Notes: Mike Wallace steps in 01; Kenny says thanks

Mike Wallace gets a chance, beginning with this weekend's NAPA Auto Parts 200 in Montreal, to revisit his best years in racing, thanks to a deal with team owner Johnny Davis to run the remaining races this season in Davis' No. 01 Chevrolet.

The car is currently locked into the starting lineup thanks to its 27th position in the owners' standings and is more than 300 points clear of 31st, thanks to the work done through 24 races primarily by former series rookie of the year Danny O'Quinn Jr., who left the team following last weekend's Food City 250.

Wallace opened the season at Daytona in the No. 01 and likens Davis' operation to that of his former owner Barry Owen, with whom he won three races, had 11 top-five and 27 top-10 finishes in 69 starts from 1993-95. The pair also won a number of ARCA Re/Max Series events.

"I really didn't know the extent of the operation that Johnny had built until I visited his shop, but it's pretty impressive to see what he's been able to achieve, with a minimal amount of financial backing," Wallace said. "He and Lori [Morgan, Davis' wife] are really committed to this, they have a chassis dyno and all the parts and pieces you need for a successful race team, so I feel like we're really in a position to build something."

Davis has Busch Series championship experience with Larry Pearson, but most recently has moved his operation into a sizeable shop in Gaffney, S.C., where he fields as many as three cars; admittedly with two of them being money-harvesting start-and-park teams if sponsorship isn't available to run them in full races.

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That's not the case for Wallace's car, which uses the money won by the team's No. 0 and No. 04 cars to help it race. Davis has entered road-racing champion Andy Lally in the unsponsored 0 car at Montreal, coming off Lally's successful Sprint Cup debut for TRG Motorsports a couple weeks ago at Watkins Glen.

"We've got some money committed from SunDrop for the races at Atlanta and Charlotte, later this season," Wallace said. "But as many people have said, this is an opportunity to get a taste of racing in this series for a little less, but Johnny's proven this season he can get it done."

Kenny Wallace represents the fans

Kenny Wallace hopes he gets to shake a lot of fans' hands on Saturday afternoon at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, when this weekend's race organizers have scheduled a private meet-and-greet for as many of the fans who underwrote Wallace's appearance in Montreal as are able to attend.

Since Wallace's Jay Robinson Racing team's primary sponsor, the U.S. Border Patrol, can't back a race outside the U.S., Wallace undertook what he's called a "one-time effort" to field a fan-sponsored car. The program, which Wallace says his fans demanded he attempt earlier this year, raised more than the $100,000 goal Wallace and Robinson set to "do the race the right way."

"We're calling it 'Thank you fans, from The Hermanator,' and this is really something special that the fans have enabled us to do," Wallace said. "The schedule has really worked out in our favor, with the race at Watkins Glen serving as our test session. (Continued)