SNICKERS® FORD FINISHES 34th AT NEW HAMPSHIRE

LOUDON, NH (September 16, 2007) – Kenny Wallace and the #88 Snickers® Ford finished 34th Sunday in the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway. Wallace piloted the Snickers Ford for the second consecutive week in place of Ricky Rudd who is recovering from a separated shoulder injury he sustained at California Speedway during his 900th career start. Sunday’s Sylvania 300 also marked the first race of The Chase for the NEXTEL Cup Championship.

The green flag waved at 2:18pm as pole-sitter Clint Bowyer led the field to green and continued to lead for 37 laps before losing the lead for one lap to the #21 on lap 38. Wallace began the Sylvania 300 from the 14th row in the 27th starting position on the inside of Ward Burton. Robert Yates Racing teammate, David Gilliland, began Sunday from the 35th starting spot with his #38 M&M’S® Ford but had to proceed to the rear of the field during the opening pace laps due to a transmission change following Friday’s qualifying run.

Wallace lost a spot in the opening laps as he called in over team communications to Crew Chief Butch Hylton that the Snickers Ford had a chatter in the front tires which meant that the front tires were not gripping the track properly making it difficult to steer the car into the turns. Wallace continued to lose track position and fell down to 34th on the scoreboard before the first caution of the day came on lap 37 for a competition caution. NASCAR issued the caution in order to allow the cars and the drivers to settle into the race since the NEXTEL Cup Series was rained out from all on-track activity Saturday due to rain showers.

Hylton used the caution to make adjustments on the Snickers Ford. The first pit stop of the day found the #88 taking two right side tires and fuel in an attempt to save time on pit road and gain track position. The Snickers Racing team also made adjustments to the trackbar to alleviate the chatter in the front of the car. Wallace restarted in 22nd, while Gilliland found himself back in 42nd. The Snickers Ford once again began to slowly drop through the pack to 37th before Wallace called in over team communications that something was wrong with the car and the voltage levels. Hylton and the pit crew advised Wallace to switch to the back-up battery and cautioned that if the voltage levels remained low, that a battery change would need to take place on a later caution. Hylton also told Wallace to turn off all other switches on the car in an effort to save power from the battery which meant the fans inside the car as well as those used to cool the brakes and engine, were powered off on lap 69.

The second caution of the day during lap 69 found the team once again making adjustments to the Snickers Ford to free up the car in the middle of the turns. This time the #88 took four fresh tires, fuel, and went two rounds down in the right rear jackbolt. Tony Stewart took the lead from Clint Bowyer on lap 70 while the field was under caution. Wallace restarted in 37th while Gilliland and the M&M’S Ford restarted just two positions behind in 39th.

Handling issues continued to plague Wallace and the Snickers Ford as the race continued. Wallace called in over radio communications during lap 89 that the left front side of the car felt as if it was not doing anything to grip the track which made it difficult to accelerate in the turns. The first round of green flag pit stops began around lap 137 and Wallace brought the #88 onto pit road on lap 141 for four tires, fuel, and another adjustment to the trackbar.

The Snickers Racing team continued to monitor the power levels as Wallace and the #88 battled for track position. Following a pit stop on lap 183 for fuel only, Wallace moved up to 30th on the restart while Gilliland remained in 39th in his #38 M&M’S Ford. Wallace and Gilliland held their positions until on lap 228 Wallace called in to Hylton over team radio communications that something was once again affecting the acceleration of the Snickers Ford. The final round of green flag pit stops began around lap 238 but Wallace did not make a pit stop until lap 255 when the Snickers Ford took four tires and fuel. Wallace rejoined the field in 33rd and moved up to 32nd on lap 263 before misfortune once again struck the #88 team.

On lap 283, Wallace called in to Hylton over team communications that the gauges had once again dropped. The Snickers Ford’s alternator had failed meaning that the car had very little power left to finish the race at the necessary speed. Jon Wolfe, the #88 spotter, and Hylton coached Wallace through the final 17 laps as the Snickers Ford battled to complete the race. Wallace held on to finish 34th for the afternoon, while Gilliland and the M&M’s Ford finished 39th.

“It was a tough day,” commented Wallace following the race. “We tried to salvage some points for the team today but we just had a bunch of difficulties along the way. We ended up breaking an alternator wire and went through two batteries and barely made it to the checkered flag, but we’ve just got some work to do on our Snickers Ford for next weekend. Our plan is to go back to the shop this week and figure out what we have to do in order to have these cars run a little better. Even though we had some bad luck today, I’m still so incredibly grateful for this opportunity to drive the #88.”

Clint Bowyer won Sunday’s Sylvania 300 making it his first win in 64 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series career starts. Bower led a total of 222 laps which also set a personal record for the most laps lead by Bowyer in his NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series career. Jeff Gordon finished second after he had remained in the top-five for the majority of the afternoon. Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch posted a third and fourth-place finish respectively, while Martin Truex, Jr. rounded out the top-five finishers in the Sylvania 300.

Following Saturday’s Sylvania 300, the first race of The Chase for the NEXTEL Cup, Jimmie Johnson continues to lead the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series driver point standings over fellow Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Jeff Gordon. Johnson and Gordon are tied in championship points, both with a total of 5,210 points. Johnson holds the lead based on the tiebreaker which ranks the drivers by the number of wins they have. Johnson has had six wins compared to Gordon’s four wins for the 2007 season. Tony Stewart also remains in third, but following his victory in the Sylvania 300, Clint Bowyer jumped from 12th place up to fourth. Kyle Busch also moved up the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup driver point standings to fifth place after posting a fourth-place finish Sunday afternoon. Wallace remains in 43rd while Gilliland also remains unchanged at 28th in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup driver point standings following the Sylvania 300.

Next weekend the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series travels to Dover International Speedway for the Dodge Dealers 400 and the second race of The Chase for the NEXTEL Cup. Pre-race television coverage begins on Sunday, September 23rd at 1:00 p.m. EST on ABC. Radio coverage will be provided by the Motor Racing Network (MRN).