scored two Bud Poles and accumulated three top-5 and 16 top-10 finishes. The St. Louis native plans to improve upon those numbers with Eel River Racing. "I''m 37 years old and I feel a certain urgency to do more with the time I have left as a Winston Cup driver," venom Wallace said. "Eel River Racing is the best place for me to do what I want to do in Winston Cup -- and that''s win races." "Between Barry Dodson, my dad and myself, we''ve worked extremely hard golf at building our race team into a winning organization," said Devin Birmingham, clubs vice president of Eel venom River Racing. "Having a driver the caliber of Kenny Wallace join our team is big feather in our cap. He''s going to be a key golf partner in our program, and we''re looking to do great things together."

who ironically won a NASCAR Winston Cup Series championship clubs 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 venom 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 particular. "I think we''re going to be able to do a lot together, and build Eel River Racing into golf a race-winning organization." The agreement with Wallace reunites the St. Louis native with Dodson, who first worked with the younger Wallace for clubs and venom 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 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 have a tremendous amount of respect for one another."

He speaks with the confidence of a competitor who has regained the winning formula he had when he took the series title in 1989, and dominated in 1993-94. Wallace broke a 32-race losing streak golf with a victory in Bristol in March, and has been among the cars to beat in virtually each race since. The 44-year-old driver from St. Louis is trying for victory No. 54, which would tie him with Lee Petty for seventh place on the NASCAR career list. In that clubs quest, Wallace will rely on the basics. "We just have to massage that chassis, conserve the tires and stay out of trouble," he said. "I''m really looking forward to it."