NASCAR Drivers Stir up Dirt at Plymouth Speedway

Kenny Wallace, David Stremme, Justin Allgaier, Kenny Schrader and David Reutimann prepare to film an opening segment for the "NASCAR on Race Day" show on the SPEED Channel.
Kenny Wallace, David Stremme, Justin Allgaier, Kenny Schrader and David Reutimann prepare to film an opening segment for the “NASCAR on Race Day” show on the SPEED Channel.

The regular season drivers left the NASCAR drivers in the dust in the Modified feature at Plymouth Speedway Saturday night.

Modifieds point leader, Frank Marshall, found the start/finish line first while Adam Williams and Tommy Beezley II rounded out the top three on top of the podium.

NASCAR drivers Kenny Wallace, David Reutimann, Justin Allgaier, David Stremme and Ken Schrader put on a good show and the fans were excited to see them race. Allgaier experienced equipment issues toward the end of the 30-lap feature as a result of a bounce off the front straightaway wall earlier in the race. Schrader missed the feature due to mechanical issues while running hot laps and Wallace, Stremme and Reutimann finished fifth, sixth and seventh.

Kenny Wallace, who can be seen on the SPEED Channel as an analyst for the NASCAR on Raceday and Victory Lane shows and others, said he keeps racing because he loves it.

“I love doing what I’m doing. I love racing. This is our fourth night in a row. We started out in Brownstown, Indiana to Macon, Illinois and then to Kankakee. We’re here and I’m thinking a lot of people are here because I’m a NASCAR guy, but I’m really here to race and I love it,” stated Wallace.

David Reutimann drives the number 83 Toyota for BK Racing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series. While he believes he hasn’t had the year he’s expected, he loves to get back into his roots of racing.

“I actually race these types of cars as much as I can and I have a business where I build them and sell them,” said Reutimann. “I’m familiar with the car, but it doesn’t mean anything. I can still screw them up just as much as the rest of the guys. It’s always cool to come to a new place and try things out.”

David Stremme is a regular Sprint Cup Series driver and grew up in the South Bend area. He was excited to learn that Plymouth Speedway was going to dirt.

“I said heck let’s come back and we’ll race while we’re at Michigan, do some stuff and have some fun,” smiled Stremme. “I don’t get to race dirt all of the time as much as I would like to. We were in Florida racing another car that I have and we brought this one up here to just have fun and see how we do.”

Ken Schrader is a seasoned veteran in the NASCAR series who once drove for esteemed car owner Rick Hendrick. He drives his modified on quite a regular basis and he also drives in the ARCA series. He even won a race this week.

“Yeah we were racing against a bunch of high school kids in Toledo,” stated Schrader. “Things worked out good for us. We’ve got a couple more that we’re going to try to do this year.”

Justin Allgaier sits third in points in the Nationwide Series on the NASCAR circuit. This was the first time he had been to Plymouth Speedway since moving to a dirt surface. To him, dirt track racing builds a great foundation in racers.

“When you come out to the dirt tracks, it’s obviously the purest form of what we do. The weekends are great and I love my NASCAR job, but pretty much all of us that race at the NASCAR level have all started at this point. It’s times like these where we can come out and have a good time, race against guys that do this every week and have a good night and enjoy coming out here,” explained Allgaier.

Another popular Hoosier driver is headed to Plymouth Speedway this fall. Tony Stewart will be driving his sprint car with the Sods on Dirt series drivers on Saturday, Aug. 17. More information on his visit can be found on www.plymouthspeedway.net.