Wallace Wins His Third Consecutive Race

Rusty Wallace won his third consecutive stock-car race Sunday, the Hanes 500 at Martinsville, Va.

After three seasons of frustration and a total of only five victories since winning the NASCAR Winston Cup championship in 1989, Wallace has now won four in eight starts this season.

Wallace, the current point leader, led all but 90 of the 500 laps on the Martinville Speedway’s .526-mile oval and averaged 79.090 m.p.h., shy of the track record of 79.185 set in September of 1978 by Cale Yarborough.

That mark probably would have fallen except for two caution flags in the final 14 laps, the second brought out on lap 497 when Morgan Shepherd crashed. Wallace took the checkered flag behind the pace car, traveling 35 m.p.h.