Steven Wallace won the 300-lap Super Late Model Snowball Derby at Five Flags Speedway in 2004. (Photo: Lat Photographic)

Legendary crew chief Richie Wauters called the shots during Wallace’s breakthrough win five years ago.

The duo hopes to rekindle that same winning magic in Sunday’s 42nd annual Snowball Derby.

“For sure, it helps coming down here with Richie,” Wallace said. “It’s our sixth or seventh trip down here to the Snowball together.

“I met Richie through my uncle Kenny (Wallace). Richie’s like family for me. I’ve known him forever and we get along real good.

“Besides that, he’s damn smart with race cars, especially these short track cars. He helps to make them seem to run good.”

Sunday’s Derby field will be headlined by several NASCAR drivers, including Kyle Busch.

But it suits Wallace just fine to race against Regular Joe Saturday night racers.

“I have every intention of smoking (the other NASCAR drivers) pretty hard, to be honest,” Wallace said with a sly smile. “I think our car is pretty good. I race against those guys every week. They’re cool.

“But I like coming down here and racing with these boys a lot better. I’ve always had a lot of fun racing with them and have got to know a lot of people down here.

“It’s always just a good time to come and race here. These guys are hard racers, man. It’s real fun to be able to race with them.”

– Jeff Hood can be reached at jhood@racintoday.com