Player Management International Press Release
Bristol, TN (March 24, 2007) – When Mike Wallace and the Phoenix Racing team packed up the #7 GEICO Chevrolet and left Atlanta they were feeling positive. They were sitting 8th in points and were heading to a track where Mike Wallace is known to be great. Unfortunately, NASCAR would have other plans and would single handedly cause Wallace and the #7 GEICO Chevrolet to be in the wrong place at the wrong time at the end of the race.
When the GEICO Racing team unloaded the hauler for practice on Friday, they were able to make adjustments and turn in a time that put them 17th on the speed charts in final practice. The Phoenix Racing team would work hard on the car after the final practice in an attempt to make the car faster in qualifying, while also trying to keep the car race ready.
The adjustments made by the GEICO team would not pay off, as the car became very loose in qualifying and Mike Wallace found himself sitting 30th in the starting line-up.
When the green flag dropped at the World’s Fastest Half-Mile, Wallace immediately started moving forward from his 30th starting position and picked up four spots in the first two laps.
ABC would use Wallace as their in-car reporter for the Sharpie MINI 300 and Wallace would do multiple in-car interviews over the course of the race during different race cautions. During the interviews, Wallace would discuss how his car was handling and what the team’s strategy would be to finish up front. He would tell his brother and ESPN commentator, Rusty Wallace, that the strategy was to have fuel and tires to run to the end of the race.
During a late-race caution, Phoenix Racing’s strategy fell into place as everyone had to pit and the #7 GEICO Chevrolet was sitting in second place with only one car between it and a win at Bristol. Check that…. All they had between them and a win at Bristol was one car and NASCAR itself. In one of the biggest indiscretions of the season, NASCAR would make a mistake on opening pit road and ultimately rectify it by resetting the field as it was prior to the caution, which would send Wallace back to 17th position.
NASCAR President, Mike Helton, would make an on-air apology late in the race, however it would not make a difference in the fate of the #7 GEICO Chevrolet, as being in the wrong place at the wrong time would be the final analysis for the GEICO Racing team.
On Lap 268, Dave Blaney wrecked and, while letting off the gas, Wallace was run over by Scott Wimmer who evidently did not see the crash ahead of him. Wimmer would send Wallace hard into the wall and end his day, resulting in a 29th place finish for Wallace and the Phoenix Racing team. At the end of the race, the team and driver were frustrated and GEICO executives were left with their heads spinning.
In most sports you compete against one other team, however in NASCAR you are competing against 42 other teams. It does not make it any easier when you also have to compete against the sanctioning body.
“It’s unfortunate for our team, but more importantly it is unfortunate for GEICO and our associate sponsors Sport Clips and Smith Transport,” Wallace said. “We go out and work hard all day to strategize and get ourselves into position to win the race and then NASCAR makes a call like that and it hurts our organization from top to bottom. There are a lot of things at stake here and a call like that really hurts us. We would’ve been in the Top 5 after Bristol, but instead we’re sitting in 9th.” He continued, “I’ve gotten a couple of apologies from people within NASCAR and I appreciate it, but it is still frustrating because we had a chance to win today.”
The news is not all bad for GEICO, as they still sit in the Top 10 in points in 9th position, losing just one spot despite the chain of events at Bristol.
The GEICO team will enjoy a weekend off before traveling to Nashville, TN, for the April 7th race at Nashville Superspeedway.
This week, the #7 GEICO Chevrolet will be in Richmod, VA, on Tuesday and Wednesday testing in preparation for the May 4th race at the .75-mile raceway.
To learn more about the GEICO Racing program, please visit: www.GEICOracing7.com.