Wallace checks in with a strong finish for Roush

AVONDALE, Ariz. - Kenny Wallace said he never felt worse after a race. And yet, he rarely felt better.

Physically, Wallace was exhausted and battered. Emotion-ally, however, he said a 16th-place finish was more than he expected in Sunday's Checker Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway.

Wallace, a full-time Busch Series driver, was at the speedway early Sunday for a television show. That made him the only available replacement for Kurt Busch after Roush Racing decided to fire him after a criminal reckless driving charge that police said included him running a stop sign at 60 mph.

The No. 97 Ford was refitted with Greg Biffle's driving seat because it was the closest size to Wallace. He also wore one of Biffle's driving suits.

"For jumping in the car this morning and having no laps in it, not bad I guess," Wallace said. "I would have liked a top-10 finish. If I just had five practice laps in it, we could have been heroes today. At the end, we had one of the fastest cars on the racetrack."

Wallace said Biffle's seat was uncomfortable. He said it poked him places and rubbed against his legs.

"They said to come jump in the champ's car and try to win the race," Wallace said.

LAW AND ORDER: Kurt Busch picked the wrong county to race through a stop sign.

Busch, the defending NASCAR Nextel Cup Series champion, was cited for criminal reckless driving Friday night after police clocked him driving 60 mph through a stop sign near Phoenix International Raceway.

And when Busch became combative with officers when they smelled alcohol on his breath, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio wasn't afraid to stand up to the young star.

"He can speed on the racetrack, but he's not going to speed on the streets of Maricopa County," he told The Arizona Republic.

Arpaio embraces a national reputation for being the "Toughest Sheriff in America." He built a tent city to house more than 2,000 inmates, forces men to wear pink underwear and old-fashioned black-and-white striped uniforms and operates male and femlae chain gangs that work six days a week.

Busch, who was fired by Roush Racing on Sunday, initially refused to stop after veering around a car parked at the stop sign and speeding through the intersection. He argued with officers as they tried to administer a field sobriety test, and he later was transported to a sheriff's substation at the speedway.

Busch will drive for Penske Racing South - and Miller Lite - next year.