Kenny Wallace is staged to replace Michael McDowell in the No. 00 Toyota in this weekends Amp Energy 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

It has yet to be determined the other races that Wallace will enter for the team, but is possible that he will pilot the 00 Camry for more races over the final six weeks of the season.

“Michael and I have been friends for a long time," informed Wallace. "I watched him bring his vision to life and become a full-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series owner. I’m proud of everything he has accomplished and I’m proud that I was able to be one of the first Cup drivers to help him.

Wallace continued, “I vividly remember the small garage he worked out of before taking his organization to the top level. I'm looking forward to returning to Michael Waltrip Racing and helping the team get back inside the top 35."

Team owner Michael Waltrip explains that there are no hard feelings, he is just interested in the car to be in the top-35 in owners points after the season finale at Homestead.

"We have a singular focus with the No. 00 team now and that is to get it in the top 35 in owners points when the checkered flag falls at
Homestead-Miami," Waltrip said. "This is not about an individual. It is about an organization."

Waltrip is confident in Wallace's abilities to get the No. 00 team back inside the top-35.

“Kenny has a lot of experience restrictor plate racing and a lot of friends who trust him, which is critical at that race," stated Waltrip. "He has a great record at Talladega and we felt like he was our best shot at scoring maximum points."

McDowell has only accounted for five top-25 finishes in the 2008 season. McDowell was debuted at Martinsville in March and has since been replaced with Mike Skinner for three consecutive races at Michigan International Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway and Auto Club Speedway.

"We’re going to make the same evaluation for the remaining 2008 Sprint Cup races," noted Waltrip. "That could include multiple drivers based on their experiences at particular tracks.”