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WALLACE FENDS OF STEWART'S CHALLENGE

Tony Stewart couldn't do to Kenny Wallace what he did to Jeff Gordon last weekend. Wallace never gave him the chance.

Wallace, starting third in the Nextel Prelude to the Dream charity event, passed pole-sitter Red Farmer right after the start and held off Stewart for the Prelude win Wednesday night at Eldora Speedway. Stewart, who sent Gordon into the wall in Nextel Cup racing last weekend, finished second. The track owner started sixth and moved up four spots in the first two laps.

On a night of stars, it was only fitting former track owner Earl Baltes gave the words, "Start your engines."

From there the 25-lap Prelude ran with just one caution. Stewart came close to getting underneath Wallace on the turns several times, but couldn't pull the move off.

Besides Wallace, the other big winner was the Victory Junction Gang Camp for chronically ill children. Before the feature, Stewart presented founder Kyle Petty with a $40,000 check. The drivers also agreed the winner would add his $10,000 payout.

That was Wallace, also a heat winner who gained recent dirt experience by running Modifieds this season. Wallace celebrated the win with a spin-out in front of the grandstand, throwing dirt among the 17,500 spectators.

"Who woulda thunk, who woulda ever thunk," Wallace said to the cheering crowd. "The track was so much faster than I thought it was. ... I'm so appreciative of everything and I want to think everyone for coming out."

One of the more veteran drivers showed the youngsters how it's done in the heats. Legend Red Farmer, named one of NASCAR's top 50 drivers, led all 10 laps and held off Danny Lasoski and Stewart to capture the second heat.

"It was good. I think I'm gonna go kid Danny and Tony about it right now," Farmer said of his heat win. "I was waiting for one of them to come up along side me, maybe into the corner. Other than that I just ran my groove."

In the second heat, Wallace survived a spin in Turn 1 with NHRA driver Ron Capps and cruised to the win with the rest of the field still in the final turn.

Fellow veteran Bill Elliott, driving in NASCAR since 1976, turned in the fastest qualifying lap. His 16.083 edged Stewart's 16.149 in a sport where turning a 15-second lap is good. Stewart came closest in the hot laps with a 16.25, followed by Kenny Schrader and Lasoski, who both ran 16.3.

"The track looked more intimidating from the outside than it does on the track," Elliott said. "Once you get on it you just run it."

Kevin Harvick, one of the more watched drivers due to his lack of dirt experience, ran 16.687 for a respectable eighth best. But in Heat 2 he tried to avoid that spin and tore up the car, putting him in a back-up.

"I didn't know what to expect," Harvick said after the hot laps. "Just having a good time."

Matt Kenseth also found trouble on the backstretch in his hot lap but not before turning in a 16.222. He was driving Johnny Johnson's back-up Late Model and the crew just got him into his heat after tearing up the spoiler and fin, the right rear corner and front spindle.

"When he went around I heard the crowd cheer so I knew he had a good time," said Johnson crew member Russell Krieger. "He went around again and I heard a bunch of oohs and ahhs and I knew that wasn't good. It ain't nothing we can't fix. We're used to stuff like that."

The night also featured a few perks for the fans, just not ones of Jeff Gordon, who was the subject of a few zingers. Asked earlier by some if Stewart had invited Gordon, Stewart drew massive boos from the crowed.

"That's funny, that's what I thought about him, too," Stewart said to cheers.

Spectators got an up-close view of the drivers, who jumped in the back of pick-ups for a parade lap around the track. The spectators were also treated to interview sessions and 14 lucky fans were able to meet one of the drivers.

"It's a neat place," Elliott said. "There's a lot of history here, like the first time I went to Indy."

Contact Greg Billing at (937) 225-2400, Ext. 6991