Mike Wallace & The Gecko Back in the Top 10 After Gateway; Heading to the Circle City

Player Management International Media Release

Madison, IL (July 21, 2007) – Mike Wallace and the rest of the Wallace family would return home to St. Louis on Saturday to attempt to please a supportive hometown crowd who has eagerly anticipated their return.  Amid a myriad of media events, including an interview on ESPN’s NASCAR Now, Wallace would turn his attention to racing when practice started on Friday afternoon, hoping to put the Gecko back in the Top 10 in the point standings. 

Wallace and the #7 GEICO Chevrolet would be on the fast track in both practice sessions, as they would appear 17th and 18th on the speed charts.  While he looked forward to qualifying, his excitement would be quickly quelled when his trip around the 1.25-mile oval would have him starting 32nd for the Gateway 250.   

Featured as one of ESPN's in-race reporters, Wallace would impress the hometown crowd as he would narrowly miss multiple crashes and soon find himself at the front of the field.  The Phoenix Racing team would do a good job of keeping Wallace up front, as they turned out quick pit stops and kept the momentum moving for the #7 GEICO Chevrolet.  Wallace would run in the Top 10 before finishing 12th and helping put the Gecko back in the Top 10 in the point standings.

While Mike Wallace was one of three members of the Wallace family racing on Saturday night, he would be the only one that would finish the race, as both Kenny and Steven would fall victim to separate crashes that would prematurely end their evening.   

Wallace’s Top 15 finish would put him back in the Top 10 in points, where he currently resides in the 9th position, picking up three positions from the previous week.  Just a few weeks ago, Wallace sat uncomfortably outside of the Top 10 by over 100 points, but now sits only 39 points removed from the 8th position. 

“Needless to say, I’m happy about being back in the Top 10 because we’ve worked really hard to get back to where we need to be,” Wallace said.  “It was nice to come home to St. Louis and do so many media events and get GEICO, Sport Clips and Smith Transport additional media exposure and reciprocate everything they do for us.  The Phoenix Racing team has done a good job of getting this #7 GEICO Chevrolet back to the front of the field and as we head to Indy next week we are looking forward to picking up more ground on the points chase and making sure we're where we need to be at the end of the season.”

This week, Mike Wallace and the Phoenix Racing team head to Indianapolis, IN, for the Kroger 200 on Saturday, July 28, 2007.   

Wallace and the #7 GEICO Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS will hit the track at O’Reilly Raceway Park for their first practice on Saturday, July 28th, at 9:00 AM (ET).  Final practice is at 11:00 AM (ET), followed by qualifying at 4:35 PM (ET). 

On Saturday night, the Kroger 200 NASCAR Busch Series race will be televised live on ESPN2 with coverage beginning at 7:30 PM (ET) and green flag action coming at 8:00 PM (ET).  Motor Racing Network (MRN) will carry the live radio broadcast.        

To learn more about the GEICO Racing program, please visit: www.GEICOracing7.com.

To learn more about the Sport Clips Racing program, please visit: www.SportClips.com.