“Lebanon Missouri, you get off at Sleeper exit off of 44. It’s so deceiving the name of the exit, and you get the greatest little mint of a race track sitting right here,“ said professional racer Mike Wallace.
As a nine-time winner on the NASCAR Xfinity and truck series Missouri native Mike Wallace has been to a lot of race tracks, but I-44 Speedway has a special place in his heart.
“This is where it launched my career into a stratosphere,” Wallace said. “I went from a Saturday night short track racer, which there’s thousands of them in the country; to a guy that won Daytona. And then I won Daytona again and again.“
Not only is Mike Wallace returning to a special place, he’s returning to the sport as a whole.
“Five years ago I had to have triple bypass heart surgery. I didn’t know anything was wrong with me. I thought I was perfect. I ran the Daytona 500 that year, I ran in the Indianapolis, I ran Vegas,” Wallace said.
July 4th Wallace is set to return to the Xfinity series and he’s using this weekend as a tuneup to gauge where he’s at.
“The really really good race car drivers are here, really good cars, so if I run good I know I did good. It’s not like you’re coming in the fields kind of not as good as it once was – you beat the guys that are here tomorrow night it’s a big deal,“ said Wallace.
Eyes are on the prize this weekend as he goes up against NASCAR legend Ken Schrader, but today the two Fenton,Missouri racers are just having a good time — with Mike riding shotgun.
Creating more memories on the track, because that’s what it’s all about.
