WHEATLAND, Mo. -- Nine-time NASCAR Nationwide Series winner Kenny Wallace will run his first race at Lucas Oil Speedway in the Pitts Homes USRA Modified event on May 22, the opening night of the 22nd annual Lucas Oil Show-Me 100 Presented by ProtectTheHarvest.com weekend.

The 50-year-old Wallace who has a combined 909 starts in NASCAR's Sprint Cup (344), Nationwide (550) and Camping World Truck Series (15) will spend most of his time racing his JEGS.com-backed, Toyota-powered modified on dirt tracks this season. He's happy to put the "Diamond of Dirt Tracks" on the list of places he's raced.

"I'm very excited to race at Lucas Oil Speedway," Wallace said. "It's one of the first class facilities in dirt racing. We've driven by it on the road going through Wheatland and stopped to see it. That racetrack is on my bucket list."

"I've been working for several years to get Kenny Wallace here and we finally were able to find a date that works this season." commented Lucas Oil Speedway General Manager Dan Robinson. "It's going to be great to kick off the 22nd Annual Show-Me 100 weekend with a NASCAR star like Kenny Wallace in the house."

Fans will also be able to purchase copies of Kenny's new book "Kenny's Garage" at the speedway's Track Treasures Gift Shop for $10.

Wallace expects to run 50 to 60 modified races this year.

"It's early March and we've already run 13 this year," Wallace said. "This is my 10th year of dirt racing. We got addicted to it. My 900 NASCAR starts were not enough to satisfy my urge to race. I looked at A.J. Foyt and Mario Andretti and how well rounded they were, how they raced everywhere including on dirt, and I wanted to pattern myself after A.J. and Mario."

Wallace has gone road racing with NASCAR at Twin-Ring Motegi and Suzuka in Japan, Mexico City and Montreal and three times in the Daytona 24-Hour sports car race.

"Dirt racing was on my bucket list," Wallace said. "We've got about 100 wins and won the Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals (2012). It's tough racing. Twenty to 30 laps on dirt is equal to 200 on pavement."

Wallace, originally from St. Louis, isn't retired from NASCAR. He raced in seven Nationwide and two Camping World Truck races last year and has a deal contingent on the team finding sponsorship in place to drive the No. 29 Toyota for RAB Racing this season.

"I'm not retired from NASCAR, I'm retired from trying to find $100,000 to race in the Nationwide Series," Wallace said. "Trying to find sponsorship took my quality of life away. Racing is still fun for me, but I'm not going to chase sponsors. I'm happy to have Toyota and JEGS.com as my sponsors with the modified."

Wallace, the younger brother of former NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Rusty and NASCAR regular Mike, also is a well-known television personality. He'll be returning to it on FOX Sports 1 on June 8.

Race fans can go to www.LucasOilSpeedway.com to view the complete schedule for Lucas Oil Speedway's 2014 season, find detailed event information, get the latest news, and get complete ticket and campsite information. In addition, fans can get social with Lucas Oil Speedway by following @LucasSpeedway on Twitter, clicking "Like" at www.facebook.com/LucasOilSpeedway and on www.youtube.com/LucasOilSpeedway.