TALLADEGA, Ala. — Two old NASCAR veterans, with a combined age total of 105 years, shared Talladega’s Victory Lane Saturday evening.

In his first Truck Series start since 2009, Mike Wallace won as teammate Ron Hornaday Jr. pushed him across the finish line.

“I’m very emotional right now, because a lot of people doubt you,” Wallace said. “They doubt your ability. An opportunity like this just proves, ‘Hey, I can get it done. Give me something good to drive, and I can prove I can do it.’

“I’m numb. My son’s at home, my daughters … I wish they were all here. It is my wife (Carla) and my anniversary this weekend. It’s a cool anniversary.”

The victory was the fifth overall for Wallace, who was substituting for Elliott Sadler, whose wife, Amanda, is expecting the couple’s second child. Wallace won in the truck series for the first time since 2000. The victory was his first in any of NASCAR’s top three touring series since he won a Nationwide race at Daytona in July 2004.

Hornaday ran second, followed by James Buescher, who made a dent in the series points lead of Austin Dillon. Ricky Carmichael, Jason White, Todd Bodine, Austin Dillon, Brendan Gaughan, Kyle Busch and Max Papis rounded out the top 10.

Johnny Sauter’s championship aspirations suffered a major setback on lap 35. He and teammate Matt Crafton had dropped to the rear of the field to stay out of harm’s way early in the race, but the strategy backfired.

The two trucks crashed as they ran together in tandem, after Donnie Neuenberger’s Chevrolet blew a right-front tire in front of them. Sauter, who entered the race second in the standings and five points behind Dillon, lost two laps as his crew made repairs on pit road.

With a wave-around and a free pass, Sauter got back on the lead lap and finished 15th.

Top 10 leaders after 22 of 25:

1. Dillon-769
2. Buescher-766
3. Sauter-755
4. Hornaday-753
5. Peters-727
6. Bodine-710
7. Whitt-698
8. Crafton-689
9. Coulter-680
10. Kligerman-659.

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